Intracellular polymerization and self-assembly for supramolecular approach to control cellular fate

Abstract

The polymerization-induced artificial assembly of synthetic building units inside a living cell and the interaction of these assembly with the cellular components have rarely been studied, but are emerging as an intriguing strategy to control cellular fate. We developed intra-mitochondrial polymerization induced self-assembly (Mito-PISA) strategy for constructing polymeric structures by ROS-dissipative system. We report that the in situ disulfide polymerization inside mitochondria is based on both large accumulation of monomers (increased local concentration for polymerization) and high ROS environment (chemical fuel for disulfide reaction). During the polymerization in a mitochondrial reducing environment, the autocatalytic process enables the continuous generation of ROS and the construction of bulky structures for mitochondrial dysfunction, showing great potential for anticancer treatment.