When the going gets rough – studying the effect of surface roughness on the adhesive abilities of tree frogs

• Niall Crawford,
• Thomas Endlein,
• Jonathan T. Pham,
• Mathis Riehle and
• W. Jon P. Barnes

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 2116–2131, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.201

• [18][19][24]. Comparing performance with other climbing organisms Several previous studies have examined the effect of surface roughness on the climbing capabilities of other adhesive pad bearing organisms. These include animals with hairy rather than smooth adhesive pads, as well as animals which

• possess claws as well as adhesive pads. Additionally, there are studies of plant surfaces that have evolved to be anti-adhesive as far as insects are concerned. The effects of surface roughness on animals with hairy pads (geckos, spiders, insects such as beetles) are reasonably predictable. When the

• medical field, as Chen et al. already demonstrated their potential for use as surgical graspers [54]. Experimental Experimental animals Tree frogs Litoria caerulea (n = 8), were used in these investigations. Their mass was 16.7 ± 6.5 g (mean ± standard deviation) and snout-vent length 57.6 ± 5.5 mm. The

“Sticky invasion” – the physical properties of Plantago lanceolata L. seed mucilage

• Agnieszka Kreitschitz,
• Alexander Kovalev and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1918–1927, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.183

• characteristic of plants that grow in dry or disturbed habitats [1][3]. The presence of mucilage results in different benefits for the plant including (1) fixation of diaspores to the ground, (2) water supply essential for germinating an embryo or (3) egzo- and endozoochoric dispersal by animals [1][2][3

• subarctic and low-lying tropical areas [5][7]. Species of the genus Plantago are used as a source of mucilage produced by vegetative parts [6] as well as by seeds [1]. Plantago seeds are dispersed by animals [8][9]. They can be eaten by sparrows and then spread by their droppings (endozoochory). Also, they

• can stick to the feet of the animals, the fur or the bird plumage enabling further dispersal (epizoochory) [8]. P. lanceolata seed mucilage was identified as an acid polysaccharide complex containing, in addition to pectins, different sugars, e.g., pentose, galactose, xylose [10][11]. The mucilage

Chitosan-based nanoparticles for improved anticancer efficacy and bioavailability of mifepristone

• Huijuan Zhang,
• Fuqiang Wu,
• Yazhen Li,
• Xiping Yang,
• Jiamei Huang,
• Tingting Lv,
• Yingying Zhang,
• Jianzhong Chen,
• Haijun Chen,
• Yu Gao,
• Guannan Liu and
• Lee Jia

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1861–1870, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.178

• microplate reader. Pharmacokinetic study Animals Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats (180–220 g) were supplied by the Experimental Animal Center of Zhejiang Province and were housed with a 12 h dark/light cycle for three days before starting the experiment. The rats were fed a standard diet with water to drink ad

• libitum. Before drug administration, the rats were fasted overnight with free access to water. All studies involving animals were carried out in accordance with the National Nature Science Foundation of China (NSFC) regulation concerning the care and use of experimental animals and approved by our Animal

• Care and Use Committee to reduce the suffering and use of animals. Oral administration Eight male SD rats were randomly divided into two groups (n = 4). Group 1 was given a single 30 mg/kg dose of MIF (in soybean oil solution) and Group 2 was given a single dose of MCNs equivalent to the same dosage of

Effective intercalation of zein into Na-montmorillonite: role of the protein components and use of the developed biointerfaces

• Ana C. S. Alcântara,
• Margarita Darder,
• Pilar Aranda and
• Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1772–1782, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.170

• interactions that can occur in less-studied proteins. Zein is the major storage protein of corn and an important source of protein in the human diet either through direct consumption or through consumption of animals whose feed is based on corn, such as poultry or swines [13]. Although zein is known since 1821

Antitumor magnetic hyperthermia induced by RGD-functionalized Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles, in an experimental model of colorectal liver metastases

• Oihane K. Arriortua,
• Eneko Garaio,
• Borja Herrero de la Parte,
• Maite Insausti,
• Luis Lezama,
• Fernando Plazaola,
• Jose Angel García,
• Jesús M. Aizpurua,
• Maialen Sagartzazu,
• Mireia Irazola,
• Nestor Etxebarria,
• Ignacio García-Alonso,
• Alberto Saiz-López and
• José Javier Echevarria-Uraga

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1532–1542, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.147

• hyperthermia values above 500 W/g for magnetic fluids. These fluids have been administrated to rats, but instead of injecting MNP fluid directly into liver tumors, intravascular administration of MNPs in animals with induced colorectal tumors has been performed. Afterwards the animals were exposed to an

• of the Fe3O4@PMAO_RGD nanoparticles were administered through the splenic artery into the hepatic artery in a group of eight rats (MNpG), without observation of aggregation or arterial thrombosis in any of the animals. The other eight rats were intra-arterially infused with saline and used as

• field intensity of 14 kA/m until a liver temperature of 43 °C was reached and then this temperature was maintained for 21 min. In all the animals exposed to the electromagnetic applicator (EA), the body temperature remained within safe margins, and rapidly reverted to normal values after returning the

Influence of ambient humidity on the attachment ability of ladybird beetles (Coccinella septempunctata)

• Lars Heepe,
• Jonas O. Wolff and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1322–1329, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.123

• wet adhesive system of C. septempunctata? (2) Is the attachment ability in both sexes likewise affected by ambient humidity? Experimental Animals For this study, the seven-spotted ladybird beetle Coccinella septempunctata LINNAEUS 1758 (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae) was chosen (Figure 1A). This beetle

• traction force is dependent on the attachment ability of the pulling animal. This method has been used in previous studies [7][14][40]. We let the beetle pull for one minute and then repeated the experiment in a second run, to make sure that the performance of individual animals was stable. In total, 10

• Experiment 1. To exclude an influence of physiological conditions of individual animals on different experimental days, a second run was executed. In this run, 9 beetles (3 females and 6 males) were tested. Individual beetles were tested on one day at all three levels of relative humidity in a randomized

High antiviral effect of TiO₂·PL–DNA nanocomposites targeted to conservative regions of (−)RNA and (+)RNA of influenza A virus in cell culture

• Asya S. Levina,
• Marina N. Repkova,
• Elena V. Bessudnova,
• Ekaterina I. Filippova,
• Natalia A. Mazurkova and
• Valentina F. Zarytova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1166–1173, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.108

• . Influenza A viruses (IAVs) are prominent in infectious diseases of humans and animals and periodically cause epidemics and epizootics. At present, the development of new antiviral drugs based on native or chemically modified nucleic acids is under scrutiny. Researchers all over the world explore the

Multiwalled carbon nanotube hybrids as MRI contrast agents

• Nikodem Kuźnik and
• Mateusz M. Tomczyk

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1086–1103, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.102

• concentrations up to 400 µg/mL, did not express hemolytic activity higher than 5% [38][39]. Several toxicity studies of the hybrids in animals have already been reported. SPIO@Lac-Gly/PDDA/oMWCNT#Liu was injected into mice (tail vein) at a dose of 10 mg/kg. Short-term discoloration of the tails was observed, but

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

• ]. Animals To obtain neural stem cells, wild type C57Bl/6NCrl mice were used. All animal procedures were approved by Internal Review Board of the Ethical Committee of the School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, and were in accordance with the Ethical Codex of Croatian Society for Laboratory Animal Science

• . All experiments were carried out in accordance with the EU Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. Neural stem cell culture Neural stem cells (NSCs) were isolated from pregnant female mice as previously described [28][29]. Briefly, at gestation day 14.5, embryos

Frog tongue surface microstructures: functional and evolutionary patterns

• Thomas Kleinteich and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 893–903, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.81

• demonstrated for South American horned frogs (genus Ceratophrys) that the adhesive forces that frog tongues can produce and withstand are even higher than the body weight of the animals, at least if measured against a glass surface [7]. Further, we found that adhesive forces are higher if less mucus remained

Comparative kinematical analyses of Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) snap traps

• Simon Poppinga,
• Tim Kampowski,
• Amélie Metzger,
• Olga Speck and
• Thomas Speck

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 664–674, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.59

• seasonally inundated [10][11], can reportedly grow in a submersed state for months and is also capable of capturing aquatic animals, e.g., newts [12]. Detailed investigations regarding these potentially coincidental captures do not exist, and the question arises whether the traps function reliably under

Unraveling the neurotoxicity of titanium dioxide nanoparticles: focusing on molecular mechanisms

• Bin Song,
• Yanli Zhang,
• Jia Liu,
• Xiaoli Feng,
• Ting Zhou and
• Longquan Shao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 645–654, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.57

• and are widely used in many fields. Numerous in vivo studies, exposing experimental animals to these NPs through systematic administration, have suggested that TiO2 NPs can accumulate in the brain and induce brain dysfunction. Nevertheless, the exact mechanisms underlying the neurotoxicity of TiO2 NPs

• detected in the main organs of experimental animals [5][6] and in exhaled breath condensate of exposed workers [7]. This accumulation can in turn damage affected organs and induce dysfunction. The brain is of particular interest, as it is unable to regenerate from damage. Consequently, the neurotoxicity of

Novel roles for well-known players: from tobacco mosaic virus pests to enzymatically active assemblies

• Claudia Koch,
• Fabian J. Eber,
• Carlos Azucena,
• Alexander Förste,
• Stefan Walheim,
• Thomas Schimmel,
• Alexander M. Bittner,
• Holger Jeske,
• Hartmut Gliemann,
• Sabine Eiben,
• Fania C. Geiger and
• Christina Wege

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 613–629, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.54

• make use of plant or bacterial viruses non-pathogenic for warm-blooded animals, or of non-infectious virus shells which lack part or all of the viral genome. Several viruses may be genetically engineered to increase the number of selectively addressable binding sites, or to alter specific properties of

• -programmed to produce many thousands of virus copies. Viruses have been discovered in virtually all types of organisms, with numerous well-characterized species adapted to animals, plants, fungi, or prokaryotic bacteria or archaea. As they may have an enormous impact on the physiological status and health of

• some review articles [6][71][72]). Although they have in common that they are non-pathogenic for humans and animals, spherical plant viral or bacteriophage particles serve predominantly as nanocontainers for cargo or reaction vessels, and as presentation systems for bio-effective molecules such as

Molecular machines operating on the nanoscale: from classical to quantum

• Igor Goychuk

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 328–350, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.31

• food molecules by animals [1]. The main physical principles of their operation are more or less understood by now [2][3], although the statistico-mechanical details of any single particular molecular motor (e.g., a representative of a large family of kinesin motors) are not well understood. The

Surface coating affects behavior of metallic nanoparticles in a biological environment

• Darija Domazet Jurašin,
• Marija Ćurlin,
• Ivona Capjak,
• Tea Crnković,
• Marija Lovrić,
• Michal Babič,
• Daniel Horák,
• Ivana Vinković Vrček and
• Srećko Gajović

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 246–262, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.23

• obtained from healthy twelve weeks old male Wistar rats. Animals were killed by narketan/xilapan anesthesia following the whole blood collection by cardiac puncture. The experiment was approved by the Ethics Committee for Animal Studies of the Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health

Nanostructured superhydrophobic films synthesized by electrodeposition of fluorinated polyindoles

• Gabriela Ramos Chagas,
• Thierry Darmanin and
• Frédéric Guittard

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2078–2087, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.212

• , in both animals and plants, and allow them surviving against predators or hostile environments such as extremely humid or dry regions, for example [7][8][9][10][11][12]. Bioinspiration has shown the importance of developing structured surfaces in the presence of low surface energy materials that

Analysis of soil bacteria susceptibility to manufactured nanoparticles via data visualization

• Rong Liu,
• Yuan Ge,
• Patricia A. Holden and
• Yoram Cohen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1635–1651, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.166

• communities [18][19]; quantum dots (QDs) were linked to DNA damage of both freshwater mussels and gills [24]; and carbon nanotubes have been found to induce harmful effects to various organs (such as aquatic animals, bacteria, and plants) [25]. MNPs in soil can cause compositional changes to soil bacterial

Peptide-equipped tobacco mosaic virus templates for selective and controllable biomineral deposition

• Klara Altintoprak,
• Axel Seidenstücker,
• Alexander Welle,
• Sabine Eiben,
• Petia Atanasova,
• Nina Stitz,
• Alfred Plettl,
• Joachim Bill,
• Hartmut Gliemann,
• Holger Jeske,
• Dirk Rothenstein,
• Fania Geiger and
• Christina Wege

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1399–1412, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.145

• scaffolds because of their biological safety for humans, animals, and their commensal bacteria. TMV is a widespread plant-infecting pathogen, which can be isolated in large amounts from susceptible plants [40]. TMV particles are highly ordered, supramolecular complexes, consisting of a single-stranded

Influence of gold, silver and gold–silver alloy nanoparticles on germ cell function and embryo development

• Ulrike Taylor,
• Daniela Tiedemann,
• Christoph Rehbock,
• Wilfried A. Kues,
• Stephan Barcikowski and
• Detlef Rath

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 651–664, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.66

• been performed solely on male animals or in case females were used ovaries or uteri were not examined. However, while in one study no nanoparticles where found in either ovary or placenta after intraveneous injection of AuNP [42], further studies reported the detection of AuNP after intertracheal or

Silica micro/nanospheres for theranostics: from bimodal MRI and fluorescent imaging probes to cancer therapy

• Shanka Walia and
• Amitabha Acharya

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 546–558, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.57

• (hMSCs) at different time and dose intervals. The results showed that NPs were accumulated fast by the cells, which can be clearly detected by MRI. The in vivo studies carried out on nude mice reflected that the nanocomposite labeled cells could be detected in living animals under a clinical MRI system

Overview about the localization of nanoparticles in tissue and cellular context by different imaging techniques

• Anja Ostrowski,
• Daniel Nordmeyer,
• Alexander Boreham,
• Cornelia Holzhausen,
• Lars Mundhenk,
• Christina Graf,
• Martina C. Meinke,
• Annika Vogt,
• Sabrina Hadam,
• Jürgen Lademann,
• Eckart Rühl,
• Ulrike Alexiev and
• Achim D. Gruber

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 263–280, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.25

• are available on NP pharmacology and toxicology in humans and animals [8][9]. However, despite all advancements in in vitro testing including permanent or primary cell lines and ex vivo organ cultures, the complexity of a living organism cannot be modeled in a test tube or culture dish. In this regard

• detected and quantified by a gamma counter, micro imager, phosphoimager plates or autoradiographic films that are commonly used for X-ray exposures. However, such autoradiographs performed on cross sections of whole bodies or total organs of animals (Figure 2a and Figure 2b) [62][63][66][67][68] possess

The distribution and degradation of radiolabeled superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles and quantum dots in mice

• Denise Bargheer,
• Artur Giemsa,
• Barbara Freund,
• Markus Heine,
• Christian Waurisch,
• Gordon M. Stachowski,
• Stephen G. Hickey,
• Alexander Eychmüller,
• Jörg Heeren and
• Peter Nielsen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 111–123, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.11

• data have been called into question regarding the application in animals or even for future application in humans [15][16]. The organ-specific dose for in vivo experiments may not be high enough to induce detectable acute toxicity. However, when Qdots are retained by animals, long-term toxicity may be

• the lack of appropriate techniques to reliably quantify the dynamic variation of Qdots in living animals. Fluorescent imaging has low spatial resolution and limited penetration depth, and quantification based only on such methods is limited. Functionalized SPIOs are also interesting candidates for

• the present study the outer ZnS shell of CdSe/CdS/ZnS (core/shell/shell) quantum dots was labeled by incubation with water-free 65Zn2+ in an organic solvent. This radionuclide is a hard γ-emitter (1.1 MeV), which would allow precise measurement even in living animals using a whole body counter

Synthesis of boron nitride nanotubes and their applications

• Saban Kalay,
• Zehra Yilmaz,
• Ozlem Sen,
• Melis Emanet,
• Emine Kazanc and
• Mustafa Çulha

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 84–102, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.9

Proinflammatory and cytotoxic response to nanoparticles in precision-cut lung slices

• Stephanie Hirn,
• Nadine Haberl,
• Kateryna Loza,
• Matthias Epple,
• Wolfgang G. Kreyling,
• Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser,
• Markus Rehberg and
• Fritz Krombach

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2440–2449, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.253

• procedure was repeated three times. Animals Female Wistar rats (Wistar RjHan:WI rats), 8–10 weeks of age (approx. 250 g body weight), were obtained from Janvier (Le Genest Saint Isle, France). The animals had at least one week for acclimatization and were housed in pairs in standard Makrolon plastic cages

Aquatic versus terrestrial attachment: Water makes a difference

• Petra Ditsche and
• Adam P. Summers

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2424–2439, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.252

• acting to detach animals and forces of attachment. While in a terrestrial environment gravity is commonly understood as the most important detachment force, under submerged conditions gravity is nearly balanced out by buoyancy and therefore matters little. In contrast, flow forces such as drag and lift

• adhesion, e.g., in terrestrial beetles or flies, but usually do not occur under water. Viscous forces are likely an important contributor to adhesion under water in some mobile animals such as torrent frogs and mayflies, but there are still many open questions to be answered. Glue is the dominant

• attachment mechanism of sessile aquatic animals and the aquatic realm presents many challenges to this mode of attachment. Viscous forces and the lack of surface tension under submerged conditions also affect frictional interactions in the aquatic environment. Moreover, the limitation of suction to the