Letter abstract
Nature Nanotechnology 2, 635 - 639 (2007)
Published online: 23 September 2007 | doi:10.1038/nnano.2007.299
Subject Category: Nanobiotechnology
A virus-based single-enzyme nanoreactor
Marta Comellas-Aragonès1, Hans Engelkamp1, Victor I. Claessen1, Nico A. J. M. Sommerdijk2, Alan E. Rowan1, Peter C. M. Christianen1, Jan C. Maan1, Benedictus J. M. Verduin3, Jeroen J. L. M. Cornelissen1 & Roeland J. M. Nolte1
Abstract
Most enzyme studies are carried out in bulk aqueous solution, at the so-called ensemble level, but more recently studies have appeared in which enzyme activity is measured at the level of a single molecule, revealing previously unseen properties1, 2, 3, 4. To this end, enzymes have been chemically or physically anchored to a surface, which is often disadvantageous because it may lead to denaturation. In a natural environment, enzymes are present in a confined reaction space, which inspired us to develop a generic method to carry out single-enzyme experiments in the restricted spatial environment of a virus capsid. We report here the incorporation of individual horseradish peroxidase enzymes in the inner cavity of a virus, and describe single-molecule studies on their enzymatic behaviour. These show that the virus capsid is permeable for substrate and product and that this permeability can be altered by changing pH.
- Institute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud University Nijmegen, Toernooiveld 1, 6525 ED Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Laboratory of Macromolecular and Organic Chemistry and Soft Matter CryoTEM Research Unit, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, PO Box 513, 5600 MB, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
- Laboratory of Virology, Wageningen University, Binnenhaven 11, 6709 PD Wageningen, The Netherlands
Correspondence to: Hans Engelkamp1 e-mail: h.engelkamp@science.ru.nl
Correspondence to: Jeroen J. L. M. Cornelissen1 e-mail: j.cornelissen@science.ru.nl
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A virus-based single-enzyme nanoreactorNature Nanotechnology Letter (01 Oct 2007)
Host?guest encapsulation of materials by assembled virus protein cagesNature Letters to Editor (14 May 1998)
