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Updated: Jan 30, 2026

Assembly and Characterization of Polyelectrolyte Complex Micelles
Published on: March 2, 2020
Artificial Cellulosome Complex from the Self-Assembly of Ni-NTA-Functionalized Polymeric Micelles and Cellulases
Lin Lu1, Libo Zhang1, Liang Yuan1
1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, 631 Sumter Street, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA.
Abstract:
Polymer-protein core-shell nanoparticles have been explored for enzyme immobilization. This work reports on the development of functional polymeric micelles for immobilizing His6 -tagged cellulases with controlled spatial orientation of enzymes, resulting in "artificial cellulosomes" for effective cellulose hydrolysis. Poly(styrene)-b-poly(styrene-alt-maleic anhydride) was prepared through one-pot reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer polymerization and modified with nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) to afford an amphiphilic block copolymer. The self-assembled polymer was mixed with a solution of NiSO4 to form Ni-NTA-functionalized micelles, which could successfully capture His6 -tagged cellulases and form hierarchically structured core-shell nanoparticles with cellulases as the corona. Because the anchored enzymes are site-specifically oriented and in close proximity, synergistic catalysis that results in over twofold activity enhancement has been achieved.
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