Metal-Ion-Responsive Bionanocomposite for Selective and Reversible Enzyme Inhibition

A bionanocomposite with artificial binding pockets for a DNA repair enzyme has been developed by in situ assembly of an affinity protein with a surrounding contact surface of polydopamine on the surface of silica coated magnetic nanoparticles via molecular imprinting reactions. The obtained nanoparticles exhibited antibody like binding behavior toward the target enzyme with highly specific and efficient inhibition effect. Moreover, the binding and inhibition could be flexibly tuned by the addition of metal ions such as Mn2+ and Mg2+, which provided a convenient tool to regulate enzyme activity with artificially engineered nanoinhibitors.