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Recent Progress in Micro/Nanoreactors toward the Creation of Artificial Organelles
Author(s) -
GodoyGallardo Maria,
YorkDuran Maria J.,
HostaRigau Leticia
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
advanced healthcare materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.288
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 2192-2659
pISSN - 2192-2640
DOI - 10.1002/adhm.201700917
Subject(s) - nanoreactor , organelle , artificial cell , nanotechnology , function (biology) , artificial enzyme , computer science , materials science , chemistry , biology , enzyme , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , nanoparticle , membrane
Artificial organelles created from a bottom up approach are a new type of engineered materials, which are not designed to be living but, instead, to mimic some specific functions inside cells. By doing so, artificial organelles are expected to become a powerful tool in biomedicine. They can act as nanoreactors to convert a prodrug into a drug inside the cells or as carriers encapsulating therapeutic enzymes to replace malfunctioning organelles in pathological conditions. For the design of artificial organelles, several requirements need to be fulfilled: a compartmentalized structure that can encapsulate the synthetic machinery to perform an enzymatic function, as well as a means to allow for communication between the interior of the artificial organelle and the external environment, so that substrates and products can diffuse in and out the carrier allowing for continuous enzymatic reactions. The most recent and exciting advances in architectures that fulfill the aforementioned requirements are featured in this review. Artificial organelles are classified depending on their constituting materials, being lipid and polymer‐based systems the most prominent ones. Finally, special emphasis will be put on the intracellular response of these newly emerging systems.