A biodistribution study of two differently shaped plant virus nanoparticles reveals new peculiar traits

Biodistribution of two unmodified and differently shaped plant virus nanoparticles in murine organs [Display omitted] •Differently shaped unmodified TBSV and PVX pVNPs are produced in plants.•The pVNPs do not produce toxic effects in mice nor alterations of organs structure.•The unmodified pVNPs have different clearance times.•The pVNPs have different in vivo biodistribution.•Only PVX adheres to red blood cells and penetrates in the white pulp of the spleen. Self-assembling plant virus nanoparticles (pVNPs) have started to be explored as nanometre-sized objects for biomedical applications, such as vaccine or drug delivery and imaging. Plant VNPs may be ideal tools in terms of biocompatibility and biodegradability endowed with a wide diversity of symmetries and dimensions, easy chemical/biological engineering, and rapid production in plants. Recently, we defined that icosahedral Tomato bushy stunt virus (TBSV) and filamentous Potato virus X (PVX) are neither toxic nor teratogenic. We report here the results of an interdisciplinary study aimed to define for the first time the biodistribution of unlabelled, unpegylated, underivatized TBSV and PVX by proved detecting antibodies. These data add new insights on the in vivo behaviour of these nano-objects and demonstrate that the pVNPs under scrutiny are each intrinsically endowed with peculiar properties foreshadowing different applications in molecular medicine.