No abstract

The development of programmable microscale materials with cell-like functions, dynamics and collective behaviour is an important milestone in systems chemistry, soft matter bioengineering and synthetic protobiology. Here, polymer/nucleotide coacervate micro-droplets are reconfigured into membrane-bounded polyoxometalate coacervate vesicles (PCVs) in the presence of a bio-inspired Ru-based polyoxometalate catalyst to produce synzyme protocells (Ru4PCVs) with catalase-like activity. We exploit the synthetic protocells for the implementation of multi-compartmentalized cell-like models capable of collective synzyme-mediated buoyancy, parallel catalytic processing in individual horseradish peroxidase-containing Ru4PCVs, and chemical signalling in distributed or encapsulated multi-catalytic protocell communities. Our results highlight a new type of catalytic micro-compartment with multi-functional activity and provide a step towards the development of protocell reaction networks.

Improved methodology to prepare maleimide-functionalized, water-soluble, small (<3 nm) gold nanoparticles using a retro-Diels-Alder strategy that we developed for similar organic-soluble AuNP's is described. Importantly, our results suggest that a recent paper by Zhu, Waengler, Lennox, and Schirrmacher describing a similar strategy gave results inconsistent with the formation of the titled maleimide-modified AuNP (Zhu, J.; Waengler, C.; Lennox, R. B.; Schirrmacher, R. Langmuir2012, 28, 5508) as the major product, but consistent with the major product being an adduct derived from the hydrolysis of maleimide formed under the conditions used for the required deprotection of the maleimide. Our methodology provides an efficient and accessible route to pure maleimide-modified small AuNP's that circumvents the formation of the hydrolysis product. The maleimide-modified small AuNP's are versatile because they are soluble in water and in a wide range of organic solvents and their reactivity can now be properly exploited as a reactive moiety in Michael addition for bioconjugation studies in aqueous solution.

Versatile water-soluble AuNPs that incorporate an interfacial strained alkyne were synthesized and their reactivity towards the I-SPAAC reaction was demonstrated by using azide-decorated polymersomes as bioorthogonal reaction partners.

A new method combining an interfacial strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition and post assembly deprotection (SPAAC-PAD) has been developed for the well-defined functionalization of small, watersoluble gold nanoparticles with oligopeptides.