title: Enzyme-Powered Hollow Mesoporous Janus Nanomotors.
abstract: The development of synthetic nanomotors for technological applications in particular for life science and nanomedicine is a key focus of current basic research. However, it has been challenging to make active nanosystems based on biocompatible materials consuming nontoxic fuels for providing self-propulsion. Here, we fabricate self-propelled Janus nanomotors based on hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles (HMSNPs), which are powered by biocatalytic reactions of three different enzymes: catalase, urease, and glucose oxidase (GOx). The active motion is characterized by a mean-square displacement (MSD) analysis of optical video recordings and confirmed by dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements. We found that the apparent diffusion coefficient was enhanced by up to 83%. In addition, using optical tweezers, we directly measured a holding force of 64 ± 16 fN, which was necessary to counteract the effective self-propulsion force generated by a single nanomotor. The successful demonstration of biocompatible enzyme-powered active nanomotors using biologically benign fuels has a great potential for future biomedical applications.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems Institution, Heisenbergstraße 3, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Center for Plant Molecular Biology, University of Tübingen , Auf der Morgenstelle 32, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jannasch
authors.affiliation: Center for Plant Molecular Biology, University of Tübingen , Auf der Morgenstelle 32, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Urban-Raphael
authors.initials: UR
authors.lastname: Albrecht
authors.affiliation: Stuttgart Center for Electron Microscopy, Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research , Heisenbergstraße 1, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Kersten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems Institution, Heisenbergstraße 3, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miguel-López
authors.affiliation: Center for Plant Molecular Biology, University of Tübingen , Auf der Morgenstelle 32, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schäffer
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems Institution, Heisenbergstraße 3, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.|Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avancats (ICREA), Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain.|Institut de Bioenginyeria de Catalunya (IBEC), Baldiri i Reixac 10-12, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sánchez
mesh_terms: D004798:Enzymes / Q000378:metabolism*; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D049329:Nanostructures
chemical_list: D004798:Enzymes
keywords: Hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles; Janus particles; enzyme; hybrid motors; nanomotors; optical tweezers