Molecular recognition of enzymes and modulation of enzymatic activity by nanoparticle conformational sensors.

Regulation of enzyme activity is key to dynamic processes in biology but is difficult to achieve with synthetic systems. We here report molecularly imprinted nanoparticles with strong binding for the N- and C-terminal peptides on lysozyme. Binding affinity for the enzyme correlated with conformational flexibility of the peptides in the protein structure. Significantly, binding at the C-terminus of lysozyme enhanced the performance of the enzyme at elevated temperatures and that at the N-terminus lowered the enzyme activity. These nanoparticles, when clicked onto magnetic nanoparticles, could also be used to fish out the protein of interest from a mixture in a single step.