title: Protease-sensitive fluorescent nanofibers.
abstract: We report the design and synthesis of enzyme-responsive nanofibers. The fibers are composed of self-assembled hydrophobic beta-sheet peptides incorporating protease-sensitive domains, fluorescent reporters, and hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) units. Using urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) as a model system, nanofibers were developed to release fluorescent fragments upon uPA incubation. These protease-sensitive nanofibers may have considerable biomedical applications as diagnostic sensors or for protease-assisted drug deliveries.
authors.affiliation: Center for Molecular Imaging Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA. shek.law@ndsu.edu
authors.forename: Benedict
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Law
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Weissleder
authors.forename: Ching-Hsuan
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Tung
mesh_terms: D005453:Fluorescence; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator