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    Activation of the Catalytic Activity of Thrombin for Fibrin Formation by Ultrasound
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2021) Zhao, Pengkun; Huo, Shuaidong; Fan, Jilin; Chen, Junlin; Kiessling, Fabian; Boersma, Arnold J.; Göstl, Robert; Herrmann, Andreas
    The regulation of enzyme activity is a method to control biological function. We report two systems enabling the ultrasound-induced activation of thrombin, which is vital for secondary hemostasis. First, we designed polyaptamers, which can specifically bind to thrombin, inhibiting its catalytic activity. With ultrasound generating inertial cavitation and therapeutic medical focused ultrasound, the interactions between polyaptamer and enzyme are cleaved, restoring the activity to catalyze the conversion of fibrinogen into fibrin. Second, we used split aptamers conjugated to the surface of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). In the presence of thrombin, these assemble into an aptamer tertiary structure, induce AuNP aggregation, and deactivate the enzyme. By ultrasonication, the AuNP aggregates reversibly disassemble releasing and activating the enzyme. We envision that this approach will be a blueprint to control the function of other proteins by mechanical stimuli in the sonogenetics field. © 2021 The Authors. Angewandte Chemie International Edition published by Wiley-VCH GmbH
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    Experimental and Computational Study on the Microfluidic Control of Micellar Nanocarrier Properties
    (Washington, DC : ACS Publications, 2021) Rezvantalab, Sima; Maleki, Reza; Drude, Natascha Ingrid; Khedri, Mohammad; Jans, Alexander; Moraveji, Mostafa Keshavarz; Darguzyte, Milita; Ghasemy, Ebrahim; Tayebi, Lobat; Kiessling, Fabian
    Microfluidic-based synthesis is a powerful technique to prepare well-defined homogenous nanoparticles (NPs). However, the mechanisms defining NP properties, especially size evolution in a microchannel, are not fully understood. Herein, microfluidic and bulk syntheses of riboflavin (RF)-targeted poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)-poly(ethylene glycol) (PLGA-PEG-RF) micelles were evaluated experimentally and computationally. Using molecular dynamics (MD), a conventional "random"model for bulk self-assembly of PLGA-PEG-RF was simulated and a conceptual "interface"mechanism was proposed for the microfluidic self-assembly at an atomic scale. The simulation results were in agreement with the observed experimental outcomes. NPs produced by microfluidics were smaller than those prepared by the bulk method. The computational approach suggested that the size-determining factor in microfluidics is the boundary of solvents in the entrance region of the microchannel, explaining the size difference between the two experimental methods. Therefore, this computational approach can be a powerful tool to gain a deeper understanding and optimize NP synthesis. © 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.