Major vault protein (MVP) (MVP)

Major vault protein (MVP) is the primary structural component of vault nanoparticles, which are large, naturally occurring ribonucleoprotein complexes found in the cytoplasm of most eukaryotic cells (Rome & Kickhoefer, 2013). In the context of immunotherapy, engineered vault nanoparticles are utilized as a delivery platform to transport antigens or therapeutic proteins directly to dendritic cells (DCs) (Karuturi et al., 2015). Upon uptake by DCs, these nanoparticles facilitate the processing and presentation of encapsulated antigens, thereby stimulating a robust T-cell-mediated immune response (Ben-Efraim et al., 2016). This platform is particularly relevant in oncology for delivering cytokines like CCL21 to the tumor microenvironment or in infectious diseases for vaccine development (Zhu et al., 2015). While MVP itself is often overexpressed in multidrug-resistant cancer cells, its role in this context is as a scaffold for targeted delivery and immune activation. The modular nature of the vault allows for the attachment of targeting moieties, such as antibodies or ligands, to enhance specificity for dendritic cell receptors (Rome & Kickhoefer, 2013).

Other names

Vault proteinLung resistance-related proteinLRPVAULT1

Vault nanoparticles encapsulate therapeutic cargo and are internalized by dendritic cells via phagocytosis; the cargo is then released and processed for MHC-mediated antigen presentation to activate T-cells (Rome & Kickhoefer, 2013).