TY - JOUR A1 - Wu, Lei A1 - Glebe, Ulrich A1 - Böker, Alexander T1 - Synthesis of Hybrid Silica Nanoparticles Densely Grafted with Thermo and pH Dual-Responsive Brushes via Surface-Initiated ATRP JF - Macromolecules : a publication of the American Chemical Society Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.6b01792 SN - 0024-9297 SN - 1520-5835 VL - 49 SP - 9586 EP - 9596 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wu, Lei A1 - Glebe, Ulrich A1 - Böker, Alexander T1 - Fabrication of Thermoresponsive Plasmonic Core-Satellite Nanoassemblies with a Tunable Stoichiometry via Surface-Initiated Reversible Addition-Fragmentation Chain Transfer Polymerization from Silica Nanoparticles JF - Advanced materials interfaces N2 - This work presents a fabrication of thermoresponsive plasmonic core-satellite nanoassemblies. The structure has a silica nanoparticle core surrounded by gold nanoparticle satellites using thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) chains as scaffolds. The thiol-terminated PNIPAM shell is densely grafted on the silica core via surface-initiated reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization and used to anchor numerous gold nanoparticle satellites with a tunable stoichiometry. Below and above lower critical solution temperature, the chain conformation of PNIPAM reversibly changes between swollen and shrunken state. The reversible change of the polymer size varies the refractive index of the local medium surrounding the satellites and the distance between them. The two effects together lead to the thermoresponsive plasmonic properties of the nanoassemblies. Under different satellite densities, two distinctive plasmonic features appear. KW - gold KW - hybrid materials KW - polymeric materials KW - silica KW - surface plasmon resonance Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.201700092 SN - 2196-7350 VL - 4 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tebaldi, Marli Luiza A1 - Charan, Himanshu A1 - Mavliutova, Liliia A1 - Böker, Alexander A1 - Glebe, Ulrich T1 - Dual-Stimuli Sensitive Hybrid Materials: Ferritin-PDMAEMA by Grafting-From Polymerization JF - Macromolecular chemistry and physics N2 - The combination of stimuli-responsive polymers and proteins that can transport drugs is a promising approach for drug delivery. The formation of ferritin-poly(2-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA) conjugates by atom-transfer radical polymerization from the protein macroinitiator is described. PDMAEMA is a dual-stimuli-responsive polymer and the thermo- and pH-responsive properties of the resulting conjugates are studied in detail with dynamic light scattering (DLS). Additionally, it is demonstrated that the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the protein-polymer conjugates can be further adjusted by the ionic strength of the solution. The conjugates are also characterized by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-ToF) mass spectrometry, and NMR spectroscopy. The obtained MALDI-ToF mass spectra are exceptional for protein-polymer conjugates and have not been so often reported. KW - grafting-from KW - MALDI-ToF MS KW - polymerization KW - proteins KW - responsivity Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/macp.201600529 SN - 1022-1352 SN - 1521-3935 VL - 218 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tan, Li A1 - Liu, Bing A1 - Siemensmeyer, Konrad A1 - Glebe, Ulrich A1 - Böker, Alexander T1 - Synthesis of thermo-responsive nanocomposites of superparamagnetic cobalt nanoparticlesipoly(N-isopropylacrylamide) JF - Journal of colloid and interface science N2 - Novel nanocomposites of superparamagnetic cobalt nanoparticles (Co NPs) and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) were fabricated through surface-initiated atom-transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). We firstly synthesized a functional ATRP initiator, containing an amine (as anchoring group) and a 2-bromopropionate group (SI-ATRP initiator). Oleic acid- and trioctylphosphine oxide-coated Co NPs were then modified with the initiator via ligand exchange. The process is facile and rapid for efficient surface functionalization and afterwards the Co NPs can be dispersed into polar solvent DMF without aggregation. Transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and dynamic light scattering measurements confirmed the success of ligand exchange. The following polymerization of NIPAM was conducted on the surface of Co NPs. Temperature-dependent dynamic light scattering study showed the responsive behavior of PNIPAM-coated Co NPs. The combination of superparamagnetic and thermo-responsive properties in these hybrid nanoparticles is promising for future applications e.g. in biomedicine. (C) 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. KW - Nanoparticles KW - Superparamagnetic KW - Surface-initiated atom-transfer radical KW - polymerization KW - Responsivity Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2018.04.074 SN - 0021-9797 SN - 1095-7103 VL - 526 SP - 124 EP - 134 PB - Elsevier CY - San Diego ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tan, Li A1 - Liu, Bing A1 - Siemensmeyer, Konrad A1 - Glebe, Ulrich A1 - Böker, Alexander T1 - Synthesis of Polystyrene-Coated Superparamagnetic and Ferromagnetic Cobalt Nanoparticles JF - Polymers N2 - Polystyrene-coated cobalt nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized through a dual-stage thermolysis of cobalt carbonyl (Co-2(CO)(8)). The amine end-functionalized polystyrene surfactants with varying molecular weight were prepared via atom-transfer radical polymerization technique. By changing the concentration of these polymeric surfactants, Co NPs with different size, size distribution, and magnetic properties were obtained. Transmission electron microscopy characterization showed that the size of Co NPs stabilized with lower molecular weight polystyrene surfactants (M-n = 2300 g/mol) varied from 12-22 nm, while the size of Co NPs coated with polystyrene of middle (M-n = 4500 g/mol) and higher molecular weight (M-n = 10,500 g/mol) showed little change around 20 nm. Magnetic measurements revealed that the small cobalt particles were superparamagnetic, while larger particles were ferromagnetic and self-assembled into 1-D chain structures. Thermogravimetric analysis revealed that the grafting density of polystyrene with lower molecular weight is high. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to obtain both superparamagnetic and ferromagnetic Co NPs by changing the molecular weight and concentration of polystyrene through the dual-stage decomposition method. KW - cobalt nanoparticles KW - polystyrene KW - superparamagnetic KW - ferromagnetic KW - molecular weight Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/polym10101053 SN - 2073-4360 VL - 10 IS - 10 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tan, Li A1 - Liu, Bing A1 - Glebe, Ulrich A1 - Böker, Alexander T1 - Magnetic Field-Induced Assembly of Superparamagnetic Cobalt Nanoparticles on Substrates and at Liquid-Air Interface JF - Langmuir N2 - Superparamagnetic cobalt nanoparticles (Co NPs) are an interesting material for self-assembly processes because of their magnetic properties. We investigated the magnetic field-induced assembly of superparamagnetic cobalt nanoparticles and compared three different approaches, namely, the assembly on solid substrates, at water-air, and ethylene glycol-air interfaces. Oleic acid- and trioctylphosphine oxide-coated Co NPs were synthesized via a thermolysis of cobalt carbonyl and dispersed into either hexane or toluene. The Co NP dispersion was dropped onto different substrates (e.g., transmission electron microscopy (TEM) grid, silicon wafer) and onto liquid surfaces. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning force microscopy, optical microscopy, as well as scanning electron microscopy showed that superparamagnetic Co NPs assembled into one-dimensional chains in an external magnetic field. By varying the concentration of the Co NP dispersion (1-5 mg/mL) and the strength of the magnetic field (4-54 mT), the morphology of the chains changed. Short, thin, and flexible chain structures were obtained at low NP concentration and low strength of magnetic field, whereas they became long, thick and straight when the NP concentration and the magnetic field strength increased. In comparison, the assembly of Co NPs from hexane dispersion at ethylene glycol-air interface showed the most regular and homogeneous alignment, since a more efficient spreading could be achieved on ethylene glycol than on water and solid substrates. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.8b02673 SN - 0743-7463 VL - 34 IS - 46 SP - 13993 EP - 14002 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sun, Zhiyong A1 - Glebe, Ulrich A1 - Charan, Himanshu A1 - Böker, Alexander A1 - Wu, Changzhu T1 - Enzyme-Polymer Conjugates as Robust Pickering Interfacial Biocatalysts for Efficient Biotransformations and One-Pot Cascade Reactions JF - Angewandte Chemie : a journal of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker ; International edition N2 - Despite the rapid development of Pickering interfacial catalysis (PIC) at liquid-liquid interfaces with chemocatalysts, the use of unstable biocatalysts at emulsion interfaces remains a technical challenge. Herein, we present a Pickering interfacial biocatalysis (PIB) platform based on robust and recyclable enzyme-polymer conjugates that act as both catalytic sites and stabilizers at the interface of Pickering emulsions. The conjugates were prepared by growing poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) on a fragile enzyme, benzaldehyde lyase, under physiological conditions. The mild in situ conjugation process preserved the enzyme structure, and the conjugates were used to emulsify a water-organic two-phase system into a stable Pickering emulsion, leading to a significantly larger interfacial area and a 270-fold improvement in catalytic performance as compared to the unemulsified two-phase system. The PIB system could be reused multiple times. Conjugates of other enzymes were also fabricated and applied for cascade reactions. KW - biphasic catalysis KW - cascade reactions KW - enzyme catalysis KW - enzyme-polymer conjugates KW - Pickering interfacial catalysis Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201806049 SN - 1433-7851 SN - 1521-3773 VL - 57 IS - 42 SP - 13810 EP - 13814 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Qiu, Liang A1 - Zhang, Haoran A1 - Bick, Thomas A1 - Martin, Johannes A1 - Wendler, Petra A1 - Böker, Alexander A1 - Glebe, Ulrich A1 - Xing, Chengfen T1 - Construction of highly ordered glyco-inside nano-assemblies through RAFT dispersion polymerization of galactose-decorated monomer JF - Angewandte Chemie : a journal of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker ; International edition N2 - Glyco-assemblies derived from amphiphilic sugar-decorated block copolymers (ASBCs) have emerged prominently due to their wide application, for example, in biomedicine and as drug carriers. However, to efficiently construct these glyco-assemblies is still a challenge. Herein, we report an efficient technology for the synthesis of glyco-inside nano-assemblies by utilizing RAFT polymerization of a galactose-decorated methacrylate for polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA). Using this approach, a series of highly ordered glyco-inside nano-assemblies containing intermediate morphologies were fabricated by adjusting the length of the hydrophobic glycoblock and the polymerization solids content. A specific morphology of complex vesicles was captured during the PISA process and the formation mechanism is explained by the morphology of its precursor and intermediate. Thus, this method establishes a powerful route to fabricate glyco-assemblies with tunable morphologies and variable sizes, which is significant to enable the large-scale fabrication and wide application of glyco-assemblies. KW - galactose-decorated monomer KW - glyco-inside nano-assemblies KW - morphology KW - evolution KW - PISA KW - RAFT dispersion polymerization Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202015692 SN - 1433-7851 SN - 1521-3773 VL - 60 IS - 20 SP - 11098 EP - 11103 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Garakani, Tayebeh Mirzaei A1 - Liu, Zhanzhi A1 - Glebe, Ulrich A1 - Gehrmann, Julia A1 - Lazar, Jaroslav A1 - Mertens, Marie Anna Stephanie A1 - Möller, Mieke A1 - Hamzelui, Niloofar A1 - Zhu, Leilei A1 - Schnakenberg, Uwe A1 - Böker, Alexander A1 - Schwaneberg, Ulrich T1 - In Situ Monitoring of Membrane Protein Insertion into Block Copolymer Vesicle Membranes and Their Spreading via Potential-Assisted Approach JF - ACS applied materials & interfaces N2 - Synthosomes are polymer vesicles with trans membrane proteins incorporated into block copolymer membranes. They have been used for selective transport in or out of the vesicles as well as catalysis inside the compartments. However, both the insertion process of the membrane protein, forming nanopores, and the spreading of the vesicles on planar substrates to form solid-supported biomimetic membranes have been rarely studied yet. Herein, we address these two points and, first, shed light on the real-time monitoring of protein insertion via isothermal titration calorimetry. Second, the spreading process on different solid supports, namely, SiO2, glass, and gold, via different techniques like spin- and dip-coating as well as a completely new approach of potential-assisted spreading on gold surfaces was studied. While inhomogeneous layers occur via traditional methods, our proposed potential-assisted strategy to induce adsorption of positively charged vesicles by applying negative potential on the electrode leads to remarkable vesicle spreading and their further fusion to form more homogeneous planar copolymer films on gold. The polymer vesicles in our study are formed from amphiphilic copolymers poly(2-methyl oxazoline)-block-poly(dimethylsiloxane)-block-poly(2-methyl oxazoline) (PMOXA-b-PDMS-b-PMOXA). Engineered variants of the transmembrane protein ferric hydroxamate uptake protein component A (FhuA), one of the largest beta-barrel channel proteins, are used as model nanopores. The incorporation of FhuA Delta 1-160 is shown to facilitate the vesicle spreading process further. Moreover, high accessibility of cysteine inside the channel was proven by linkage of a fluorescent dye inside the engineered variant FhuA Delta CVFtev and hence preserved functionality of the channels after spreading. The porosity and functionality of the spread synthosomes on the gold plates have been examined by studying the passive ion transport response in the presence of Li+ and ClO4- ions and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analysis. Our approach to form solid-supported biomimetic membranes via the potential-assisted strategy could be important for the development of new (bio-) sensors and membranes. KW - synthosomes KW - solid-supported biomimetic membranes KW - polymersome spreading KW - electrochemical impedance spectroscopy KW - FhuA Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.9b09302 SN - 1944-8244 SN - 1944-8252 VL - 11 IS - 32 SP - 29276 EP - 29289 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dai, Xiaolin A1 - Mate, Diana M. A1 - Glebe, Ulrich A1 - Garakani, Tayebeh Mirzaei A1 - Körner, Andrea A1 - Schwaneberg, Ulrich A1 - Böker, Alexander T1 - Sortase-mediated ligation of purely artificial building blocks JF - Polymers N2 - Sortase A (SrtA) from Staphylococcus aureus has been often used for ligating a protein with other natural or synthetic compounds in recent years. Here we show that SrtA-mediated ligation (SML) is universally applicable for the linkage of two purely artificial building blocks. Silica nanoparticles (NPs), poly(ethylene glycol) and poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) are chosen as synthetic building blocks. As a proof of concept, NP-polymer, NP-NP, and polymer-polymer structures are formed by SrtA catalysis. Therefore, the building blocks are equipped with the recognition sequence needed for SrtA reaction-the conserved peptide LPETG-and a pentaglycine motif. The successful formation of the reaction products is shown by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), matrix assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-ToF MS), and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The sortase catalyzed linkage of artificial building blocks sets the stage for the development of a new approach to link synthetic structures in cases where their synthesis by established chemical methods is complicated. KW - sortase-mediated ligation KW - enzymes KW - block copolymers KW - nanoparticles Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/polym10020151 SN - 2073-4360 VL - 10 IS - 2 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Charan, Himanshu A1 - Kinzel, Julia A1 - Glebe, Ulrich A1 - Anand, Deepak A1 - Garakani, Tayebeh Mirzaei A1 - Zhu, Leilei A1 - Bocola, Marco A1 - Schwaneberg, Ulrich A1 - Böker, Alexander T1 - Grafting PNIPAAm from beta-barrel shaped transmembrane nanopores JF - Biomaterials : biomaterials reviews online N2 - The research on protein-polymer conjugates by grafting from the surface of proteins has gained significant interest in the last decade. While there are many studies with globular proteins, membrane proteins have remained untouched to the best of our knowledge. In this study, we established the conjugate formation with a class of transmembrane proteins and grow polymer chains from the ferric hydroxamate uptake protein component A (FhuA; a beta-barrel transmembrane protein of Escherichia coli). As the lysine residues of naturally occurring FhuA are distributed over the whole protein, FhuA was reengineered to have up to 11 lysines, distributed symmetrically in a rim on the membrane exposed side (outside) of the protein channel and exclusively above the hydrophobic region. Reengineering of FhuA ensures a polymer growth only on the outside of the beta-barrel and prevents blockage of the channel as a result of the polymerization. A water-soluble initiator for controlled radical polymerization (CRP) was consecutively linked to the lysine residues of FhuA and N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) polymerized under copper mediated CRP conditions. The conjugate formation was analyzed by using MALDI-ToF mass spectrometry, SDS-PAGE, circular dichroism spectroscopy, analytical ultracentrifugation, dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscopy and size exclusion chromatography. Such conjugates combine the specific functions of the transmembrane proteins, like maintaining membrane potential gradients or translocation of substrates with the unique properties of synthetic polymers such as temperature and pH stimuli handles. FhuA-PNIPAAm conjugates will serve as functional nanosized building blocks for applications in targeted drug delivery, self-assembly systems, functional membranes and transmembrane protein gated nanoreactors. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. KW - Transmembrane protein KW - FhuA KW - Protein-polymer conjugate KW - Grafting-from polymerization KW - NIPAAm KW - BBTP Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2016.08.033 SN - 0142-9612 SN - 1878-5905 VL - 107 SP - 115 EP - 123 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Charan, Himanshu A1 - Glebe, Ulrich A1 - Anand, Deepak A1 - Kinzel, Julia A1 - Zhu, Leilei A1 - Bocola, Marco A1 - Garakani, Tayebeh Mirzaei A1 - Schwaneberg, Ulrich A1 - Böker, Alexander T1 - Nano-thin walled micro-compartments from transmembrane protein-polymer conjugates JF - Soft matter N2 - The high interfacial activity of protein-polymer conjugates has inspired their use as stabilizers for Pickering emulsions, resulting in many interesting applications such as synthesis of templated micro-compartments and protocells or vehicles for drug and gene delivery. In this study we report, for the first time, the stabilization of Pickering emulsions with conjugates of a genetically modified transmembrane protein, ferric hydroxamate uptake protein component A (FhuA). The lysine residues of FhuA with open pore (FhuA Delta CVFtev) were modified to attach an initiator and consequently controlled radical polymerization (CRP) carried out via the grafting-from technique. The resulting conjugates of FhuA Delta CVFtev with poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) and poly((2-dimethylamino) ethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA), the so-called building blocks based on transmembrane proteins (BBTP), have been shown to engender larger structures. The properties such as pH-responsivity, temperature-responsivity and interfacial activity of the BBTP were analyzed using UV-Vis spectrophotometry and pendant drop tensiometry. The BBTP were then utilized for the synthesis of highly stable Pickering emulsions, which could remain non-coalesced for well over a month. A new UV-crosslinkable monomer was synthesized and copolymerized with NIPAAm from the protein. The emulsion droplets, upon crosslinking of polymer chains, yielded micro-compartments. Fluorescence microscopy proved that these compartments are of micrometer scale, while cryo-scanning electron microscopy and scanning force microscopy analysis yielded a thickness in the range of 11.1 +/- 0.6 to 38.0 +/- 18.2 nm for the stabilizing layer of the conjugates. Such micro-compartments would prove to be beneficial in drug delivery applications, owing to the possibility of using the channel of the transmembrane protein as a gate and the smart polymer chains as trigger switches to tune the behavior of the capsules. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c6sm02520j SN - 1744-683X SN - 1744-6848 VL - 13 SP - 2866 EP - 2875 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER -