Third‐Party ATP Sensing in Polymersomes: A Label‐Free Assay of Enzyme Reactions in Vesicular Compartments

Abstract

Submicrometer, porous polymeric vesicles, composed of an amphiphilic di‐block copolymer, polystyrene‐b‐polyisocyanoalanine (2‐thiophene‐3‐yl‐ethyl) amide, are used to encapsulate an enzyme, alkaline phosphatase, and a fluorescent reporter polymer poly 1(3((4methylthiophen‐3‐yl)oxy) propyl) quinuclidin‐1‐ium. Passive diffusion of exogenously added adenosine triphosphate (ATP) through the membrane was sensed by monitoring the ATP‐induced fluorescence quenching of the reporter polymer followed by partial recovery of its emission due to hydrolysis of reporter‐bound ATP by alkaline phosphatase.

Enzymatically triggered rupture of polymersomes

“…15–18 Furthermore, the interior compartment of polymersomes has been engineered to serve as a micro-environment for protein expression, 8 gene expression, 19 and enzymatic reaction. 6, 7, 20–23 Blending each of these functions into different compartments within polymersomes could potentially lead to the development of protocells that mimic the metabolism, 6 enzymatic activity, 6, 7, 20–22, 24 and communications of real cells. 6, 8, 21, 25 …”

Functionalized polythiophenes: Recognition materials for chemosensors and biosensors of superior sensitivity, selectivity, and detectability

“…Therefore, planarization and deplanarization of the PTs backbones was exploited for colorimetric and fluorescent signal transduction. Several other PT based chemical sensors were prepared for selective determination of various biocompounds, including adenosine-5'-triphosphate (ATP) [119,120], and L-cysteine [121]. In the following, the focus is mainly on extensively studied PT based chemosensors for such biocompounds as glucose …”

Towards Self‐Assembled Hybrid Artificial Cells: Novel Bottom‐Up Approaches to Functional Synthetic Membranes

“…[20] Furthermore, the Liedberg group has combined porous polymersomes with fluorescent conjugated polymers to monitor an ATP-dependent enzymatic reaction in vesicular compartments. [21] …”