S-Liposomes and S-Emulsomes
S-Liposomes and S-Emulsomes
At the Department of NanoBiotechnology crystalline S-layer (fusion) proteins have been used to stabilize and functionalize nanocarriers like liposomes and emulsomes, which are in turn used to encapsulate hydrophilic and hydrophobic compounds. The in vitro self-assembly properties of S-layers make it possible to coat liposomes and emulsomes with a crystalline protein layer as shown in Fig 1. The resulting layer can be modified either by chemical modification or by genetic engineering. Particularly, S-layer fusion proteins incorporate Protein A or Protein G functional sequences that bind to mammalian immunoglobulins and allow site specific and ligand-directed cell uptake of nanocarriers. The latter can in turn deliver drugs as well as genes and the may constitute the basis for the development of novel biomimetic architectures. Our research ambitions are focused on mimicking a virus envelope which exhibits more than one functionalities e.g cell binding and cell invasion into the cells. The approach consist of conferring our nanocarriers multiple capabilities by coating them with two or more S-layer subunits that in turn carry different biofunctionalities in order to understand and optimally tune the viral-cell interactions. Contact person: Ass.Prof.Dipl.-Ing. Dr.tech Seta Küpcü
