Light-triggered enzymatic reactions in nested vesicle reactors

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 1093 - 6
• Main Authors: Hindley, James W., Elani, Yuval, McGilvery, Catriona M., Ali, Simak, Bevan, Charlotte L., Law, Robert V., Ces, Oscar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 15.03.2018; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 147/143; 639/301/357/341; 639/638/439/890; 639/638/77/603; 639/638/92/314; beta-Galactosidase - metabolism; Biocatalysis; Catalysis; Chassis; Controlled release; Drug delivery; Drug delivery systems; Enzymes; Galactosidase; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hydrolysis; Irradiation; Light; Lipids; multidisciplinary; Polyethylene glycol; Pore formation; Reactors; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Substrates; Synthetic biology; Ultraviolet radiation; Ultraviolet Rays; Vesicles; β-Galactosidase
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03491-7

Cell-sized vesicles have tremendous potential both as miniaturised pL reaction vessels and in bottom-up synthetic biology as chassis for artificial cells. In both these areas the introduction of light-responsive modules affords increased functionality, for example, to initiate enzymatic reactions in the vesicle interior with spatiotemporal control. Here we report a system composed of nested vesicles where the inner compartments act as phototransducers, responding to ultraviolet irradiation through diacetylene polymerisation-induced pore formation to initiate enzymatic reactions. The controlled release and hydrolysis of a fluorogenic β-galactosidase substrate in the external compartment is demonstrated, where the rate of reaction can be modulated by varying ultraviolet exposure time. Such cell-like nested microreactor structures could be utilised in fields from biocatalysis through to drug delivery. Matryoshka doll-like, nested vesicles, each containing a different ingredient to a chemical reaction, can serve as microreactors. Here, the authors developed a system in which mixing of the ingredients can be induced by irradiation with ultraviolet light.