Synthetic Silica Nano‐Organelles for Regulation of Cascade Reactions in Multi‐Compartmentalized Systems

• Published in: Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2022-02, Vol.61 (6), p.e202113784-n/a
• Main Authors: Jiang, Shuai, Caire da Silva, Lucas, Ivanov, Tsvetomir, Mottola, Milagro, Landfester, Katharina
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Artificial Cells - chemistry; Artificial Cells - metabolism; Cascade chemical reactions; cascade reactions; enzymatic reactions; Enzymes; Glucose Oxidase - chemistry; Glucose Oxidase - metabolism; Horseradish Peroxidase - chemistry; Horseradish Peroxidase - metabolism; Humans; Microreactors; nanoorganelles; Nanoparticles - chemistry; Nanoparticles - metabolism; nanoreactors; Organelles; Particle Size; Polymers; Silica; Silicon dioxide; Silicon Dioxide - chemistry; Silicon Dioxide - metabolism; synthetic cells
• ISSN: 1433-7851; 1521-3773
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.202113784

In eukaryotic cells, enzymes are compartmentalized into specific organelles so that different reactions and processes can be performed efficiently and with a high degree of control. In this work, we show that these features can be artificially emulated in robust synthetic organelles constructed using an enzyme co‐compartmentalization strategy. We describe an in situ encapsulation approach that allows enzymes to be loaded into silica nanoreactors in well‐defined compositions. The nanoreactors can be combined into integrated systems to produce a desired reaction outcome. We used the selective enzyme co‐compartmentalization and nanoreactor integration to regulate competitive cascade reactions and to modulate the kinetics of sequential reactions involving multiple nanoreactors. Furthermore, we show that the nanoreactors can be efficiently loaded into giant polymer vesicles, resulting in multi‐compartmentalized microreactors. Synthetic silica nano‐organelles designed to regulate kinetics and pathway selection in enzymatic cascade reactions are reported. Like cell organelles, synthetic nano‐organelles can be combined to create integrated systems. Multicompartmentalized synthetic cells were built using synthetic nano‐organelles and giant polymeric vesicles.