title: Imaging enzyme-triggered self-assembly of small molecules inside live cells.
abstract: Self-assembly of small molecules in water to form nanofibres, besides generating sophisticated biomaterials, promises a simple system inside cells for regulating cellular processes. But lack of a convenient approach for studying the self-assembly of small molecules inside cells hinders the development of such systems. Here we report a method to image enzyme-triggered self-assembly of small molecules inside live cells. After linking a fluorophore to a self-assembly motif to make a precursor, we confirmed by (31)P NMR and rheology that enzyme-triggered conversion of the precursor to a hydrogelator results in the formation of a hydrogel via self-assembly. The imaging contrast conferred by the nanofibres of the hydrogelators allowed the evaluation of intracellular self-assembly, the dynamics and the localization of the nanofibres of the hydrogelators in live cells. This approach explores supramolecular chemistry inside cells and may lead to new insights, processes or materials at the interface of chemistry and biology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham, Massachusetts 02453, USA.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Junfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D002477:Cells / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000201:enzymology*; D004798:Enzymes / Q000378:metabolism*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate / Q000737:chemistry; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D057054:Molecular Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry; D054852:Small Molecule Libraries / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D004798:Enzymes; D054852:Small Molecule Libraries; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate