publications
Selected work
We have developed dipeptide coacervates with enhanced stability and hydrophobic properties that enable the encapsulation of transition metal-based catalysts. These artificial organelles can be incorporated into cells to drive non-biological chemical reactions, offering new opportunities for biomimetic materials and applications in catalysis and synthetic biology.
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2023
We have developed a microfluidics-based approach to fabricate adaptive microreactors with a coacervate-in-vesicle architecture. By incorporating pH-responsive coacervates, we have achieved precise control over the spatial arrangement of enzymatic reactions.
This brief review highlights the advances in droplet-based microfluidics (DBM) as a central tool for fabricating cell-like systems with multi-compartment structures inspired by biological cell architectures and functions.
This work presents the creation of caged-coacervates enclosed by a semipermeable silica nanocapsule shell, which improves colloidal stability and facilitates regulated molecular transport, enabling the assembly of biomimetic microreactors inspired by living cells.
Angewandte Chemie Int. Ed., 2022, 61, e202207998
This work introduces a method for manipulating the membrane of giant polymersomes using a temperature-responsive polymer, demonstrating that upon temperature changes, deformation, phase separation, and occasional division of synthetic cells can be observed, providing valuable insights into cellular behavior and dynamics relevant to cellular division and fusion processes.
Angewandte Chemie Int. Ed., 2022, 61, e202205266
This work introduces giant polymersomes equipped with light-responsive permeability modulators, allowing control of hydrophilic molecule transport across the polymer membrane to create functional cell-like systems, including a light-activated enzymatic micro-reactor and a coacervate-in-polymersome system mimicking biological condensates’ formation in cells.
Angewandte Chemie Int. Ed., 2022, 61, e202113784
This work demonstrates the creation of robust synthetic organelles using an enzyme co-compartmentalization strategy with silica nanoreactors, allowing for efficient regulation of cascade reactions, kinetics of sequential reactions, and the formation of multi-compartmentalized microreactors within giant polymer vesicles.
Publications (2021 - 2024)
Complete list of publications [link]
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35. T. Ivanov, T. P. Doan-Nguyen, M. A. Belahouane, Z. Dai, S. Cao, K. Landfester, L. Caire da Silva*, “Coacervate Droplets as Biomimetic Models for Designing Cell-Like Microreactors”, Macromolecular Rapid Communications, 2400626 (2024). [link]
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34. S. Cao, S. Song, T. Ivanov, T. P. Doan-Nguyen, L. Caire da Silva, J. Xie, K. Landfester, “Synthetic Biomolecular Condensates: Phase-Separation Control, Cytomimetic Modelling and Emerging Biomedical Potential”, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, e202418431 (2024). [link]
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33. H. Bremm Madalosso, S. Cao, T. Ivanov, M. de Souza Melchiors, K. Koynov, C. Guindani, P. Henrique Hermes de Araújo, C. Sayer, K. Landfester, L. Caire da Silva*, “Peptide-Induced Division of Polymersomes for Biomimetic Compartmentalization”, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, e202413089 (2024). [link]
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32. S. Song, T. Ivanov, D. Yuan, J. Wang, L. Caire da Silva, J. Xie, S. Cao “Peptide-based Biomimetic Condensates via Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation as Biomedical Delivery Vehicles”, Biomacromolecules, 25, 5468-5488 (2024). [link]
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31. S. Cao, T. Ivanov, J. Heuer, C. Ferguson, K. Landfester*, L. Caire da Silva*, “Dipeptide-based Coacervates as Artificial Membraneless Organelles for Bioorthogonal Catalysis”, Nature Communications, 15, 39 (2024). [link]
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30. T. Ivanov, S. Cao, N. Bohra, M. de Souza Melchiors, L. Caire da Silva*, and K. Landfester*. “Polymeric Microreactors with pH-Controlled Spatial Localization of Cascade Reactions”, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 15, 50755-50764 (2023). [link]
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29. T. Ivanov, S. Cao, T. P. Doan-Nguyen, H. B. Madalosso, L. Caire da Silva*, and K. Landfester*. “Assembly of Multi-Compartment Cell Mimics by Droplet-Based Microfluidics”, ChemSystemsChem, 5, e202300034 (2023). [link]
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28. J. P. Gonçalves, D. Promlok, T. Ivanov, S. Tao, T. Rheinberger, S-M. Jo, Y. Yu, R. Graf, M. Wagner, D. Crespy, F. R. Wurm, L. Caire da Silva, S. Jiang, and K. Landfester, “Confining the Sol-Gel Reaction at the Water/Oil Interface: Creating Compartmentalized Enzymatic Nano-Organelles for Artificial Cells”, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 62, e202216966 (2023). [link]
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27. S. Cao, T. Ivanov, M. de Souza Melchiors, K. Landfester, and L. Caire da Silva*, “Controlled Membrane Transport in Polymeric Biomimetic Nanoreactors”, ChemBioChem, 24, e202200718 (2023). [link]
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26. A. Jobdeedamrong, S. Cao, D. Crespy, K. Landfester*, and L. Caire da Silva*, “Assembly of Biomimetic Microreactors using Caged-Coacervate Droplets”, Nanoscale, 15, 2561-2566 (2023). [link]
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25. M. de Souza Melchiors, T. Ivanov, I. Harley, C. Sayer, P. H. H., Araújo, C. Ferguson*, L. Caire da Silva*, and K. Landfester*, “Membrane Manipulation of Giant Unilamellar Polymer Vesicles with a Temperature-Responsive Polymer”, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, e202207998 (2022). [link]
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24. S. Cao, L. Caire da Silva*, and K. Landfester*, “Light-Activated Membrane Transport in Polymeric Cell-Mimics”, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 61, e202205266 (2022). [link]
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23. S. Jiangs§, L. Caire da Silva§, T. Ivanov, M. Mottola, and K. Landfester, “Synthetic Silica Nano-Organelles for Regulation of Cascade Reactions in Multi-Compartmentalized Systems”, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 61, 6, e202113784 (2022). [link]
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22. C. Guindani, L. Caire da Silva*, S. Cao, T. Ivanov, and K. Landfester*, “Synthetic Cells: From Simple Bio-Inspired Modules to Sophisticated Integrated Systems”, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 61, 16, e202110855 (2022). [link]
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21. M. Houbrechts, L. Caire da Silva*, A. Ethirajan, and K. Landfester*, “Formation of Giant Polymer Vesicles by Simple Double Emulsification Using Block Copolymers as the Sole Surfactant”, Soft Matter, 17, 4942 (2021). [link]
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