0000000000172177
AUTHOR
Héloïse Thérien-aubin
Controlling the semi-permeability of protein nanocapsules influences the cellular response to macromolecular payloads.
Nanocapsules are an excellent platform for the delivery of macromolecular payloads such as proteins, nucleic acids or polyprodrugs, since they can both protect the sensitive cargo and target its delivery to the desired site of action. However, the release of macromolecules from nanocapsules remains a challenge due to their restricted diffusion through the nanoshell compared to small molecule cargo. Here, we designed degradable protein nanocapsules with varying crosslinking densities of the nanoshell to control the release of model macromolecules. While the crosslinking did not influence the degradability of the capsules by natural proteases, it significantly affected the release profiles. F…
Nanozymes in Nanofibrous Mats with Haloperoxidase-like Activity To Combat Biofouling.
Electrospun polymer mats are widely used in tissue engineering, wearable electronics, and water purification. However, in many environments, the polymer nanofibers prepared by electrospinning suffer from biofouling during long-term usage, resulting in persistent infections and device damage. Herein, we describe the fabrication of polymer mats with CeO2–x nanorods that can prevent biofouling in an aqueous environment. The embedded CeO2–x nanorods are functional mimics of natural haloperoxidases that catalyze the oxidative bromination of Br– and H2O2 to HOBr. The generated HOBr, a natural signaling molecule, disrupted the bacterial quorum sensing, a critical step in biofilm formation. The pol…
Polysaccharide-Based pH-Responsive Nanocapsules Prepared with Bio-Orthogonal Chemistry and Their Use as Responsive Delivery Systems.
Bio-orthogonal reactions have become an essential tool to prepare biomaterials; for example, in the synthesis of nanocarriers, bio-orthogonal chemistry allows circumventing common obstacles related to the encapsulation of delicate payloads or the occurrence of uncontrolled side reactions, which significantly limit the range of potential payloads to encapsulate. Here, we report a new approach to prepare pH-responsive nanocarriers using dynamic bio-orthogonal chemistry. The reaction between a poly(hydrazide) crosslinker and functionalized polysaccharides was used to form a pH-responsive hydrazone network. The network formation occurred at the interface of aqueous nanodroplets in miniemulsion …