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Lionello C, Gardin A, Cardellini A, Bochicchio D, Shivrayan M, Fernandez A, Thayumanavan S, Pavan GM. Toward Chemotactic Supramolecular Nanoparticles: From Autonomous Surface Motion Following Specific Chemical Gradients to Multivalency-Controlled Disassembly. ACS NANO 2021; 15:16149-16161. [PMID: 34549951 PMCID: PMC8552489 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.1c05000] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Nature designs chemotactic supramolecular structures that can selectively bind specific groups present on surfaces, autonomously scan them moving along density gradients, and react once a critical concentration is encountered. Since such properties are key in many biological functions, these also offer inspirations for designing artificial systems capable of similar bioinspired autonomous behaviors. One approach is to use soft molecular units that self-assemble in an aqueous solution generating nanoparticles (NPs) that display specific chemical groups on their surface, enabling multivalent interactions with complementarily functionalized surfaces. However, a first challenge is to explore the behavior of these assemblies at sufficiently high-resolution to gain insights on the molecular factors controlling their behaviors. Here, by coupling coarse-grained molecular models and advanced simulation approaches, we show that it is possible to study the (autonomous or driven) motion of self-assembled NPs on a receptor-grafted surface at submolecular resolution. As an example, we focus on self-assembled NPs composed of facially amphiphilic oligomers. We observe how tuning the multivalent interactions between the NP and the surface allows to control of the NP binding, its diffusion along chemical surface gradients, and ultimately, the NP reactivity at determined surface group densities. In silico experiments provide physical-chemical insights on key molecular features in the self-assembling units which determine the dynamic behavior and fate of the NPs on the surface: from adhesion, to diffusion, and disassembly. This offers a privileged point of view into the chemotactic properties of supramolecular assemblies, improving our knowledge on how to design new types of materials with bioinspired autonomous behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Lionello
- Department
of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico
di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
| | - Andrea Gardin
- Department
of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico
di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
| | - Annalisa Cardellini
- Department
of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico
di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
| | - Davide Bochicchio
- Department
of Innovative Technologies, University of
Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, Polo Universitario
Lugano, Campus Est, Via
la Santa 1, 6962 Lugano-Viganello, Switzerland
- Department
of Physics, Università degli studi
di Genova, Via Dodecaneso
33, 16100 Genova, Italy
| | - Manisha Shivrayan
- Department
of Chemistry, Center for Bioactive Delivery at the Institute for Applied
Life Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Ann Fernandez
- Department
of Chemistry, Center for Bioactive Delivery at the Institute for Applied
Life Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - S. Thayumanavan
- Department
of Chemistry, Center for Bioactive Delivery at the Institute for Applied
Life Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Giovanni M. Pavan
- Department
of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico
di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
- Department
of Innovative Technologies, University of
Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, Polo Universitario
Lugano, Campus Est, Via
la Santa 1, 6962 Lugano-Viganello, Switzerland
| |
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