Probing Crowdedness of Artificial Organelles by Clustering Polymersomes for Spatially Controlled and pH-Triggered Enzymatic Reactions

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Peng Wang - , Chair of Organic Chemistry of Polymers, Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (Author)
  • Silvia Moreno - , Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (Author)
  • Andreas Janke - , Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (Author)
  • Susanne Boye - , Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (Author)
  • Dishi Wang - , Chair of Organic Chemistry of Polymers, Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden, TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • Simona Schwarz - , Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (Author)
  • Brigitte Voit - , Chair of Organic Chemistry of Polymers, Technische Universität Dresden, Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (Author)
  • Dietmar Appelhans - , Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (Author)

Abstract

Most sophisticated biological functions and features of cells are based on self-organization, and the coordination and connection between their cell organelles determines their key functions. Therefore, spatially ordered and controllable self-assembly of polymersomes to construct clusters to simulate complex intracellular biological functions has attracted widespread attention. Here, we present a simple one-step copper-free click strategy to cross-link nanoscale pH-responsive and photo-cross-linked polymersomes (less than 100 nm) to micron-level clusters (more than 90% in 0.5-2 μm range). Various influencing factors in the clustering process and subsequent purification methods were studied to obtain optimal clustered polymeric vesicles. Even when polymeric vesicles separately loaded with different enzymes (glucose oxidase and myoglobin) are coclustered, the overall permeability of the clusters can still be regulated through tuning the pH values on demand. Compared with simple blending of those enzyme-loaded polymersomes, the rate of enzymatic cascade reaction increased significantly due to the interconnected complex microstructure established. The connection of catalytic nanocompartments into clusters confining different enzymes of a cascade reaction provides an excellent platform for the development of artificial systems mimicking natural organelles or cells.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3648 - 3662
Number of pages15
JournalBiomacromolecules
Volume23
Issue number9
Early online dateAug 2022
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2022
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 35981858
Scopus 85136693493
ORCID /0000-0002-4531-691X/work/148608041
Mendeley 4acb032e-49ff-360c-89be-27d23b547a15

Keywords

Keywords

  • Responsive polymersomes, Copper-free, Vesicle aggregation, Drug-delivery, Membrane, Nanoparticles, Construction, Release, Design, Fusion