About

Adam Caparco is the Principal Investigator of the Caparco Research Group and a professor specializing in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry & Chemical Biology. He completed his B.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UCLA in 2015, followed by a Ph.D. in the same field at Georgia Tech in 2020 under the guidance of advisors Julie Champion and Andreas Bommarius. He further pursued postdoctoral training in Chemical and Nano Engineering from 2021 to 2024 with advisor Nicole Steinmetz. Originally from Burbank, California, Caparco has expressed a lifelong passion for chemistry, alongside interests in law and culinary arts, which he creatively integrates into his academic career. As a professor, he is dedicated to teaching, mentoring, and leading research efforts to train the next generation of scientists and engineers.

Research topics

• Chemistry
• Biology
• Biochemistry
• Materials science
• Chromatography
• Computational biology
• Organic chemistry
• Nanotechnology
• Biophysics

Selected publications

• Protein-based spherical nanoparticles for dsRNA delivery to nematodes – A platform technology for RNA silencing

  Materials Today · 2025-06-10 · 6 citations

  articleOpen access

  Spherical protein nanoparticles can deliver double-stranded RNA, facilitating nematode control by RNA interference. We have developed proteinaceous spherical nanoparticles (SNPs) based on tobacco mild green mosaic virus (TMGMV) by thermal shape transition, and have used them to encapsulate double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), which triggers RNA interference (RNAi). The efficacy of this approach was demonstrated in Caenorhabditis elegans , a model nematode species. SNPs were readily ingested by transgenic nematodes expressing the fluorescent reporter gene mCherry , resulting in potent gene silencing, as detected by fluorescence imaging. SNPs can help to overcome dsRNA delivery barriers in real-world situations such as targeting phytoparasitic nematodes in the soil, thus providing a new platform nanotechnology for nematode control by RNAi. Phytoparasitic nematodes are widespread agricultural pests that cause severe damage to roots, resulting in significant crop losses. Chemical control with nematicides is the conventional pest management strategy, but this is a threat to beneficial species and human health. Furthermore, indiscriminate use leads to the emergence of resistant pest populations. Phytoparasitic nematodes can also be controlled by RNA interference (RNAi), a eukaryote defense mechanism against invasive nucleic acids that is triggered by double stranded RNA (dsRNA) and causes the specific cleavage or translational repression of the corresponding mRNA. More than 75 genes in phytoparasitic nematodes have been targeted by RNAi under laboratory conditions, but the application of RNAi in the field is limited by delivery barriers such as inefficient cellular uptake and RNA degradation. The latter is particularly important when targeting soil-dwelling nematodes because free RNA is not stable in soil. We therefore encapsulated dsRNA in proteinaceous spherical nanoparticles (SNPs) formed by the thermal annealing of coat proteins from tobacco mild green mosaic virus (TMGMV). We optimized loading of dsRNA into SNPs by charge neutralization and condensation of dsRNA with Mg 2+ at pH < 3.0, allowing us to encapsulate up to 0.2 mg dsRNA per 1.0 mg of SNPs, 100–200 nm in diameter. This was a 10-fold improvement over the non-optimized dsRNA-SNP formulation (i.e. encapsulation of dsRNA without charge neutralization and condensation). A transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans line constitutively expressing mCherry was used as a model to confirm that dsRNA remains functional and triggers RNAi following the ingestion of dsRNA-laden SNPs. The silencing effect lasted ∼180 h and reduced mCherry fluorescence by 76.2 ± 13.6 %. We confirmed that dsRNA-loaded SNPs retain their silencing activity when passed through a soil column, indicating that the RNAi-based control of phytoparasitic nematodes using SNPs should be possible in the field.

  PublisherDOI

• Study of uricase-polynorbornene conjugates derived from grafting-from ring-opening metathesis polymerization

  Journal of Materials Chemistry B · 2024-01-01 · 2 citations

  article

  PEGylation has been the 'gold standard' in bioconjugation due to its ability to improve the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of native proteins. However, growing clinical evidence of hypersensitivity reactions to PEG due to pre-existing anti-PEG antibodies in healthy humans have raised concerns. Advancements in controlled polymerization techniques and conjugation chemistries have paved the way for the development of protein-polymer conjugates that can circumvent these adverse reactions while retaining the benefits of such modifications. Herein, we show the development of polynorbornene based bioconjugates of therapeutically relevant urate oxidase (UO) enzymes used in the treatment of gout synthesized by grafting-from ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP). Notably, these conjugates exhibit comparable levels of bioactivity to PEGylated UO and demonstrate increased stability across varying temperatures and pH conditions. Immune recognition of conjugates by anti-UO antibodies reveal low protein immunogenicity following the conjugation process. Additionally, UO conjugates employing zwitterionic polynorbornene successfully avoid recognition by anti-PEG antibodies, further highlighting a potential replacement for PEG.

  PublisherDOI

• Inter-coat protein loading of active ingredients into Tobacco mild green mosaic virus through partial dissociation and reassembly of the virion

  Scientific Reports · 2024-03-26 · 8 citations

  articleOpen access

  Chemical pesticide delivery is a fundamental aspect of agriculture. However, the extensive use of pesticides severely endangers the ecosystem because they accumulate on crops, in soil, as well as in drinking and groundwater. New frontiers in nano-engineering have opened the door for precision agriculture. We introduced Tobacco mild green mosaic virus (TMGMV) as a viable delivery platform with a high aspect ratio and favorable soil mobility. In this work, we assess the use of TMGMV as a chemical nanocarrier for agriculturally relevant cargo. While plant viruses are usually portrayed as rigid/solid structures, these are "dynamic materials," and they "breathe" in solution in response to careful adjustment of pH or bathing media [e.g., addition of solvent such as dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)]. Through this process, coat proteins (CPs) partially dissociate leading to swelling of the nucleoprotein complexes-allowing for the infusion of active ingredients (AI), such as pesticides [e.g., fluopyram (FLP), clothianidin (CTD), rifampicin (RIF), and ivermectin (IVM)] into the macromolecular structure. We developed a "breathing" method that facilitates inter-coat protein cargo loading, resulting in up to ~ 1000 AIs per virion. This is of significance since in the agricultural setting, there is a need to develop nanoparticle delivery strategies where the AI is not chemically altered, consequently avoiding the need for regulatory and registration processes of new compounds. This work highlights the potential of TMGMV as a pesticide nanocarrier in precision farming applications; the developed methods likely would be applicable to other protein-based nanoparticle systems.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A plug-and-play strategy for agrochemical delivery using a plant virus nanotechnology

  Journal of Nanoparticle Research · 2024-12-01 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Delivery of agrochemicals into soil presents a challenge, as the active ingredients are often hydrophobic and do not possess adequate soil mobility to reach their target pest. Previously, plant virus nanoparticles have been shown to penetrate soil and deliver agrochemicals for the treatment of plant parasitic nematodes. For example, tobacco mild green mosaic virus (TMGMV) can be functionalized with agrochemicals through bioconjugation, infusion at the coat protein interface, or encapsulation through thermal shapeshifting (rod-to-sphere). There continues to be a need to expand approaches for agrochemical display and delivery with a need for plug-and-play technology to be applicable for multiple nanoparticle platforms and agrochemicals. Toward this goal, we turned toward a bio-specific coupling strategy making use of the biotin-(strept)avidin system. Herein, we conjugated TMGMV with either avidin or biotin using azide-alkyne cycloaddition. The avidin/biotin-functionalized TMGMV nanoparticles were then characterized by gel electrophoresis and electron microscopy to confirm cargo loading and the nanoparticle’s structural integrity. Soil column assays confirmed that soil mobility was maintained upon chemical modification. Ivermectin modified with biotin or streptavidin linkers was then introduced to the TMGMV-avidin/biotin nanoparticles and binding propensity and loading were validated by QCM-D and a competitive ELISA. Finally, the ivermectin-loaded TMGMV nanoparticles were used to treat C. elegans in a gel burrowing assay, demonstrating that either pesticide loading strategy resulted in active TMGMV nanoparticle formulation that significantly reduced the mobility of nematodes, even after passing through soil. In stark contrast, free ivermectin only exhibited efficacy when applied directly to nematodes; the free pesticide was lost in the soil column—highlighting the need for a delivery system. The presented approach provides a facile plug-and-play approach for pesticide loading onto TMGMV nanoparticles. In particular, biotinylated TMGMV with streptavidin-conjugated ivermectin served as the most effective formulation. Importantly this method does not require heat, which contrasts our previous method of thermal reshaping that requires sample and pesticide exposure to temperatures &gt; 96 °C. We envision the bio-specific loading strategy could be extended to other protein or inorganic nanoparticles to advance soil treatment strategies.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Combination of cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) intratumoral therapy and oxaliplatin chemotherapy

  Materials Advances · 2024-01-01 · 6 citations

  articleOpen access

  Cowpea mosaic virus is a potent intratumoral immunotherapy agent that has shown promise in preclinical studies and canine cancer trials with tumor- and tissue-agnostic efficacy. As we move towards the clinic, it is imperative to investigate combination strategies that synergize to further improve the potency of the approach. Here, we combined CPMV with the clinically approved chemotherapeutic agent oxaliplatin. CPMV's ability to recruit and activate naive immune cells synergized with oxaliplatin's ability to induce immunogenic cell death in the ID8-Defb29/Vegf-A ovarian and B16F10 melanoma murine cancer models with an increase of median survival of 57.7% and 162.2%, respectively. The combination therapy outperformed the CPMV or oxaliplatin monotherapy, and achieved a percent difference in tumor burden of 26.1% and 170.6% in the ID8-Defb29/Vegf-A ovarian and B16F10 melanoma models, respectively. Immunofluorescence staining of treated tumor sections elucidated the role of damage associated molecular patterns (calreticulin and HMGB1), innate immune cells (myeloid cells - likely neutrophils, NK cells, and macrophages), and regulatory T cells (Tregs) as a function of the treatment regimen. Overall, our proposed combination therapy modulated the dormant tumor microenvironment which resulted in effective tumor cell death. This study demonstrates the potential for clinical combination of chemotherapy and CPMV intratumoral immunotherapy.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• In situ characterization of amine‐forming enzymes shows altered oligomeric state

  Protein Science · 2024-12-25 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Enzyme stability can be measured in a number of ways, including melting temperature, activity retention, and size analysis. However, these measurements are often conducted in an idealized storage buffer and not in the relevant enzymatic reaction media. Particularly for reactions that occur in alkaline, volatile, and high ionic strength media, typical analyses using differential scanning calorimetry, light scattering, and sodium dodecyl-sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis are not satisfactory to track the stability of these enzymes. In this work, we monitor the stability of engineered and native dehydrogenases that require a high amount of ammonia for their reaction to occur. We demonstrate the benefits of analyzing these enzymes in their reaction buffer, uncovering trends that were not observable in the typical phosphate storage buffer. This work provides a framework for analyzing the stability of many other enzymes whose reaction media is not suitable for traditional techniques. We introduce several strategies for measuring the melting temperature, oligomeric state, and activity of these enzymes in their reaction media. Further, we have identified opportunities for integration of computational tools into this workflow to engineer enzymes more effectively for solvent tolerance and improved stability.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Towards realizing nano-enabled precision delivery in plants

  Nature Nanotechnology · 2024-06-06 · 110 citations

  reviewOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• DNA Delivery by Virus-Like Nanocarriers in Plant Cells

  Nano Letters · 2024-06-18 · 19 citations

  articleOpen access

  Tobacco mild green mosaic virus (TMGMV)-like nanocarriers were designed for gene delivery to plant cells. High aspect ratio TMGMVs were coated with a polycationic biopolymer, poly(allylamine) hydrochloride (PAH), to generate highly charged nanomaterials (TMGMV-PAH; 56.20 ± 4.7 mV) that efficiently load (1:6 TMGMV:DNA mass ratio) and deliver single-stranded and plasmid DNA to plant cells. The TMGMV-PAH were taken up through energy-independent mechanisms in Arabidopsis protoplasts. TMGMV-PAH delivered a plasmid DNA encoding a green fluorescent protein (GFP) to the protoplast nucleus (70% viability), as evidenced by GFP expression using confocal microscopy and Western blot analysis. TMGMV-PAH were inactivated (iTMGMV-PAH) using UV cross-linking to prevent systemic infection in intact plants. Inactivated iTMGMV-PAH-mediated pDNA delivery and gene expression of GFP in vivo was determined using confocal microscopy and RT-qPCR. Virus-like nanocarrier-mediated gene delivery can act as a facile and biocompatible tool for advancing genetic engineering in plants.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Plant Viral Nanocarrier Soil Mobility as a Function of Soil Type and Nanoparticle Properties

  ACS Agricultural Science & Technology · 2023-06-09 · 7 citations

  article

  The use of nanoparticles for agrochemical delivery is an important step toward achieving global food security. Specifically, the ability to target the delivery of pesticides and other useful chemicals into the soil will greatly improve the efficiency and efficacy of these molecules, mitigating crop losses associated with pests and parasitic organisms. While synthetic nanoparticles can be a good delivery vehicle and demonstrate high mobility in the soil, their fate and persistence have some implications for human and environmental health. Therefore, using proteinaceous materials such as plant virus nanoparticles, which have already been adapted for the soil, provides a fruitful avenue of exploration. Previously, tobacco mild green mosaic virus (TMGMV) and red clover necrotic mosaic virus (RCNMV) have shown high soil mobility and nematicide delivery for the treatment of plant parasitic nematodes. To further the use of these plant virus nanoparticles in soil delivery applications, understanding the properties of the soil and the nanoparticles is essential. In this work, we assessed the mobility of TMGMV, potato virus X, and tobacco mosaic virus with a genetically encoded lysine on its surface (TMV-Lys) and virus-like particles of physalis mottle virus (PhMV) in four types of soil. The particles were loaded in a cylindrical column of soil, eluted, and analyzed for the protein signal. A mathematical model was used to compare their relative mobility. Data indicate that TMGMV has higher soil mobility compared to the other plant virus-based nanoparticles analyzed, and this appeared to be independent of the soil environment. Data indicate that the presence of a high-density lysine corona may not be favorable for soil applications. While this work provides insights into nanoparticle design rules for soil applications, data also highlight that more systemic studies are needed to delineate the design rules for soil delivery of nanocarriers.

  PublisherDOI

• Delivery of Nematicides Using TMGMV-Derived Spherical Nanoparticles

  Nano Letters · 2023-06-16 · 30 citations

  article1st author

  Spherical nanoparticles (SNPs) from tobacco mild green mosaic virus (TMGMV) were developed and characterized, and their application for agrochemical delivery was demonstrated. Specifically, we set out to develop a platform for pesticide delivery targeting nematodes in the rhizosphere. SNPs were obtained by thermal shape-switching of the TMGMV. We demonstrated that cargo can be loaded into the SNPs during thermal shape-switching, enabling the one-pot synthesis of functionalized nanocarriers. Cyanine 5 and ivermectin were encapsulated into SNPs to achieve 10% mass loading. SNPs demonstrated good mobility and soil retention slightly higher than that of TMGMV rods. Ivermectin delivery to Caenorhabditis elegans using SNPs was determined after passing the formulations through soil. Using a gel burrowing assay, we demonstrate the potent efficacy of SNP-delivered ivermectin against nematodes. Like many pesticides, free ivermectin is adsorbed in the soil and did not show efficacy. The SNP nanotechnology offers good soil mobility and a platform technology for pesticide delivery to the rhizosphere.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Carine Vergne‐Vaxelaire

  Génomique Métabolique du Genoscope

  17 shared

• Laurine Ducrot

  Genoscope

  12 shared

• Nicole F. Steinmetz

  University of California, San Diego

  11 shared

• Julie A. Champion

  8 shared

• Bettina Bommarius

  Georgia Institute of Technology

  7 shared

• Andreas S. Bommarius

  Georgia Institute of Technology

  7 shared

• Ivonne González‐Gamboa

  University of California, San Diego

  7 shared

• Anne Zaparucha

  Genoscope

  7 shared

Labs

• Caparco Research GroupPI

Education

• Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

  Georgia Institue of Technology

  2020

• B.S. Chemical Engineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

  University of California, Los Angeles

  2015

Awards & honors

• Spring 2025 PEAK Experiences Awards from Northeastern’s Offi…