Alteration of nanomechanical properties of pancreatic cancer cells through anticancer drug treatment revealed by atomic force microscopy

• Xiaoteng Liang,
• Shuai Liu,
• Xiuchao Wang,
• Dan Xia and
• Qiang Li

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1372–1379, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.101

• possibility for the early diagnosis of cancer [7]. In recent decades, anticancer drugs have been developed in great number, enabling the control and treatment of many cancers to improve life quality and life span of people. Many approved anticancer drugs have significant effects on cell membrane proteins and

• ultrastructure of living cells [15][16], cell membranes, membrane proteins [17][18] and DNA [19], and through recording single molecular force spectra [20][21]. However, the morphology and the nanoscale mechanical properties of malignant pancreatic cancer cells (PCCs) under anticancer drug treatment have not

• caused by the more complex distribution of biomolecules, such as proteins and sugars, existing on the normal cell membrane surface than that on the cancer cell surface [28][29][30]. The statistics of the Young's modulus values of the four kinds of cells are illustrated in Figure 4a. The Young’s modulus

Biocompatibility and cytotoxicity in vitro of surface-functionalized drug-loaded spinel ferrite nanoparticles

• Sadaf Mushtaq,
• Khuram Shahzad,
• Tariq Saeed,
• Anwar Ul-Hamid,
• Bilal Haider Abbasi,
• Nafees Ahmad,
• Waqas Khalid,
• Muhammad Atif,
• Zulqurnain Ali and
• Rashda Abbasi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1339–1364, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.99

• which enables controlled and nontoxic biological interactions [18]. The hydrophilicity of the nanocarriers is important, as native hydrophobic surfaces of NPs are rapidly opsonized by hydrophobic serum proteins [19]. For this, surface functionalization has a major role [18]. It alters the surface

• potential values is the interaction between NPs and serum proteins present in DMEM [30]. In cell culture media, NPs agglomerate with serum proteins and are therefore recruited in cells via the protein corona effect, which increases the bioavailability of NPs by many folds [31]. PMA-coated samples have a

• smaller hydrodynamic size (60–93 nm) as compared to drug-loaded samples (74–110 nm), which was further increased (132–210 nm) in DMEM due to the interaction between proteins and samples. Among them, NFO has the largest hydrodynamic size (>200 nm) in DMEM, which is not considered suitable for biological

Morphology-driven gas sensing by fabricated fractals: A review

• Vishal Kamathe and
• Rupali Nagar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1187–1208, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.88

• fractal [39][40]. Figure 1 shows various fractal geometries found in nature. Complex patterns seen in human lungs, lines on the surface of human brains, neuron distribution, molecular chains of proteins, and DNA structures with double helix are described by fractal geometries [41]. Ice crystals

Self-assembly of amino acids toward functional biomaterials

• Huan Ren,
• Lifang Wu,
• Lina Tan,
• Yanni Bao,
• Yuchen Ma,
• Yong Jin and
• Qianli Zou

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1140–1150, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.85

• Huan Ren Lifang Wu Lina Tan Yanni Bao Yuchen Ma Yong Jin Qianli Zou School of Pharmacy, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China 10.3762/bjnano.12.85 Abstract Biomolecules, such as proteins and peptides, can be self-assembled. They are widely distributed, easy to obtain, and biocompatible

• . However, the self-assembly of proteins and peptides has disadvantages, such as difficulty in obtaining high quantities of materials, high cost, polydispersity, and purification limitations. The difficulties in using proteins and peptides as functional materials make it more complicate to arrange assembled

• nanostructures at both microscopic and macroscopic scales. Amino acids, as the smallest constituent of proteins and the smallest constituent in the bottom-up approach, are the smallest building blocks that can be self-assembled. The self-assembly of single amino acids has the advantages of low synthesis cost

Use of nanosystems to improve the anticancer effects of curcumin

• Andrea M. Araya-Sibaja,
• Norma J. Salazar-López,
• Krissia Wilhelm Romero,
• José R. Vega-Baudrit,
• J. Abraham Domínguez-Avila,
• Carlos A. Velázquez Contreras,
• Ramón E. Robles-Zepeda,
• Mirtha Navarro-Hoyos and
• Gustavo A. González-Aguilar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1047–1062, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.78

• %) [2]. The most commonly used treatments involve chemotherapy, surgery, or a combination of both. Chemotherapy is based on the use of molecules such as doxorubicin, paclitaxel, cisplatin, and some proteins and peptides that induce cell death [3]. Conventional or low molecular weight chemotherapeutics

• conjunction with inhibition of angiogenic/inflammatory proteins in an NF-κB-dependent manner [18]. Zhang et al. [75] reported that a combination of nanosized particles and the inclusion of glutathione (which has a thiol group that can initiate thiolysis and release CUR) results in a synergistic effect. This

• -promoting effect of the phototherapy–CUR combination is the result of increased nuclear fragmentation, nuclear condensation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, increased cytosolic levels of cytochrome C, and regulation of apoptosis-related proteins

The role of deep eutectic solvents and carrageenan in synthesizing biocompatible anisotropic metal nanoparticles

• Nabojit Das,
• Akash Kumar and
• Raja Gopal Rayavarapu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 924–938, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.69

• was observed due to the difference in the binding affinity of the capping agents toward serum proteins. Glutathione showed less affinity towards serum proteins than citric acid. In an exposure time duration study by Lopez-Chaves et al., size-dependent metabolic fate and deposit formation of gold

The role of convolutional neural networks in scanning probe microscopy: a review

• Ido Azuri,
• Irit Rosenhek-Goldian,
• Neta Regev-Rudzki,
• Georg Fantner and
• Sidney R. Cohen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 878–901, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.66

• learning and linear programming (an optimization method) for tracking single cells in live-cell imaging of both fluorescent and bright-field images of the cell cytoplasm [112]. Newby et al. developed a CNN for fully automated submicrometer-scale localization of particles such as viruses, proteins, and drug

Comprehensive review on ultrasound-responsive theranostic nanomaterials: mechanisms, structures and medical applications

• Sepand Tehrani Fateh,
• Lida Moradi,
• Elmira Kohan,
• Michael R. Hamblin and
• Amin Shiralizadeh Dezfuli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 808–862, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.64

• weight molecules, such as nucleic acids, proteins, peptides, calcein, dextran [66][67][68][69][70], or gene complexes [67] via a process known as “sonoporation” or “transient cavitation”. Cavitation events are sometimes triggered by the effects of US on MBs. Microbubbles are micrometer-sized (1–10 µm

Silver nanoparticles induce the cardiomyogenic differentiation of bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells via telomere length extension

• Khosro Adibkia,
• Ali Ehsani,
• Asma Jodaei,
• Ezzatollah Fathi,
• Raheleh Farahzadi and
• Mohammad Barzegar-Jalali

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 786–797, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.62

• in group II as compared to group I by factors of about 1.75 and 1.38, respectively. Induction of protein and gene expression of cardiac markers To investigate the effect of Ag-NPs on the cardiomyogenic differentiation of BM-MSCs, the cardiac proteins and genes were examined (Figure 7) [20]. GATA

• expression of the mentioned cardiac markers. However, the expression of proteins was observed in group II (BM-MSCs with Ag-NPs), in the absence of cardiac differentiation medium. In other words, it could be claimed that Ag-NPs play an important role in the expression of cardiac markers even in the absence of

• concentration-dependent. More specifically, it was shown that 0.1 µg/mL Ag-NPs caused elevated levels of NK2 homeobox 5 (NKX2.5), myosin heavy chain 6 (MYH6), and islet (ISL) genes expression, of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), albumin (ALB) proteins expression and of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 alpha (HNF4A

Recent progress in actuation technologies of micro/nanorobots

• Ke Xu and
• Bing Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 756–765, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.59

• besides oral treatment. Inspired by the molecular motion of proteins in animal cells, scientists integrated enzymes as catalytic engines, using chemical reactions to provide power for micro/nanorobots. Compared with traditional chemical self-actuation methods, enzyme actuation uses biocompatible fuels and

Fate and transformation of silver nanoparticles in different biological conditions

• Barbara Pem,
• Marija Ćurlin,
• Darija Domazet Jurašin,
• Valerije Vrček,
• Rinea Barbir,
• Vedran Micek,
• Raluca M. Fratila,
• Jesus M. de la Fuente and
• Ivana Vinković Vrček

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 665–679, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.53

• owing to their many physiological roles and evidences for thiol-containing proteins as major targets for toxic effects of ionic Ag [25]. In the presence of biothiols the soluble complexes are formed. Thiols possess a high affinity for soft Lewis acid metals and may easily coordinate Ag+ [9][26][27]. The

• , metabolites, sugars, and proteins that will be adsorbed onto the nanoscale surface and spontaneously form biomolecular corona [9][11][25]. Corona generally protects from both aggregation and dissolution even though some high-affinity molecules might aid dissolution by pulling ions away from the surface [9][30

• behaviour can be attributed to the loss of electrostatic repulsion between particles due to the complexation with counter ions present in media with high ionic strength [8][47]. The presence of proteins prevented AgNP agglomeration in m(CCM+BSA), m(CYS+BSA), m(GSH+BSA) due to the formation of protein corona

On the stability of microwave-fabricated SERS substrates – chemical and morphological considerations

• Limin Wang,
• Aisha Adebola Womiloju,
• Christiane Höppener,
• Ulrich S. Schubert and
• Stephanie Hoeppener

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 541–551, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.44

• choice of a suitable media is of utmost importance for many biological investigations as it can alter the structure of biomolecules (e.g., proteins) [33]. We tested five commonly used buffer systems which include phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), HEPES-buffered glucose solution (HBG), tris-borate-EDTA

A review on nanostructured silver as a basic ingredient in medicine: physicochemical parameters and characterization

• Gabriel M. Misirli,
• Kishore Sridharan and
• Shirley M. P. Abrantes

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 440–461, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.36

• not exert their antibacterial effects in a single specific location, but rather at several levels (e.g., in the bacterial wall and by blocking electron transfer, in cell respiration and replication due to the damage to the proteins, RNA, and DNA [8][107]). In addition, there is substantial evidence

• oxidative changes in the internal structure of cellular proteins, RNA, and DNA leading to redox changes, which in extreme conditions can lead to cell death by apoptosis [11][23][108]. Wakshlak et al. presented a new action mechanism of silver, called the "zombie effect". The AgNPs interact with the cellular

• components of the dead bacteria (i.e., RNA, polysaccharides, phospholipids, proteins, and DNA,) and are stabilized and capped by the genetic material of the bacteria (AgNPs–bac). According to the Le Chatelier’s principle, AgNPs are redirected to live bacteria with a higher potential for lethality according

The impact of molecular tumor profiling on the design strategies for targeting myeloid leukemia and EGFR/CD44-positive solid tumors

• Nikola Geskovski,
• Nadica Matevska-Geshkovska,
• Simona Dimchevska Sazdovska,
• Marija Glavas Dodov,
• Kristina Mladenovska and
• Katerina Goracinova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 375–401, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.31

• DNA repair ability, the expression of anti-apoptotic proteins, and the drug efflux transporters of the leukemia stem cells are considered the main contributors to the resistance to chemo- and radiotherapy of many types of leukemia. Hence, it is logical to identify this cell population as a prime

• targeting myeloid leukemia Nanomedicine offers new perspectives and promising approaches in the therapy of myeloid leukemia. With the advances in the selective delivery of a variety of therapeutic molecules, from conventional drugs to proteins and nucleic acids, some of which were not available in the

Characterization, bio-uptake and toxicity of polymer-coated silver nanoparticles and their interaction with human peripheral blood mononuclear cells

• Sahar Pourhoseini,
• Reilly T. Enos,
• Angela E. Murphy,
• Bo Cai and
• Jamie R. Lead

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 282–294, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.23

• binding to proteins present in the RPMI. Formation of dissolved silver chloride was suggested by speciation calculations (data not reported, as the accuracy of calculations can be questioned, given the media complexity and difference from those on which the model was validated). There is limited evidence

• availability [39][45][46]. As the exposure medium (RPMI) is a complex culture medium that contains different proteins and factors, alteration of the NP surface is likely leading to changes in the possible mechanisms responsible for uptake and toxicity. Ag release during the exposure time in RPMI medium was

• ., passivation, or as separate particles) or are bound to proteins. These leads to the formation of secondary NPs, chloro complexes and protein interactions in the RPMI medium yielding a Ag compounds that have a molecular mass above the nominal value of the 3 kDa filter membrane, which affects filter permeation

Differences in surface chemistry of iron oxide nanoparticles result in different routes of internalization

• Barbora Svitkova,
• Vlasta Zavisova,
• Veronika Nemethova,
• Martina Koneracka,
• Miroslava Kretova,
• Filip Razga,
• Monika Ursinyova and
• Alena Gabelova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 270–281, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.22

• 40–50 nm in diameter [14], or glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins [15]. Inorganic nanoparticles are frequently engineered with an organic surface coating to improve their biocompatibility, colloidal stability, and bioavailability. Moreover, the coating facilitates their further

• provide delivery strategies featuring enhanced targeting. Results Expression of the key proteins involved in the endocytosis in A549 cells The determination of the proficiency/deficiency of cells regarding key proteins involved in specific endocytic pathways is essential before defining the route of

• affect the uptake. Once NPs enter biological fluids (blood or culture medium with serum), proteins immediately adsorb onto the surface of the NPs, forming a layer called protein corona (PC). The PC changes the surface composition and structure of NPs, directly influences the cell–NP interactions

The nanomorphology of cell surfaces of adhered osteoblasts

• Christian Voelkner,
• Mirco Wendt,
• Regina Lange,
• Max Ulbrich,
• Martina Gruening,
• Susanne Staehlke,
• Barbara Nebe,
• Ingo Barke and
• Sylvia Speller

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 242–256, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.20

• surfaces, such as titanium and polyallylamine [3][4][5], gelatin–nanogold [6], polyelectrolytes and arginylglycylaspartic acid peptides [7], or extracellular matrix proteins [5][8][9]. Especially on the nonphysiological surfaces of permanent implants, the settling of cells and the swift formation of large

• adhesion interface areas are desired. Regarding this, a variety of surface coatings was assessed. Relevant parameters may be the zeta potential and pre-adsorbed cell adhesion proteins from the serum of the medium [4][10]. Before osteoblasts start the adhesion and spreading programs, they settle on the

• proteins resulting in a higher Young's modulus. The fixed ruffles exhibit an extremely low ion current error (Figure 3b), lower than that of the surrounding membrane. PFA usually increases the Young's modulus of cell surfaces, for instance, from 3.5 to 18 kPa in fibroblasts [39]. Therefore, the lower ion

A review on the biological effects of nanomaterials on silkworm (Bombyx mori)

• Sandra Senyo Fometu,
• Guohua Wu,
• Lin Ma and
• Joan Shine Davids

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 190–202, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.15

• , 212018, PR China 10.3762/bjnano.12.15 Abstract The production of high-quality silkworm silk is of importance in sericulture in addition to the production of biomass, silk proteins, and animal feed. The distinctive properties of nanomaterials have the potential to improve the development of various

• the silkworm fat body. The treatment with TiO2 NPs activated the insulin signaling pathway of the silkworm by enhancing the metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins, and fat when compared to the control group. Ni et al. [120] reported that feeding silkworm larvae with 5 g/mL of TiO2 NPs led to the

• concentrations of Ag NPs [122]. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are involved in cell signaling and homeostasis [123], are considered a characteristic side-effect of oxygen metabolism. High levels of ROS in living organisms induce oxidative stress, which results in damage to the DNA, proteins, and lipids

Imaging of SARS-CoV-2 infected Vero E6 cells by helium ion microscopy

• Natalie Frese,
• Patrick Schmerer,
• Martin Wortmann,
• Matthias Schürmann,
• Matthias König,
• Michael Westphal,
• Friedemann Weber,
• Holger Sudhoff and
• Armin Gölzhäuser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 172–179, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.13

• macromolecular structures such as spike glycoproteins or transmembrane proteins [21], SEM provides topographic images of infected cells and virus particles distributed on their surface, albeit only after the samples have been coated with a conductive layer. In contrast, the HIM delivers a topographic image of

Mapping the local dielectric constant of a biological nanostructured system

• Wescley Walison Valeriano,
• Rodrigo Ribeiro Andrade,
• Juan Pablo Vasco,
• Angelo Malachias,
• Bernardo Ruegger Almeida Neves,
• Paulo Sergio Soares Guimarães and
• Wagner Nunes Rodrigues

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 139–150, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.11

• such as the full understanding of proteins [1][2] or in the development of solar cells [3]. Natural photonic crystals are exciting nanostructured systems in which the dielectric properties play a fundamental role [4]. Many of them are biological systems where the richness of colors, produced by

A review on the green and sustainable synthesis of silver nanoparticles and one-dimensional silver nanostructures

• Sina Kaabipour and
• Shohreh Hemmati

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 102–136, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.9

• amides corresponding to cellular proteins and enzymes, are responsible for the synthesis and stabilization of AgNPs (Table 2). These components are present in both the biomass and the cell culture supernatant. It was previously demonstrated that the synthesis rate can be faster for some bacterial strains

Fusion of purple membranes triggered by immobilization on carbon nanomembranes

• René Riedel,
• Natalie Frese,
• Fang Yang,
• Martin Wortmann,
• Raphael Dalpke,
• Daniel Rhinow,
• Norbert Hampp and
• Armin Gölzhäuser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 93–101, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.8

• -standing, large-area PM monolayer remains challenging. Previous approaches for the oriented assembly of PM were based on solid supports [8][29][30] or interfaces between liquids [31][32]. Other approaches, by implementing transmembrane proteins such as BR in lipid bilayers, have so far been used only to

• the final linker is shown in Figure 2a. The functionalization was tested with the His-tagged fluorescent protein mTurqoise. Confirmation of successful functionalization was provided by fluorescence imaging as seen in Figure 2b. The images show that the complex bonds formed with His-labeled proteins

Effect of different silica coatings on the toxicity of upconversion nanoparticles on RAW 264.7 macrophage cells

• Cynthia Kembuan,
• Helena Oliveira and
• Christina Graf

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 35–48, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.3

• oxidative stress and cause apoptosis. In addition, intracellular redox homeostasis and gene expression can be modulated [26]. Lanthanide ions are usually not reported as highly toxic. However, they can interact with proteins, enzymes, and other biomolecules [27][28] and might also cause oxidative damage or

• ionic strength of the cell culture medium (I = 168 mmol/L) reduces the electrostatic stabilization. Besides, the proteins in the DMEM cell culture medium supplemented with 10% FBS contribute to the measured hydrodynamic diameter values [51]. FBS consists mostly of bovine serum albumin. The Z-average

• aggregation of silica nanoparticles that occurred after redispersion in buffered solution and in physiological medium [54]. They reported that various proteins in a medium containing FBS were adsorbed onto the surface of bare SiO2 and amine-functionalized SiO2 nanoparticles, forming a protein corona with a

Bio-imaging with the helium-ion microscope: A review

• Matthias Schmidt,
• James M. Byrne and
• Ilari J. Maasilta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1–23, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.1

• al. [12], fruit flies by Boseman et al. [13], and pine leaves by Kim [14] marked the entrance of HIM into general biology. Soon afterwards, two more milestones were reached. Firstly, Rice et al. [15] successfully imaged 15 nm gold labels on cell-surface proteins in rat kidneys, which demonstrated

• applied as the first step during sample preparation to prevent or limit alterations to biological materials during sample drying. Chemical fixatives such as glutaraldehyde, formaldehyde, or a combination of the two (Karnovsky’s solution) cross-link proteins and lipids to physically stabilise samples [60

• the development of mammalian tooth enamel [67][71]. Tooth enamel consists of hydroxyapatite crystals, which form needle-shaped nanocrystals of several micrometres length with a diameter below 100 nm. HIM revealed insight into the complex interactions between the enamel-forming cells, matrix proteins

Self-standing heterostructured NiC_x-NiFe-NC/biochar as a highly efficient cathode for lithium–oxygen batteries

• Shengyu Jing,
• Xu Gong,
• Shan Ji,
• Linhui Jia,
• Bruno G. Pollet,
• Sheng Yan and
• Huagen Liang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1809–1821, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.163

• porous cubic nanostructure exhibiting excellent catalytic properties [36][37]. Biomass materials can be used to prepare N-doped carbons since their proteins contain nitrogen atoms. This method is an economically viable way to produce N-doped carbons at a large scale [38][39]. Our group has synthesized a