title: Lysozyme as a pH-responsive valve for the controlled release of guest molecules from mesoporous silica.
abstract: Mesoporous silica nanoparticles show promise as a drug-carrier vehicle for biomedical applications, but the development of simple, biocompatible capping systems has remained a challenge. We have found that lysozyme molecules can act as a pH-responsive nanovalve to block and unlock the pore entrances of MCM-41 nanoparticles for guest molecules. Our experiments indicate that pore blocking is due to a pH-induced conformational change by which the effective size of the protein is changed in a reversible manner. This effect may form the basis of a controlled-release system without the need to functionalize the pore mouth and caps.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Chemie, Stranski-Laboratorium, TC 7, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 124, 10623 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Mengjun
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Gerhard H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Findenegg
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations / Q000737:chemistry; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000737:chemistry*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D009113:Muramidase / Q000737:chemistry*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D004337:Drug Carriers; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D009113:Muramidase