Liquid-crystalline nanoarchitectures for tissue engineering

• Baeckkyoung Sung and
• Min-Ho Kim

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 205–215, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.22

• ) [40]. Locally ordered collagen type-I gels, obtained by solvent evaporation, could induce an aligned 2D growth of human mesenchymal stem cells as well as their guided differentiation into bone tissues within two weeks in osteogenic media [86]. The concentrated (ca. 90 mg/mL) collagen type-I film

• local alignments, which resulted in directed and oriented growth of human mesenchymal stem cells and their osteogenic differentiation [105]. Additionally, biomineralization-mimicking hybrid materials, using chitin nanowhisker gel matrices in a nematic phase as templates for CaCO3 crystallization, have

• morphology control, which can be further extended to directed cell differentiation. Moreover, the tissue-mimectic characteristics of LC biomaterials can be exploited for fabricating artificial organs-on-a-chip and bioinspired drug delivery systems. The tunable optical response of biological LC materials is

A robust AFM-based method for locally measuring the elasticity of samples

• Alexandre Bubendorf,
• Stefan Walheim,
• Thomas Schimmel and
• Ernst Meyer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1–10, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.1

• elasticity of samples is of high interest in many scientific domains, as many processes and physical quantities are correlated with the elastic modulus. In biology, for instance, studies showed that the elasticity of cells depends on their age, the stage of the cell cycle and the degree of differentiation [1

Electron beam induced deposition of silacyclohexane and dichlorosilacyclohexane: the role of dissociative ionization and dissociative electron attachment in the deposition process

• Ragesh Kumar T P,
• Sangeetha Hari,
• Krishna K Damodaran,
• Oddur Ingólfsson and
• Cornelis W. Hagen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2376–2388, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.237

• respect. Potential approaches to achieve clearer differentiation between these two processes would be through targeted design of precursors with higher stability with respect to DI and increased sensitivity with respect to DEA. Such precursors should include predetermined breaking points where the DEA

Material property analytical relations for the case of an AFM probe tapping a viscoelastic surface containing multiple characteristic times

• Enrique A. López-Guerra and
• Santiago D. Solares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2230–2244, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.223

• method [39]. Here the total attractive van der Waals potential (EvdW) was calculated for the specific case of a flat-end cylindrical punch interacting with a flat semi-infinite half-space, and subsequently the interaction force was obtained through differentiation: For the adhesion portion during

Optical techniques for cervical neoplasia detection

• Tatiana Novikova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1844–1862, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.186

• to collagen, which is the major component of this layer. The accumulation of glycogen in the mature squamous cells of intermediate and/or superficial layers manifested itself by peaks at 480, 849 and 938 cm−1 in the spectrum averaged over the pixels from corresponding clusters. The differentiation of

• stromal, basal and superficial layers on a pseudo-color map of normal squamous cervical tissue was clearly observed [64]. The KMCA of Raman spectral data from cervical tissue with HSIL demonstrated the loss of differentiation of layers. The classifier clustered HSIL regions with basal layer. It proposes

• the challenge of reliable differentiation of all four types of cervical tissue by fluorescence endomicroscopy alone because of structural similarities of HSIL and stromal/columnar tissues in confocal endomicroscopic images. However, the capacity of confocal fluorescence microscopy to accurately

Surface functionalization of 3D-printed plastics via initiated chemical vapor deposition

• Christine Cheng and
• Malancha Gupta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1629–1636, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.162

• hydrophobic surface properties and do not promote cellular differentiation [3][18]. Surface modification of printed scaffolds can allow for the tuning of surface functionalization to promote vascularization and tissue regeneration while maintaining control over the mechanical robustness of the bulk structure

• . Hong et al. demonstrated that simply dipping polycaprolactone/poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) 3D scaffolds in mussel adhesive proteins promoted cellular adhesion, proliferation and differentiation, showing that a facile surface modification improved the viability of using 3D-printed scaffolds for tissue

Low uptake of silica nanoparticles in Caco-2 intestinal epithelial barriers

• Dong Ye,
• Mattia Bramini,
• Delyan R. Hristov,
• Sha Wan,
• Anna Salvati,
• Christoffer Åberg and
• Kenneth A. Dawson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1396–1406, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.141

• transport through them. Keywords: Caco-2; differentiation and polarisation; epithelial cell barrier; microscopy imaging; particle interaction; uptake and localisation; Introduction An overall conclusion from a multitude of nanoparticle-cell in vitro studies is that nanoparticle uptake into cells is

• nanoparticles such as microporous silicon [22], silica [23], poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) [33] and carboxylated and aminated polystyrene [34]. We hypothesize that the low translocation observed in Caco-2 barriers results from a low uptake into the cells, an uptake that depends on cellular differentiation and

• overall barrier integrity. Nanoparticle uptake in Caco-2 barriers cultured for 4 and 21 days Flow cytometry was used to quantify cell fluorescence intensity due to association of the fluorescent SiO2-NPs with the cells. In order to test if cell polarisation/differentiation plays a role in controlling

Micro- and nano-surface structures based on vapor-deposited polymers

• Hsien-Yeh Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1366–1374, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.138

• proliferation (FGF-2) and osteogenic differentiation (BMP-2) for adipose-derived stem cells [76]. Selective deposition The aforementioned methods rely on physical means to obtain spatially controlled surface modifications and patterned structures. A simpler approach is the selective inhibition of the vapor

Characterization of ferrite nanoparticles for preparation of biocomposites

• Urszula Klekotka,
• Magdalena Rogowska,
• Dariusz Satuła and
• Beata Kalska-Szostko

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1257–1265, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.127

• fabrication procedure, additional characteristics can be supplemented (e.g., ferrite core differentiation or surface modification). The improvement of the surface functionalization by introduction of active linkers is, in some cases, a crucial issue as it was presented in the case of albumin. This paper is a

Nano-engineered skin mesenchymal stem cells: potential vehicles for tumour-targeted quantum-dot delivery

• Liga Saulite,
• Dominyka Dapkute,
• Karlis Pleiko,
• Ineta Popena,
• Simona Steponkiene,
• Ricardas Rotomskis and
• Una Riekstina

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1218–1230, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.123

• quantum dots QD655 were studied in human skin MSCs. The effect of QD on MSCs was examined using a cell viability assay, Ki67 expression analysis, and tri-lineage differentiation assay. The optimal conditions for QD uptake in MSCs were determined using flow cytometry. The QD uptake route in MSCs was

• suggest that QD-labelled MSCs could be used for targeted drug delivery studies. Keywords: endocytosis; mesenchymal stem cells; quantum dots; stem cell differentiation; Introduction Despite remarkable advances in targeted therapies of various human malignancies, cancer is one of the leading causes of

• modifications increase the potential of QDs for the use in targeted cancer diagnostics and therapies. There is still doubt regarding the potential harmful effects of NPs or QDs on the differentiation capacity and self-renewal ability of adult stem cells. CdSe/ZnS QD labelling has been reported to adversely

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy of cell lysates mixed with silver nanoparticles for tumor classification

• Mohamed Hassoun,
• Iwan W.Schie,
• Tatiana Tolstik,
• Sarmiza E. Stanca,
• Christoph Krafft and
• Juergen Popp

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1183–1190, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.120

• silver nanoparticles. Keywords: cell lysate; silver nanoparticles; surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS); tumor-cell differentiation; Introduction Cytopathology is the histopathologic inspection of cells. Dyes, such as hematoxylin for cell nuclei or eosin for cytoplasm, are commonly used to stain

• SERS spectra of the individual cell lines are highly similar and the cell lines cannot easily be distinguished by univariate analysis of single bands or band ratios. Therefore, multivariate classification was applied for differentiation of the cell lines. Prior to multivariate classification the data

• size was reduced by principal component analysis (PCA). Figure 4 shows the first four principal components (PCs) that described 89% of the variances of the data set required for cell line differentiation. PC1 loadings showed negative bands in the fingerprint range from 600 to 1200 cm−1 and positive

Vapor-phase-synthesized fluoroacrylate polymer thin films: thermal stability and structural properties

• Paul Christian and
• Anna Maria Coclite

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 933–942, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.95

• measurements (within a few percent). It is worth noting that another feasible way to evidence such transitions is to determine the thermal expansion coefficient at each temperature by numerical differentiation [22]. This procedure results in comparable transitions points (data not shown) but is very sensitive

Recombinant DNA technology and click chemistry: a powerful combination for generating a hybrid elastin-like-statherin hydrogel to control calcium phosphate mineralization

• Mohamed Hamed Misbah,
• Mercedes Santos,
• Luis Quintanilla,
• Christina Günter,
• Matilde Alonso,
• Andreas Taubert and
• José Carlos Rodríguez-Cabello

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 772–783, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.80

• , ELR membranes with SNA15 epitopes and/or surface topographies have been conducted on the cell morphology, adhesion, proliferation and differentiation, and their potential for dental and orthopedic implants integration during the mineralization process. Although the mineralization activity of ELRs

Impact of contact resistance on the electrical properties of MoS₂ transistors at practical operating temperatures

• Filippo Giannazzo,
• Gabriele Fisichella,
• Aurora Piazza,
• Salvatore Di Franco,
• Giuseppe Greco,
• Simonpietro Agnello and
• Fabrizio Roccaforte

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 254–263, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.28

• bias condition can be interesting for some applications where it is desirable that the device performance does not depend significantly on the temperature (dID/dT ≈ 0). Figure 2c shows the transconductance gm vs VG curves calculated by differentiation (gm = dID/dVG) of the ID−VG characteristics in

Impact of surface wettability on S-layer recrystallization: a real-time characterization by QCM-D

• Jagoba Iturri,
• Ana C. Vianna,
• Alberto Moreno-Cencerrado,
• Dietmar Pum,
• Uwe B. Sleytr and
• José Luis Toca-Herrera

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 91–98, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.10

• slopes derived, can characterize specifically one type of process and enables the differentiation between them. Contact angle measurements: Sessile-drop experiments were performed with a contact-angle measuring system (Kruss D100, Hamburg, Germany). Millipore water (18.2 MΩ·cm) was used as the liquid

Structural and tribometric characterization of biomimetically inspired synthetic "insect adhesives"

• Matthias W. Speidel,
• Malte Kleemeier,
• Andreas Hartwig,
• Klaus Rischka,
• Angelika Ellermann,
• Rolf Daniels and
• Oliver Betz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 45–63, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.6

• outer free lipid layer of the general body cuticle [41][42][43]. Such mixtures of high-melting straight n-alkanes with low-melting alkenes or methyl-branched alkanes keep the suspensions in a semi-solid condition over a broad range of temperatures. The in situ phase differentiation of alkanes and

A novel electrochemical nanobiosensor for the ultrasensitive and specific detection of femtomolar-level gastric cancer biomarker miRNA-106a

• Maryam Daneshpour,
• Kobra Omidfar and
• Hossein Ghanbarian

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 2023–2036, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.193

• with tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage, tumor size and differentiation, lymphatic and distant metastasis, and invasion [10][11][12]. The clinical importance of miRNAs has consequently fueled the urgent demand for developing reliable and ultrasensitive diagnostic techniques to detect these valuable

Facile fabrication of luminescent organic dots by thermolysis of citric acid in urea melt, and their use for cell staining and polyelectrolyte microcapsule labelling

• Nadezhda M. Zholobak,
• Anton L. Popov,
• Alexander B. Shcherbakov,
• Nelly R. Popova,
• Mykhailo M. Guzyk,
• Valeriy P. Antonovich,
• Alla V. Yegorova,
• Yuliya V. Scrypynets,
• Inna I. Leonenko,
• Alexander Ye. Baranchikov and
• Vladimir K. Ivanov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1905–1917, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.182

• -fixed ST-cells to be obtained (Supporting Information File 1, Figure S21). The findings suggest the possibility of the use of O-dots for the visual differentiation of normal cells and cells in a state of oxidative stress, as well as actively metabolizing cells. Non-fixed malignant breast cancer cells

Nano- and microstructured materials for in vitro studies of the physiology of vascular cells

• Alexandra M. Greiner,
• Adria Sales,
• Hao Chen,
• Sarah A. Biela,
• Dieter Kaufmann and
• Ralf Kemkemer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1620–1641, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.155

• differentiation of vascular cells or progenitor cells [10][31][126][128][129][130][131]. In order to make a biological meaningful contact with a surface, cellular trans-membrane adhesion molecules such as integrins need to interact with specific counterparts, generally ligand molecules of the extracellular matrix

• expression, stem cell differentiation and even the epigenetic state of a cell (Figure 5) [10][12][79][185][186][187][188][189][190][191][192][193][194][195][196][197]. In vivo, the ECM where ECs and SMCs attach to, provide them micro- and nanotopographical stimuli to regulate their behavior [58]. Therefore

• regulated their gene expression [197]. On titanium oxide (TiO2) nanotube surfaces, vascular SMCs expressed more SMC α-actin (a marker of differentiation) [129]. YAP/TAZ (Yes-associated protein/transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif) is a protein complex that induces the expression of

Biomechanics of selected arborescent and shrubby monocotyledons

• Tom Masselter,
• Tobias Haushahn,
• Samuel Fink and
• Thomas Speck

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1602–1619, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.154

• materials that combine low density with sufficient mechanical stiffness, which result in lightweight structures with optimized structural density–stiffness gradients. Additionally, the differentiation of the stem in ground tissue and vascular bundles is very similar to technical fibre-reinforced materials

An ellipsometric approach towards the description of inhomogeneous polymer-based Langmuir layers

• Falko O. Rottke,
• Burkhard Schulz,
• Klaus Richau,
• Karl Kratz and
• Andreas Lendlein

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1156–1165, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.107

• mapped. In addition to the identification of these structures, the differentiation between a monolayer and bare water was possible. Second, the potential and limitations of this method were verified by applying it to more versatile Langmuir layers of telechelic poly[(rac-lactide)-co-glycolide]-diol (PLGA

• dimension at the nm scale. Additionally, the root mean square roughness, Rq, of an observed surface can be evaluated. This, in combination with the dispersion of Δ and Ψ over a region of interest (ROI), allows easy differentiation between various parts of an inhomogeneous layer [11]. In any case, both

Role of solvents in the electronic transport properties of single-molecule junctions

• Katharina Luka-Guth,
• Sebastian Hambsch,
• Andreas Bloch,
• Philipp Ehrenreich,
• Bernd Michael Briechle,
• Filip Kilibarda,
• Torsten Sendler,
• Dmytro Sysoiev,
• Thomas Huhn,
• Artur Erbe and
• Elke Scheer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1055–1067, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.99

• used in molecular electronics. We will classify the solvents as “suitable” when the I–Vs of tunnel junctions between tip-like electrodes immersed in the solvent only weakly resemble I–V curves of single-molecule junctions of functional molecules and therefore enable a clear differentiation between

Improved biocompatibility and efficient labeling of neural stem cells with poly(L-lysine)-coated maghemite nanoparticles

• Igor M. Pongrac,
• Marina Dobrivojević,
• Lada Brkić Ahmed,
• Michal Babič,
• Miroslav Šlouf,
• Daniel Horák and
• Srećko Gajović

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 926–936, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.84

• follow the stem cells through their migration, distribution, proliferation and differentiation is an essential prerequisite to characterize the biology and behavior of stem cells, to design the therapeutic approaches and minimize possible side effects [8][9][10]. Magnetic nanoparticles are widely used to

• labeling efficiency, viability and proliferation of NSCs without influencing their neural stem cell identity and differentiation potential. PLL-γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles could be considered as appropriate candidates for future neural stem cell in vivo tracking studies. Experimental Nanoparticles Nanomag®-D

• maintain their neural progenitor phenotype as well as their neural differentiation potential. In order to confirm the progenitor identity of NSCs labeled with PLL-γ-Fe2O3 or nanomag®-D-spio nanoparticles, NSCs were grown on PDL/laminin-coated glass slides for 24 h, labeled with nanoparticles for 48 h and

The role of morphology and coupling of gold nanoparticles in optical breakdown during picosecond pulse exposures

• Yevgeniy R. Davletshin and
• J. Carl Kumaradas

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 869–880, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.79

• a nested dissection multithreaded algorithm was used for all other models. The coupled model was solved using the frequency-transient stepping with a second order backward differentiation after applying a global scaling, with a tolerance of 0.001. Results and Discussion The interaction of a 6 ps

Impact of ultrasonic dispersion on the photocatalytic activity of titania aggregates

• Hoai Nga Le,
• Frank Babick,
• Klaus Kühn,
• Minh Tan Nguyen,
• Michael Stintz and
• Gianaurelio Cuniberti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2423–2430, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.250

• concentration of 1 g/L, the transmittances are extremely low for a differentiation (less than 0.16% in the UV range). The values of the 100× diluted samples are therefore substituted. As shown in Figure 5a, absorbance, scattering and other light phenomena in nano-colloidal suspensions [33] result in a loss of