Shear Stress‐Responsive Polymersome Nanoreactors Inspired by the Marine Bioluminescence of Dinoflagellates

Some marine plankton called dinoflagellates emit light in response to the movement of surrounding water, resulting in a phenomenon called milky seas or sea sparkle. The underlying concept, a shear‐stress induced permeabilisation of biocatalytic reaction compartments, is transferred to polymer‐based...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Angewandte Chemie 2021-01, Vol.133 (2), p.917-922
Main Authors: Rifaie‐Graham, Omar, Galensowske, Nikolas F. B., Dean, Charlie, Pollard, Jonas, Balog, Sandor, Gouveia, Micael G., Chami, Mohamed, Vian, Antoine, Amstad, Esther, Lattuada, Marco, Bruns, Nico
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bases (nucleic acids)
biocatalysis
bioinspired materials
Bioluminescence
Block copolymers
Chemistry
Dinoflagellates
Fluid dynamics
Hydrogen bonding
Hydrophobicity
mechanoresponsive materials
Membrane vesicles
Membranes
Microorganisms
Plankton
Polarity
Polymers
Shear forces
Shear stress
Turbulent flow
Turbulent mixing
vesicles
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Some marine plankton called dinoflagellates emit light in response to the movement of surrounding water, resulting in a phenomenon called milky seas or sea sparkle. The underlying concept, a shear‐stress induced permeabilisation of biocatalytic reaction compartments, is transferred to polymer‐based nanoreactors. Amphiphilic block copolymers that carry nucleobases in their hydrophobic block are self‐assembled into polymersomes. The membrane of the vesicles can be transiently switched between an impermeable and a semipermeable state by shear forces occurring in flow or during turbulent mixing of polymersome dispersions. Nucleobase pairs in the hydrophobic leaflet separate when mechanical force is applied, exposing their hydrogen bonding motifs and therefore making the membrane less hydrophobic and more permeable for water soluble compounds. This polarity switch is used to release payload of the polymersomes on demand, and to activate biocatalytic reactions in the interior of the polymersomes. Polymersomes with nucleobase pairs in their membrane become transiently permeable for substrates when shear forces are applied. These force‐responsive polymersomes allow to switch on enzymatic reactions by turbulent mixing of vesicle dispersions, which is demonstrated with colorimetric and chemoluminescent reactions, as well as the curing of hydrogels.
ISSN:0044-8249
1521-3757
DOI:10.1002/ange.202010099