Enhanced catalytic activity from proteinoid microspheres

Abstract

Creating materials that are capable of catalyzing enzymatic reactions could be important to the treatment of both acute and chronic wounds, as well as other topical diseases. As a first step in the design of catalytic biomaterials, a new class of proteinoid microsphere (PM), that includes amino acids found in phosphatase enzyme active sites, has been constructed. This material can significantly enhance catalytic activity for phosphoester hydrolysis, with observed specific activity increases between 35- and 55-fold. Further specific activity increases occur when metal cations, notably iron or zinc, are added to the PMs. Specific activity increases between 140- and 300-fold for these metal modified systems are measured. The phosphatase activity increase is demonstrated for both aromatic phosphate esters as well as the high-energy phosphate bond of adenosine triphosphate. PMs bind substrate heterogeneously on their surfaces in an enthalpically driven reaction that is defined by an overall favorable free energy, but unfavorable entropy. The catalytic PMs have been successfully blended with polyolefin foam and extruded with PLA. These materials remain fully active.

Engineering of New UV-Blocking Hollow Proteinoid Nanoparticles of Narrow Size Distribution Containing All-trans Retinoic Acid for Biomedical Applications

“…When proteinoids are self-assembled in suitable conditions, the hydrophobic residues form a hydrophobic core in the inner side of the particle, in order to minimize their contact with water, while the hydrophilic groups remain on the outer side of the particle and form hydrogen bonds with the surrounding water [25,26]. This self-assembly process may be utilized to encapsulate different suitable molecules within the core of the particles, achieving a biocompatible drug carrier [27]. In recent studies, our group used this procedure to encapsulate anti-cancer drugs and near infrared fluorescent dyes within nano-sized particles for cancer therapy and detection [24,28,29].…”

Engineered Doxorubicin Delivery System Using Proteinoid-Poly (L-Lactic Acid) Polymeric Nanoparticles of Narrow Size Distribution and High Molecular Weight for Cancer Treatment

“…If a suitable molecule is present during the particle formation, encapsulation of this molecule within the particle will occur [24], as presented in Figure 2. Recently, several kinds of proteinoids were investigated for use in the field of drug delivery [25,26]. The proteinoid particles are biodegradable, considered to be non-immunogenic and they possess many chemically active groups on their surface.…”

Engineered Narrow Size Distribution High Molecular Weight Proteinoids, Proteinoid-Poly(L-Lactic Acid) Copolymers and Nano/Micro-Hollow Particles for Biomedical Applications

“…One proteinoid is completely different from another, by the fact that they are made of different amino acid monomers. This fact provides each proteinoid special features, and possibly influences the character of particles made from it [28][29][30][31]. Up until now, most, if not all, of the reported proteinoids in the literature were synthesized from at least seven amino acids and possessed relatively low molecular weights.…”