Ultrasound-propelled nanowire motors enhance asparaginase enzymatic activity against cancer cells

Abstract

Ultrasound-(US) propelled nanowires consisting of Au/Ni/Au/PEDOT-PPy-COOH segments are modified with asparaginase enzyme and applied as an effective anti-cancer agent. After immobilization of asparaginase onto the surface of the nanowire motors, the enzyme displays enhanced thermal and pH stabilities, improved resistance towards protease, and higher affinity for the substrate. The fast motion of the motor-carrying asparaginase leads to greatly accelerated biocatalytic depletion of asparagine and hence to a significantly enhanced inhibition efficacy against El4 lymphoma cancer cells (92%) as compared to free enzyme counterpart (17%) and other control groups. Such enhanced enzymatic activity against cancer cells is attributed to the fast motion of the motors which facilitates the interaction between the enzyme and the cancer cells. While asparaginase and EL4 tumor cells are used as a model system in the present study for cancer cell inhibition, the same mechanism can be expanded to other types of enzymes and biomolecules for the corresponding biofunctions.