Regulation of α-Chymotrypsin Catalysis by Ferric Porphyrins and Cyclodextrins

Seed-Induced Living Two-Dimensional (2D) Supramolecular Polymerization in Water: Implications on Protein Adsorption and Enzyme Inhibition

In biological systems, programmable supramolecular frameworks characterized by coordinated directional non-covalent interactions are widespread. However, only a small number of reports involve pure water-based dynamic supramolecular assembly of artificial π-amphiphiles, primarily due to the formidable challenge of counteracting the strong hydrophobic dominance of the π-surface in water, leading to undesired kinetic traps. This study reveals the pathway complexity in hydrogen-bonding-mediated supramolecular polymerization of an amide-functionalized naphthalene monoimide (NMI) building block with a hydrophilic oligo-oxyethylene (OE) wedge. O-NMI-2 initially produced entropically driven, collapsed spherical particles in water (Agg-1); however, over a span of 72 h, these metastable Agg-1 gradually transformed into two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets (Agg-2), favoured by both entropy and enthalpy contributions. The intricate self-assembly pathways in O-NMI-2 enable us to explore seed-induced living supramolecular polymerization (LSP) in water for controlled synthesis of monolayered 2D assemblies. Furthermore, we demonstrated the nonspecific surface adsorption of a model enzyme, serine protease α-Chymotrypsin (α-ChT), and consequently the enzyme activity, which could be regulated by controlling the morphological transformation of O-NMI-2 from Agg-1 to Agg-2. We delve into the thermodynamic aspects of such shape-dependent protein-surface interactions and unravel the impact of seed-induced LSP on temporally controlling the catalytic activity of α-ChT.

Enhancing the enzymatic inhibition performance of Cu-based metal-organic frameworks by shortening the organic ligands

Creating more exposed active sites on the metal-organic framework (MOF) surface is crucial for enhancing the recognition ability of MOF artificial receptors. Here, a copper-based MOF Cu(im)₂ (im = imidazole) was utilized to act as an artificial receptor, inhibiting the activity of α-chymotrypsin. The shortest diazole ligand reduced the distance between regenerative copper sites, creating as many active sites as possible on the MOF unit surface. The amount of copper(ii) centers on the Cu(im)₂ surface was calculated to be 4.96 × 10⁶μm^-2. Thus, Cu(im)₂ showed exceedingly higher inhibition performance than other copper-based MOFs. The ChT activity was almost inhibited (88.8%) after the incubation with only 20 μg mL^-1 Cu(im)₂ for 10 min. The binding between ChT and Cu(im)₂ was very fast with high affinity. Further results proved that Cu(im)₂ inhibited the activity of ChT through electrostatic interactions and coordination interactions via the mixed inhibition mode. This strategy to use short ligands to create more active sites on the MOF surface provides a new direction to enhance the inhibition efficiency.

Porphyrinoid-Cyclodextrin Assemblies in Biomedical Research: An Update

Porphyrinoids, well-known cofactors in fundamental processes of life, have stimulated interest as synthetic models of natural systems and integral components of photodynamic therapy, but their utilization is compromised by self-aggregation in aqueous media. The capacity of cyclodextrins to include hydrophobic molecules in their cavity provides porphyrinoids with a protective environment against oxidation and the ability to disperse efficiently in biological fluids. Moreover, engineered cyclodextrin-porphyrinoid assemblies enhance the photodynamic abilities of porphyrinoids, can carry chemotherapeutics for synergistic modalities, and can be enriched with functions including cell recognition, tissue penetration, and imaging. This Perspective includes synthetic porphyrinoid-cyclodextrin models of proteins participating in fundamental processes, such as enzymatic catalysis, respiration, and electron transfer. In addition, since porphyrinoid-cyclodextrin systems comprise third generation photosensitizers, recent developments for their utilization in photomedicine, that is, multimodal therapy for cancer (e.g., PDT, PTT) and antimicrobial treatment, and eventually in biocompatible therapeutic or diagnostic platforms for next-generation nanomedicine and theranostics are discussed.

Exfoliated Nanosheets of a CuII Coordination Polymer Modulate Enzyme Activity of α-Chymotrypsin

A 2D coordination polymer derived from 5-azidoisophthalic acid (AIA) and Cu(NO₃ )₂ was designed with the aim of modulating the activity of a digestive enzyme α-chymotrypsin (ChT). The coordination polymer namely {[Cu_0.5 (μ-AIA)_0.5 (H₂ O)]⋅2 H₂ O}_α (CP1) was successfully synthesized and fully characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SXRD). An exfoliated nanosheet (ENS) of CP1 was readily produced by overnight stirring of hand-ground CP1 crystals dispersed in DMSO. ENS(CP1) was demonstrated to be acting as an inhibitor of ChT; as much as ≈97 % inhibition of ChT was achieved with 100 μm of ENS(CP1) using N-succinyl-l-phenylalanine-p-nitroanilide (SPNA) as substrate. Enzyme kinetics data revealed that the inhibition of ChT followed a competitive pathway. An enzyme assay under varying ionic strength and varying concentration of free histidine revealed that the active site His-57 participated in coordination with the Cu^II metal center of ENS(CP1) thereby preventing the substrate (SPNA) from binding with the enzyme resulting in efficient inhibition.

Stimuli-Responsive Directional Vesicular Assembly with Tunable Surface Functionality and Impact on Enzyme Inhibition

The article describes the self-assembly of a series of unsymmetrical bola-shaped π-amphiphiles (NDI-1, NDI-1a, NDI-2, NDI-3, and NDI-4) consisting of a hydrophobic naphthalene-diimide (NDI) chromophore attached to a nonionic hydrophilic wedge and an anionic headgroup in the two opposite arms of the central NDI. By design, only a single hydrazide group is linked either on the ionic or nonionic arm of the NDI. NDI-1 and NDI-1a are regioisomers differing only in the location of the hydrazide group, placed in the nonionic or ionic arm, respectively. NDI-2, NDI-3, and NDI-4 are similar to NDI-1 in the placement of the hydrazide group but differ in the nature of the ionic headgroups. Except for NDI-2, all of them exhibit spontaneous vesicle structures in water (pH 9.0) as established by electron microscopy, small-angle neutron scattering, dynamic light scattering, and spectroscopy studies. Supramolecularly assembled oligo-oxyethylene chains of the hydrophobic wedge exhibited a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) at ∼40 °C, similar to that of covalent polymers. Consequently, above the LCST, the bola-amphiphile was converted to a single headgroup surfactant, resulting in the collapse of the vesicular structure to nanoparticles. In all examples, the dominant H-bonding force among the hydrazide groups resulted in unidirectional orientation, leading to the formation of a nonsymmetric membrane with the H-bonded chain located at the inner wall. Therefore, the functional group displayed in these vesicles could be fully dictated by the location of the hydrazide group. Thus, for NDI-1, NDI-3, or NDI-4, the hydrazide group, located at the nonionic arm, directed the nonionic wedge to converge at the inner wall of the vesicle by displaying the anionic headgroups toward the outer surface. In contrast, NDI-1a formed a nonionic vesicle because in this case anionic headgroups were located at the inner wall of the membrane. Furthermore, among NDI-1, NDI-3, and NDI-4, the charge density of the anionic surface and accordingly the radius of curvature and particle size could be tuned precisely as a function of the extent of charge delocalization in the phenoxide or carboxylate headgroup. These distinct self-assembly modes resulted in very different abilities of these vesicles for electrostatic-interaction-driven biomolecular recognition, which was studied by testing their ability to bind with cationic protein chymotripsin and inhibit its enzymatic activity. The enzyme inhibition ability followed the order NDI-1 > NDI-3 > NDI-4 > NDI-2 ≈ NDI-1a, which could be rationalized by their distinct functional group display and surface charge density factors.

Molecular assemblies of porphyrins and macrocyclic receptors: recent developments in their synthesis and applications

Metalloporphyrins which form the core of many bioenzymes and natural light harvesting or electron transport systems, exhibit a variety of selective functional properties depending on the state and surroundings with which they exist in biological systems. The specificity and ease with which they function in each of their bio-functions appear to be largely governed by the nature and disposition of the protein globule around the porphyrin reaction center. Synthetic porphyrin frameworks confined within or around a pre-organized molecular entity like the protein network in natural systems have attracted considerable attraction, especially in the field of biomimetic reactions. At the same time a large number of macrocyclic oligomers such as calixarenes, resorcinarenes, spherands, cyclodextrins and crown ethers have been investigated in detail as efficient molecular receptors. These molecular receptors are synthetic host molecules with enclosed interiors, which are designed three dimensionally to ensure strong and precise molecular encapsulation/recognition. Due to their complex structures, enclosed guest molecules reside in an environment isolated from the outside and as a consequence, physical properties and chemical reactions specific to that environment in these guest species can be identified. The facile incorporation of such molecular receptors into the highly photoactive and catalytically efficient porphyrin framework allows for convenient design of useful molecular systems with unique structural and functional properties. Such systems have provided over the years attractive model systems for the study of various biological and chemical processes, and the design of new materials and molecular devices. This review focuses on the recent developments in the synthesis of porphyrin assemblies associated with cyclodextrins, calixarenes and resorcinarenes and their potential applications in the fields of molecular encapsulation/recognition, and chemical catalysis.

Dominant structural factors for complexation and denaturation of proteins using carboxylic acid receptors

Complexation accompanied by denaturation of protein with synthetic carboxylic acid receptors was investigated, to evaluate the key factors for recognition of proteins. The synthetic receptors used were tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP) derivatives and receptors bearing multiple (2-8) carboxylic acid groups. The complexation behavior was quantified from the absorption in the far UV CD spectrum attributed to the secondary structure of the protein. TPP derivatives bearing multiple carboxylic acid groups in the side chains exhibited higher affinity than other receptors that were smaller and had fewer carboxylic acid groups. As the degree of complexation was influenced by the pH and ionic strength in aqueous solution, electrostatic interaction was one of the most important factors for the recognition of proteins. Complexation was also estimated by observation of fluorescence quenching of the TPP derivatives. The stoichiometry of the complexes between lysozyme and the porphyrins was investigated by quantitative analysis of the denaturation using CD spectra. From the results of Job plots and slope analysis for the amount of denatured protein, formation of 1:1 complexes was confirmed. The equilibrium association constants (K(ass)) for lysozyme and the TPP receptors ranged from 0.6×10(6) to 1.1×10(6)M(-1). The lytic activity of lysozyme was partially lost in the presence of anionic TPP derivatives, due to complexation and denaturation.

Graphene oxide as an enzyme inhibitor: modulation of activity of α-chymotrypsin

We have investigated the efficacy of graphene oxide (GO) in modulating enzymatic activity. Specifically, we have shown that GO can act as an artificial receptor and inhibit the activity of α-chymotrypsin (ChT), a serine protease. Most significantly, our data demonstrate that GO exhibits the highest inhibition dose response (by weight) for ChT inhibition compared with all other reported artificial inhibitors. Through fluorescence spectroscopy and circular dichroism studies, we have shown that this protein-receptor interaction is highly biocompatible and conserves the protein's secondary structure over extended periods (>24 h). We have also explored GO-enzyme interactions by controlling the ionic strength of the medium, which attenuates the host-guest electrostatic interactions. These findings suggest a new generation of enzymatic inhibitors that can be applied to other complex proteins by systematic modification of the GO functionality.

Solubilization of polycyclic aromatics in water by γ-cyclodextrin derivatives

A series of hydrophilic per-6-thio-6-deoxy-γ-cyclodextrins (CDs) were synthesized from per-6-iodo-6-deoxy-γ-CD. These new hosts are able to solubilize polycyclic aromatic guests in aqueous solution to much higher extents than native CDs. Phase-solubility diagrams were mostly linear in accordance with both 1:1 and 1:2 CD-guest complexes in aqueous solution. The stoichiometry of the inclusion complexes was further investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy, which revealed very pronounced Stokes shifts typical for 1:2 complexes. This finding was further consolidated by quantum mechanical calculations of dimer formation of the guests and space-filling considerations by using the cross-sectional areas of the CDs and guests. The calculated dimerization energies correlated well with the binding free energies measured for the 1:2 complexes, and provided the main contribution to the driving force of complexation in the γ-CD cavity.

Novel electrochemical and pH stimulus-responsive supramolecular polymer with disparate pseudorotaxanes as relevant unimers

The assembly/disassembly of a supramolecular polymer can be reversibly controlled electrochemically and by protonation/deprotonation with two disparate pseudo[2]rotaxanes as unimers.

Nano-supramolecular assemblies constructed from water-soluble bis(calix[5]arenes) with porphyrins and their photoinduced electron transfer properties

Possessing 2D netlike and 1D linear morphologies, two nano-supramolecular architectures A1 and A2 are constructed by tetracationic porphyrin (G1) and dicationic porphyrin (G2), respectively, upon complexation with the novel water-soluble bis(p-sulfonatocalix[5]arenes) bridged at the lower rim (H2). Corresponding to the molecular design, the aggregation morphologies are well manipulated by the inherent binding sites of the building blocks through host-guest interactions as well as charge interactions. In comparison to the simple p-sulfonatocalix[5]arene H1 which can only form particle-type complexes C1 and C2 with porphyrin guests, H2 provides excellent pre-organized structure to construct highly complex nano-supramolecular assemblies. The exhibited electron-transfer process of the supramolecular systems is further investigated by steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy, electrochemical measurements, and transient absorption spectroscopy. The results obtained show that calixarenes are also effective electron donors in PET besides acting as significant building blocks, which gives them many advantages in constructing well-ordered nanomaterials with the capability of electron and energy transport.