Hybrid Materials From Peptide Nanofibrils and Magnetic Beads to Concentrate and Isolate Virus Particles

Peptide nanofibrils (PNFs) are considered a novel and highly efficient class of retroviral transduction enhancers due to their ability to efficiently bind virus particles and promote their attachment to the membrane of target cells. In this study, the virus‐binding properties of enhancing factor C (EF‐C) PNFs are used to develop a method for concentrating and isolating HIV‐1 particles without the need for centrifugation. Upon incubation in a virus‐laden sample, PNF‐coated magnetic beads facilitate magnetic separation, effectively depleting virus particles from the solution and consequently reducing its infectious nature. Remarkably, the isolated virus particles maintain their infectivity and exhibit an enhanced ability to infect target cells due to the complexation with EF‐C PNFs. This enhancement is pivotal for further virus propagation in cell cultures or detailed analysis. The presented method addresses the urgent need for more rapid, sensitive detection, and purification technologies for viral agents. It provides a tool to efficiently capture, isolate, and concentrate HIV‐1 particles. This may significantly improve the sensitivity of existing diagnostic tools and analytical tests. Peptide nanofibrils of the enhancing factor C peptide are applied to capture HIV‐1 particles and increase their attachment to cells. This makes them excellent retroviral transduction enhancers. Using magnetic beads and the biotin‐streptavidin interaction for peptide nanofibril immobilization, this approach can be used to efficiently capture and isolate viruses from virus‐laden samples. Figure created with BioRender.com.