Yamashita Maika, Kawakami Norifumi, Miyamoto Kenji
Department of Biosciences and Informatics, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 223- 8522, Japan.
Chempluschem. 2023 Mar;88(3):e202200392. doi: 10.1002/cplu.202200392.
Encapsulation of hydrophobic molecules in protein-based nanocages is a promising approach for dispersing these molecules in water. Here, we report a chemical modification approach to produce a protein nanocage with a hydrophobic interior surface based on our previously developed nanocage, TIP60. The large pores of TIP60 act as tunnels for small molecules, allowing modification of the interior surface by hydrophobic compounds without nanocage disassembly. We used four different hydrophobic compounds for modification. The largest modification group tested, pyrene, resulted in a modified TIP60 that could encapsulate aromatic photosensitizer zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPC) more efficiently than the other modification compounds. The encapsulated ZnPC generated singlet oxygen upon light activation in the aqueous phase, whereas ZnPC alone formed inert aggregates under the same experimental conditions. Given that chemical modification allows a wider diversity of modifications than mutagenesis, this approach could be used to develop more suitable nanocages for encapsulating hydrophobic molecules of interest.
将疏水分子包裹在基于蛋白质的纳米笼中是将这些分子分散于水中的一种很有前景的方法。在此，我们报道一种化学修饰方法，基于我们之前开发的纳米笼TIP60制备具有疏水内表面的蛋白质纳米笼。TIP60的大孔充当小分子的通道，使得疏水性化合物能够在内表面进行修饰而不会导致纳米笼解体。我们使用了四种不同的疏水性化合物进行修饰。所测试的最大修饰基团芘导致修饰后的TIP60能够比其他修饰化合物更有效地包裹芳香族光敏剂锌酞菁（ZnPC）。包裹的ZnPC在水相中光激活时产生单线态氧，而在相同实验条件下单独的ZnPC形成惰性聚集体。鉴于化学修饰比诱变能实现更多样化的修饰，该方法可用于开发更适合包裹目标疏水分子的纳米笼。
