A nanocompartment system (Synthosome) designed for biotechnological applications

A nanocompartment system based on two deletion mutants of the large channel protein FhuA (FhuA Δ1–129; FhuA Δ1–160) and an ABA triblock copolymer (PMOXA–PDMS–PMOXA) has been developed for putative biotechnological applications. FhuA is ideally suited for applications in biotechnology due to its monomeric structure, large pore diameter (39–46 Å elliptical cross-section) that ensures rapid compound flux, and solved crystallographic structure. Two areas of application were targeted as proof of principle: (A) selective product recovery in nanocompartments and (B) enzymatic conversion in nanocompartments. Selective recovery of negatively charged compounds has been achieved on the example of sulforhodamine B by using positively charged polylysine molecules as trap inside the nanocompartment. Conversion in nanocompartments has been achieved by 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine oxidation employing horseradish peroxidase (HRP).