Engineering a Mesoporous Silicon Nanoparticle Cage to Enhance Performance of a Phosphotriesterase Enzyme for Degradation of VX Nerve Agent

Abstract The organophosphate (OP)‐hydrolyzing enzyme phosphotriesterase (PTE, variant L7ep‐3a) immobilized within a partially oxidized mesoporous silicon nanoparticle cage is synthesized and the catalytic performance of the enzyme@nanoparticle construct for hydrolysis of a simulant, dimethyl p‐nitrophenyl phosphate (DMNP), and the live nerve agent VX is benchmarked against the free enzyme. In a neutral aqueous buffer, the optimized construct shows a ≈2‐fold increase in the rate of DMNP turnover relative to the free enzyme. Enzyme@nanoparticles with more hydrophobic surface chemistry in the interior of the pores show lower catalytic activity, suggesting the importance of hydration of the pore interior on performance. The enzyme@nanoparticle construct is readily separated from the neutralized agent; the nanoparticle is found to retain DMNP hydrolysis activity through seven decontamination/recovery cycles. The nanoparticle cage stabilizes the enzyme against thermal denaturing and enzymatic (trypsin) degradation conditions relative to free enzyme. When incorporated into a topical gel formulation, the PTE‐loaded nanoparticles show high activity toward the nerve agent VX in an ex vivo rabbit skin model. In vitro acetylcholinesterase (AChE) assays in human blood show that the enzyme@nanoparticle construct decontaminates VX, preserving the biological function of AChE when exposed to an otherwise incapacitating dose.