Our Founders
Our Founders
Our Founders
Publications
Recent Articles
Medical X Press: Why a certain plant virus is so powerful at fighting cancer
UC San Diego News Center: These Fridge-Free COVID-19 Vaccines Are Grown in Plants and Bacteria
Science Daily: Researchers discover how cowpea mosaic plant virus activates immune system against cancer
Wired Magazine: A Common Plant Virus Is an Unlikely Ally in the War on Cancer
Key Publications
Immuno-Oncology
Veronique Beiss, Chenkai Mao, Steven N. Fiering, Nicole F. Steinmetz (2022) Cowpea Mosaic Virus Outperforms Other Members of the Secoviridae as In Situ Vaccine for Cancer Immunotherapy. Mol Pharm. 2022 Mar 25. doi: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.2c00058. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35333531.
Edward C Koellhoffer, Chenkai Mao, Veronique Beiss, Lu Wang, Steven N Fiering, Christine E Boone, Nicole F Steinmetz (2022) Inactivated Cowpea Mosaic Virus in Combination with OX40 Agonist Primes Potent Antitumor Immunity in a Bilateral Melanoma Mouse Model. Mol Pharm2022 Jan 3. doi: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.1c00681.
Chung Y.H., Park, J., Cai, H., Steinmetz N.F. (2021) S100A9-Targeted Cowpea Mosaic Virus as a Prophylactic and Therapeutic Immunotherapy Against Metastatic Breast Cancer and Melanoma. Advanced Science 2021, 2101796. DOI: 10.1002/advs.202101796
Gautam, A., Beiss, V., Wang, C., Wang, L., Steinmetz, N.F. (2021) Plant Viral Nanoparticle Conjugated with Anti-PD-1 Peptide for Ovarian Cancer Immunotherapy. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22, 9733.
Chariou P.L.,Beiss V., Ma Y., Steinmetz N.F. (2021) In situ vaccine application of inactivated CPMV nanoparticles for cancer immunotherapy. Mater Adv. 2021 Mar 7; 2(5): 1644–1656.
Chan S.K. and Steinmetz N.F. (2021) Isolation of Cowpea Mosaic Virus-Binding Peptides
Biomacromolecules 2021 Aug 9;22(8):3613-3623.
Boone C.E., Wang L., Gautam A., Newton I.G., and Steinmetz N.F. (2021) Combining nanomedicine and immune checkpoint therapy for cancer immunotherapy Wiley Interdiscip. Rev. Nanomed. Nanobiotechnol., 2021 Jul 22;e1739.
Mao C., Beiss V., Fields J., Steinmetz N.F., Fiering S. (2021) Cowpea mosaic virus stimulates antitumor immunity through recognition by multiple MYD88-dependent toll-like receptors. Biomaterials, 2021 May 25;275:120914.
Nkanga C.I., Steinmetz N.F., (2021) The pharmacology of plant virus nanoparticles. Virology 2021 Apr;556:39-61.
Ranked in Biomaterials Science Most Popular 30 Articles in 2020:
Shukla S., Wang C., Beiss V., Cai H., Washington T., Murray A., Gong X., Zhao Z., Masarapu H., Zlotnik A., Fiering S., and Steinmetz N.F. (2020) The unique potency of Cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) in situ cancer vaccine. Biomater. Sci., 2020, 8, 5489-5503.
Cai H., Shukla S., Steinmetz N.F., (2020) The Antitumor Efficacy of CpG Oligonucleotides is Improved by Encapsulation in Plant Virus-Like Particles. Advanced Functional Materials, 2020 Apr 14;30(15):1908743.
Shukla S., Wang C., Beiss V., Steinmetz N.F. (2020) Antibody Response against Cowpea Mosaic Viral Nanoparticles Improves In Situ Vaccine Efficacy in Ovarian Cancer. ACS Nano. 2020 March 24; 14(3): 2994–3003.
Duval K.E.A., Wagner R.J., Beiss V., Fiering S.N., Steinmetz N.F., Hoopes P.J. (2020) Cowpea Mosaic Virus Nanoparticle Enhancement of Hypofractionated Radiation in a B16 Murine Melanoma Model. Frontiers in Oncology 10:594614.
Murray A., Sheen M., Veliz F., Fiering S., Steinmetz N.F. (2020) In Situ Vaccination of Tumors Using Plant Viral Nanoparticles. Methods Mol Biol. 2019 ; 2000: 111–124.
Chung Y.H., Cai H., Steinmetz N.F., (2020) Viral nanoparticles for drug delivery, imaging, immunotherapy, and theranostic applications. Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews 156 (2020) 214–235
Albakri M., Veliz F.A., Fiering S.N., Steinmetz N.F., Sieg S.F. (2020) Endosomal toll-like receptors play a key role in activation of primary human monocytes by cowpea mosaic virus. Immunology. 2020 Feb; 159(2): 183–192.
Wang C. and Steinmetz N.F. (2020) A Combination of Cowpea mosaic virus and Immune Checkpoint Therapy Synergistically Improves Therapeutic Efficacy in Three Tumor Models. Advanced Functional Materials, 04 May 2020.
Cai H., Wang C., Shukla S., Steinmetz N.F. (2019) Cowpea Mosaic Virus Immunotherapy Combined with Cyclophosphamide Reduces Breast Cancer Tumor Burden and Inhibits Lung Metastasis. Adv. Sci. 2019, 1802281. PMID: 31453050, PMCID: PMC6702650.
Wang C., Steinmetz N.F. (2019) CD47 Blockade and Cowpea Mosaic Virus Nanoparticle In Situ Vaccination Triggers Phagocytosis and Tumor Killing. Advanced Healthcare Materials 2019 Apr; 8(8): e1801288.
Wang C., Beiss V., Steinmetz N.F. (2019) Cowpea Mosaic Virus Nanoparticles and Empty Virus-Like Particles Show Distinct but Overlapping Immunostimulatory Properties. Journal of Virology 2019 Nov 1; 93(21): e00129-19.
Wang C., Fiering S., Steinmetz N.F. (2019) Cowpea Mosaic Virus Promotes Anti-Tumor Activity and Immune Memory in a Mouse Ovarian Tumor Model. Advanced Therapeutics. 1900003.
Cai H., Shukla S., Wang C., Masarapu H., Steinmetz N.F., (2019) Heterologous Prime-Boost Enhances the Antitumor Immune Response Elicited by Plant-Virus-Based Cancer Vaccine. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2019 April 24; 141(16): 6509–651
Fogle A.K., Steinmetz N.F., et al (2019) Plant Virus-Like Particle In Situ Vaccine for Intracranial Glioma Immunotherapy. Cancers 2019, 11, 515.
Ravi Patel, Anna E. Czapar, Steven Fiering, Nancy L. Oleinick, and Nicole F. Steinmetz (2018) Radiation Therapy Combined with Cowpea Mosaic Virus Nanoparticle in Situ Vaccination Initiates Immune-Mediated Tumor Regression. ACS Omega 2018, 3, 3702-3707.
Murray A.A., Wang C., Fiering, S., Steimetz N.F., (2018) In Situ Vaccination with Cowpea vs Tobacco Mosaic Virus against Melanoma. Mol Pharm 2018 Sep 4;15(9):3700-3716.
Lee K.L., Steimetz N.F. et al (2017) Combination of Plant Virus Nanoparticle-Based in Situ Vaccination with Chemotherapy Potentiates Antitumor Response. Nano Lett. 2017 Jul 12; 17(7): 4019–4028.
Shukla S., Steinmetz N.F., (2016) Emerging nanotechnologies for cancer immunotherapy. Experimental Biology and Medicine 2016; 241: 1116–1126.
Lizotte, H, Wen, A.M., Sheen, M.R., Fields, J., Rojanasopondist, P., Steinmetz, N.F., Fiering, S.(2016) In situ vaccination with cowpea mosaic virus nanoparticles suppresses metastatic cancer. Nature Nanotechnology, 11, 295-303.
Immuno-Oncology - Veterinary
Alonso-Miguel, D., Valdivia, G., Guerrera, D., Perez-Alenza, M., Pantelyushin,S., Alonso-Diez, A., Steinmetz, N.F., vom Berg, J., Peña,L., Arias-Pulido, H. (2022) Neoadjuvant in situ vaccination with cowpea mosaic virus as a novel therapy against canine inflammatory mammary cancer. Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer 2022;0:e004044
Hoopes P.J., Wagner R.J.,Duval K., Kang K., Gladstone D.J., Moodie K.L., Crary-Burney M., Ariaspulido H., Veliz F.A., Steinmetz N.F., Fiering S.N. (2018) Treatment of canine oral melanoma with nanotechnology-based immunotherapy and radiation. Mol Pharm., 15, 3717-3722. PMID: 29613803, PMCID: PMC6296751.
Hoopes P.J., Fiering S.N. et al (2017) Hypo-fractionated Radiation, Magnetic Nanoparticle Hyperthermia and a Viral Immunotherapy Treatment of Spontaneous Canine Cancer. Proc SPIE Int Soc Opt Eng. 2017 ; 10066
Vaccine
Nkanga C.I., Ortega-Rivera O.A., Shin M.D., Moreno-Gonzalez M.A., Steinmetz N.F. (2022) Injectable Slow-Release Hydrogel Formulation of a Plant Virus-Based COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate. Biomacromolecules, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biomac.2c00112.
Sayoni Ray, David M. Wirth, Oscar A. Ortega-Rivera, Nicole F. Steinmetz, and Jonathan K. Pokorski. (2022) Dissolving Microneedle Delivery of a Prophylactic HPV Vaccine. Biomacromolecules,
DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.1c01345.
Oscar A. Ortega-Rivera, Sourabh Shukla, Matthew D. Shin, Angela Chen, Veronique Beiss, Miguel A. Moreno-Gonzalez, Yi Zheng, Alex E. Clark, Aaron F. Carlin, Jonathan K. Pokorski, and Nicole F. Steinmetz. (2021) Cowpea Mosaic Virus Nanoparticle Vaccine Candidates Displaying Peptide Epitopes Can Neutralize the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus. ACS Infect. Dis. October 21, 2021.
Ortega-Rivera OA, Shin MD, Chen A, Beiss V, Moreno-Gonzalez MA, Lopez-Ramirez MA, Reynoso M, Wang H, Hurst BL, Wang J, Pokorski JK, Steinmetz NF. (2021) Trivalent Subunit Vaccine Candidates for COVID-19 and Their Delivery Devices. J Am Chem Soc 2021 Sep 7.
Hu H., Steinmetz N.F., (2021) Development of a Virus-Like Particle-Based Anti-HER2 Breast Cancer Vaccine. Cancers (Basel). 2021 Jun; 13(12): 2909.
Stump C.T., Steinmetz N.F., Fiering S.N. (2021) Remission-Stage Ovarian Cancer Cell Vaccine with Cowpea Mosaic Virus Adjuvant Prevents Tumor Growth. Cancers (Basel). 2021 Feb; 13(4): 627.
Shin M.D., Shukla S., Chung Y. H., Beiss V., Chan S. K., Ortega-Rivera O. A., Wirth D. M., Chen A., Sack M., Pokorski J. K., Steinmetz N.F. (2020) COVID-19 vaccine development and a potential nanomaterial path forward. Nature Nanotechnology, 15, 646-655. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-020-0737-y.
Lee P.W., Shukla S., Wallat J.D., Danda C., Steinmetz N.F., Maia J., Pokorski J.K. (2017) Biodegradable Viral Nanoparticle/Polymer Implants Prepared via Melt-Processing. ACS Nano, 11,8777-8789.
Grants
Mosaic’s IO and VAX technology has been developed over the past ten years by the Principal Investigators and Co-Founders of Mosaic: Drs. Steinmetz, Pokorski, and Fiering. The technology development has been supported through numerous federal research grants, including NIH, NSF, and CDMRP as well as private foundations, such as the American Cancer Society, Susan G Komen, and American Heart Association totaling $21 Million.