Design of Controllable Bio-Inspired Chiroptic Self-Assemblies

Modulation of chiroptics, chiral phenomena of the optical properties, is pivotal in a variety of advanced applications, including chirality-specific biosensing and photonic switches. One of the most effective methods for achieving this control is assembly of the optical moieties into chiral nanostructures. Lipopeptide self-assemblies have been extensively employed as soft templates to organize composites into low-dimensional superstructures due to their rigidity and ease of functionalization. Therefore, an appealing approach is to provide chiroptical control by using lipopeptide self-assemblies as templates to assemble chromophores. Herein, two lipopeptidic molecules, namely, C₁₄–FFK and C₁₄–FK, composed of phenylalanine and lysine residues conjugated to a myristic acid chain, were custom-designed. Spectroscopic and microscopic characterizations indicated that C₁₄–FFK self-assembled to wide, slightly left-handed nanoribbons, while C₁₄–FK formed narrow, intensely right-handed nanofibers. The different chirality was derived from the distinct self-assembly driving forces, especially the molecular bending dimensions. These superstructures presented an ideal capability to serve as soft templates to assemble porphyrin (ZnTPyP) through noncovalent electrostatic attractive interactions, or assemble the phenolic groups through covalent conjugation to peptide backbones. The distinct exciton coupling of the chromophores allowed their achiral optics to become chiral, showing negative Cotton effect when templated by nanoribbons and positive Cotton effect with nanofibers as templates. Following replacement of the lipopeptides with their d-type enantiomers, the handedness of the superstructures and the associated chiroptics were reversed and presented “mirror” symmetric CD signals to their l-type counterparts. These findings may pave the way to the formation of morphologically and chioptically controllable nanomaterials

Probing the Interactions of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins Using Nanoparticle Tags

The structural plasticity of intrinsically disordered proteins serves as a rich area for scientific inquiry. Such proteins lack a fix three-dimensional structure but can interact with multiple partners through numerous weak bonds. Nevertheless, this intrinsic plasticity possesses a challenging hurdle in their characterization. We underpin the intermolecular interactions between intrinsically disordered neurofilaments in various hydrated conditions, using grafted gold nanoparticle (NP) tags. Beyond its biological significance, this approach can be applied to modify the surface interaction of NPs for the creation of future tunable “smart” hybrid biomaterials

Structural Transition in Myelin Membrane as Initiator of Multiple Sclerosis

In demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis, disrupted myelin structures impair the functional role of the sheath as an insulating layer for proper nerve conduction. Though the etiology and recovery pathways remain unclear, in vivo studies show alterations in the lipid and the adhesive protein (myelin basic protein, MBP) composition. We find that in vitro cytoplasmic myelin membranes with modified lipid composition and low MBP concentration, as in demyelinating disease, show structural instabilities and pathological phase transition from a lamellar to inverted hexagonal, which involve enhanced local curvature. Similar curvatures are also found in vivo in diseased myelin sheaths. In addition, MBP dimers form a correlated mesh-like network within the inner membrane space, only in the vicinity of native lipid composition. These findings delineate the distinct functional roles of dominant constituents in cytoplasmic myelin sheaths, and shed new light on mechanisms disrupting lipid–protein complexes in the diseased state

Enzyme-Responsive Amphiphilic PEG-Dendron Hybrids and Their Assembly into Smart Micellar Nanocarriers

Enzyme-responsive micelles have great potential as drug delivery platforms due to the high selectivity of the activating enzymes. Here we report a highly modular design for the efficient and simple synthesis of amphiphilic block copolymers based on a linear hydrophilic poly­ethylene­glycol (PEG) and an enzyme-responsive hydrophobic dendron. These amphiphilic hybrids self-assemble in water into micellar nanocontainers that can disassemble and release encapsulated molecular cargo upon enzymatic activation. The utilization of monodisperse dendrons as the stimuli-responsive block enabled a detailed kinetic study of the molecular mechanism of the enzymatically triggered disassembly. The modularity of these PEG-dendron hybrids allows control over the disassembly rate of the formed micelles by simply tuning the PEG length. Such smart amphiphilic hybrids could potentially be applied for the fabrication of nanocarriers with adjustable release rates for delivery applications

Molecular Precision and Enzymatic Degradation: From Readily to Undegradable Polymeric Micelles by Minor Structural Changes

Studying the enzymatic degradation of synthetic polymers is crucial for the design of suitable materials for biomedical applications ranging from advanced drug delivery systems to tissue engineering. One of the key parameters that governs enzymatic activity is the limited accessibility of the enzyme to its substrates that may be collapsed inside hydrophobic domains. PEG-dendron amphiphiles can serve as powerful tools for the study of enzymatic hydrolysis of polymeric amphiphiles due to the monodispersity and symmetry of the hydrophobic dendritic block, which significantly simplifies kinetic analyses. Using these hybrids, we demonstrate how precise, minor changes in the hydrophobic block are manifested into tremendous changes in the stability of the assembled micelles toward enzymatic degradation. The obtained results emphasize the extreme sensitivity of self-assembly and its great importance in regulating the accessibility of enzymes to their substrates. Furthermore, the demonstration that the structural differences between readily degradable and undegradable micelles are rather minor, points to the critical roles that self-assembly and polydispersity play in designing biodegradable materials

Reversible Dimerization of Polymeric Amphiphiles Acts as a Molecular Switch of Enzymatic Degradability

Enzyme-responsive polymeric micelles have great potential as drug delivery systems due to the high selectivity and overexpression of disease-associated enzymes, which could be utilized to trigger the release of active drugs only at the target site. We previously demonstrated that enzymatic degradation rates of amphiphilic PEG-dendron hybrids could be precisely tuned by gradually increasing the hydrophobic to hydrophilic ratio. However, with the increase in hydrophobicity, the micelles rapidly became too stable and could not be degraded, as often encountered for many other amphiphilic assemblies. Here we address the challenge to balance between stability and reactivity of enzymatically degradable assemblies by utilizing reversible dimerization of diblock polymeric amphiphiles to yield jemini amphiphiles. This molecular transformation serves as a tool to control the critical micelle concentration of the amphiphiles in order to tune their micellar stability and enzymatic degradability. To demonstrate this approach, we show that simple dimerization of two polymeric amphiphiles through a single reversible disulfide bond significantly increased the stability of their micellar assemblies toward enzymatic degradation, although the hydrophilic to hydrophobic ratio was not changed. Reduction of the disulfide bond led to dedimerization of the polymeric hybrids and allowed their degradation by the activating enzyme. The generality of the approach is demonstrated by designing both esterase- and amidase-responsive micellar systems. This new molecular design can serve as a simple tool to increase the stability of polymeric micelles without impairing their enzymatic degradability

Spontaneous Structural Transition in Phospholipid-Inspired Aromatic Phosphopeptide Nanostructures

Phospholipid membranes could be considered a prime example of the ability of nature to produce complex yet ordered structures, by spontaneous and efficient self-assembly. Inspired by the unique properties and architecture of phospholipids, we designed simple amphiphilic decapeptides, intended to fold in the center of the peptide sequence, with a phosphorylated serine “head” located within a central turn segment, and two hydrophobic “tails”. The molecular design also included the integration of the diphenylalanine motif, previously shown to facilitate self-assembly and increase nanostructure stability. Secondary structure analysis of the peptides indeed indicated the presence of stabilized conformations in solution, with a central turn connecting two hydrophobic “tails”, and interactions between the hydrophobic strands. The mechanisms of assembly into supramolecular structures involved structural transitions between different morphologies, which occurred over several hours, leading to the formation of distinctive nanostructures, including half-elliptical nanosheets and curved tapes. The phosphopeptide building blocks appear to self-assemble <i>via</i> a particular combination of aromatic, hydrophobic and ionic interactions, as well as hydrogen bonding, as demonstrated by proposed constructed simulated models of the peptides and self-assembled nanostructures. Molecular dynamics simulations also gave insight into mechanisms of structural transitions of the nanostructures at a molecular level. Because of the biocompatibility of peptides, the phosphopeptide assemblies allow for expansion of the library of biomolecular nanostructures available for future design and application of biomedical devices

The role of Vimentin in Regulating Cell Invasive Migration in Dense Cultures of Breast Carcinoma Cells

Cell migration and mechanics are tightly regulated by the integrated activities of the various cytoskeletal networks. In cancer cells, cytoskeletal modulations have been implicated in the loss of tissue integrity and acquisition of an invasive phenotype. In epithelial cancers, for example, increased expression of the cytoskeletal filament protein vimentin correlates with metastatic potential. Nonetheless, the exact mechanism whereby vimentin affects cell motility remains poorly understood. In this study, we measured the effects of vimentin expression on the mechano-elastic and migratory properties of the highly invasive breast carcinoma cell line MDA231. We demonstrate here that vimentin stiffens cells and enhances cell migration in dense cultures, but exerts little or no effect on the migration of sparsely plated cells. These results suggest that cell–cell interactions play a key role in regulating cell migration, and coordinating cell movement in dense cultures. Our findings pave the way toward understanding the relationship between cell migration and mechanics in a biologically relevant context

Encapsulation and Covalent Binding of Molecular Payload in Enzymatically Activated Micellar Nanocarriers

The high selectivity and often-observed overexpression of specific disease-associated enzymes make them extremely attractive for triggering the release of hydrophobic drug or probe molecules from stimuli-responsive micellar nanocarriers. Here we utilized highly modular amphiphilic polymeric hybrids, composed of a linear hydrophilic polyethylene glycol (PEG) and an esterase-responsive hydrophobic dendron, to prepare and study two diverse strategies for loading of enzyme-responsive micelles. In the first type of micelles, hydrophobic coumarin-derived dyes were encapsulated noncovalently inside the hydrophobic core of the micelle, which was composed of lipophilic enzyme-responsive dendrons. In the second type of micellar nanocarrier the hydrophobic molecular cargo was covalently linked to the end-groups of the dendron through enzyme-cleavable bonds. These amphiphilic hybrids self-assembled into micellar nanocarriers with their cargo covalently encapsulated within the hydrophobic core. Both types of micelles were highly responsive toward the activating enzyme and released their molecular cargo upon enzymatic stimulus. Importantly, while faster release was observed with noncovalent encapsulation, higher loading capacity and slower release rate were achieved with covalent encapsulation. Our results clearly indicate the great potential of enzyme-responsive micellar delivery platforms due to the ability to tune their payload capacities and release rates by adjusting the loading strategy

Self-Assembly of Tunable Intrinsically Disordered Peptide Amphiphiles

Intrinsically disordered peptide amphiphiles (IDPAs) present a novel class of synthetic conjugates that consist of short hydrophilic polypeptides anchored to hydrocarbon chains. These hybrid polymer-lipid block constructs spontaneously self-assemble into dispersed nanoscopic aggregates or ordered mesophases in aqueous solution due to hydrophobic interactions. Yet, the possible sequence variations and their influence on the self-assembly structures are vast and have hardly been explored. Here, we measure the nanoscopic self-assembled structures of four IDPA systems that differ by their amino acid sequence. We show that permutations in the charge pattern along the sequence remarkably alter the headgroup conformation and consequently alter the pH-triggered phase transitions between spherical, cylindrical micelles and hexagonal condensed phases. We demonstrate that even a single amino acid mutation is sufficient to tune structural transitions in the condensed IDPA mesophases, while peptide conformations remain unfolded and disordered. Furthermore, alteration of the peptide sequence can render IDPAs to become susceptible to enzymatic cleavage and induce enzymatically activated phase transitions. These results hold great potential for embedding multiple functionalities into lipid nanoparticle delivery systems by incorporating IDPAs with the desired properties