Ready, Set, Grow: From Micelles to Giant Vesicles via Biocatalytic Activation

Area of Science:

• Supramolecular chemistry
• Materials science
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Controlling physicochemical processes in supramolecular aggregates is key for artificial soft micro- and nanomachines.
• Previous studies focused on external chemical stimuli for morphology control.

Purpose of the Study:

• To modulate the microscale morphology of pH-responsive assemblies using internally generated pH changes via biocatalysis.
• To achieve precision and control over the size and morphology of self-assembled structures.

Main Methods:

• Utilized biocatalysis to internally generate pH changes within pH-responsive assemblies.
• Employed dynamic light scattering and fluorescence microscopy to observe morphological changes.
• Conducted coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations to analyze structure thermodynamics and kinetics.

Main Results:

• Observed significant microscale differences in assemblies subjected to biocatalytic pH changes versus manual titration.
• Demonstrated the growth of giant vesicles from micelles under biocatalytic conditions.
• Simulations provided insights into the thermodynamics and kinetics of preferred structures.

Conclusions:

• Biocatalytic reactions offer a flexible and controllable method for modulating supramolecular assembly morphology.
• This approach enables precise control over size and form, from micelles to giant vesicles.
• Feasibility of using biocatalysis for advanced nanomaterial design is established.