Nanocompartment-confined polymerization in living systems

Chen，Yun1,2; Zuo，Mengxuan2; Chen，Yu3; Yu，Peiyuan3; Chen，Xiaokai2; Zhang，Xiaodong2; Yuan，Wei2; Wu，Yinglong2; Zhu，Wei1; Zhao，Yanli2

2023-12-01

10.1038/s41467-023-40935-1

Nature Communications   Impact Factor & Quartile

2041-1723

Polymerization in living systems has become an effective strategy to regulate cell functions and behavior. However, the requirement of high concentrations of monomers, the existence of complicated intracorporal interferences, and the demand for extra external stimulations hinder their further biological applications. Herein, a nanocompartment-confined strategy that provides a confined and secluded environment for monomer enrichment and isolation is developed to achieve high polymerization efficiency, reduce the interference from external environment, and realize broad-spectrum polymerizations in living systems. For exogenous photopolymerization, the light-mediated free-radical polymerization of sodium 4-styrenesulfonate induces a 2.7-fold increase in the reaction rate with the protection of a confined environment. For endogenous hydrogen peroxide-responsive polymerization, p‑aminodiphenylamine hydrochloride embedded in a nanocompartment not only performs a 6.4-fold higher reaction rate than that of free monomers, but also activates an effective second near-infrared photoacoustic imaging-guided photothermal immunotherapy at tumor sites. This nanocompartment-confined strategy breaks the shackles of conventional polymerization, providing a universal platform for in vivo synthesis of polymers with diverse structures and functions.

SCI

English

NI Journal Papers

Corresponding

National Natural Science Foundation of China[21972047] ; Guangdong Provincial Pearl River Talents Program[2019QN01Y314] ; Program for Guangdong Introducing Innovative and Entrepreneurial Teams[2019ZT08Y318] ; Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province China[2021A1515220051] ; Guangdong International Technology Cooperation Project[2022A0505050008] ; China Postdoctoral Science Foundation[2022T150221] ; Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation[2022A1515110374] ; National Research Foundation Singapore under Its Competitive Research Programme[NRF-CRP26-2021-0002]

Science & Technology - Other Topics

Multidisciplinary Sciences

WOS:001064563400003

NATURE PORTFOLIO

2-s2.0-85168720890

Scopus

1.MOE International Joint Research Laboratory on Synthetic Biology and Medicines,School of Biology and Biological Engineering,South China University of Technology,Guangzhou,510006,China
2.School of Chemistry,Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology,Nanyang Technological University,Singapore,21 Nanyang Link,637371,Singapore
3.Shenzhen Grubbs Institute and Department of Chemistry,Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Catalysis,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,518055,China

Chen，Yun,Zuo，Mengxuan,Chen，Yu,et al. Nanocompartment-confined polymerization in living systems[J]. Nature Communications,2023,14(1).

Chen，Yun.,Zuo，Mengxuan.,Chen，Yu.,Yu，Peiyuan.,Chen，Xiaokai.,...&Zhao，Yanli.(2023).Nanocompartment-confined polymerization in living systems.Nature Communications,14(1).

Chen，Yun,et al."Nanocompartment-confined polymerization in living systems".Nature Communications 14.1(2023).