Enzymatic film formation of nature-derived phenolic amines

An enzyme-instructed method is developed for material-independent, cytocompatible coating of phenolic amines, inspired by melanogenesis found in nature. Tyrosinase-based film formation proceeds smoothly in an aqueous solution at neutral pH, and can use various phenolic amines including catecholamines, such as tyrosine, tyramine, dopamine, norepinephrine, and DOPA, as a coating precursor. Compared with polydopamine coating, the method is fast and efficient, and forms uniform films. Its high cytocompatibility is advantageously applied to cell-surface engineering, where chemically labile Jurkat cells are coated individually without any noticeable decrease in viability. Considering the huge potential of polyphenolic-based coatings, the strategy developed herein will provide an advanced tool for manipulating biological entities, including living cells, in biomedical and medicinal applications.