Enhanced inhibition of influenza virus infection by peptide–noble-metal nanoparticle conjugates

• Zaid K. Alghrair,
• David G. Fernig and
• Bahram Ebrahimi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1038–1047, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.104

• as a sequence in tyrosine kinase inhibitor peptide (Tkip), thought to act as a mimic of the suppressor of cytokine signalling (SOCS) protein [16]. However, the antiviral activity of FluPep does not depend on blocking cytokine signalling, which is intracellular, but instead this peptide appears to

• virus particle binding, the virion will enter the cell, replicate its genome, translate viral protein components, assemble viral particles and then egress from the infected cell by lysis. The released viral particles will then infect neighbouring cells. By putting an agarose overlay on cultured cells

• purchased from Peptide Protein Research (PPR Ltd, Hampshire, UK). The alkanethiol ethylene glycol ligand, HS(CH2)11(OC2H4)4OH, was purchased from Prochimia (ProChimia Surface Sp. z o.o., Sopot, Poland). Gold nanoparticles of 9 nm diameter stabilized in citrate buffer were purchased from British Biocell

Serum type and concentration both affect the protein-corona composition of PLGA nanoparticles

• Katrin Partikel,
• Robin Korte,
• Dennis Mulac,
• Hans-Ulrich Humpf and
• Klaus Langer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1002–1015, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.101

• /bjnano.10.101 Abstract Background: When nanoparticles (NPs) are applied into a biological fluid, such as blood, proteins bind rapidly to their surface forming a so-called “protein corona”. These proteins are strongly attached to the NP surface and confers them a new biological identity that is crucial

• for the biological response in terms of body biodistribution, cellular uptake, and toxicity. The corona is dynamic in nature and it is well known that the composition varies in dependence of the physicochemical properties of the NPs. In the present study we investigated the protein corona that forms

• around poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) NPs at different serum concentrations using two substantially different serum types, namely fetal bovine serum (FBS) and human serum. The corona was characterized by means of sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), Bradford protein

Experimental study of an evanescent-field biosensor based on 1D photonic bandgap structures

• Jad Sabek,
• Francisco Javier Díaz-Fernández,
• Luis Torrijos-Morán,
• Zeneida Díaz-Betancor,
• Ángel Maquieira,
• María-José Bañuls,
• Elena Pinilla-Cienfuegos and
• Jaime García-Rupérez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 967–974, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.97

• Mach–Zehnder interferometers or bimodal waveguides, respectively. By using this type of structures, outstanding results have been obtained for the specific detection of a wide range of analytes, reaching detect limits even below the nanogram-per-milliliter range for protein detection [5] and below the

Effects of gold and PCL- or PLLA-coated silica nanoparticles on brain endothelial cells and the blood–brain barrier

• Aniela Bittner,
• Angélique D. Ducray,
• Hans Rudolf Widmer,
• Michael H. Stoffel and
• Meike Mevissen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 941–954, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.95

• cytotoxicity in HUVECs. Furthermore, Si-NPs were shown to induce oxidative stress and inflammation mediated by mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) [21] pathways that are related to cell proliferation and differentiation but also to

• , proliferation and inflammation in rBCEC4 cells Possible changes in protein expression representing inhibition or activation of several crucial proteins of different signaling pathways involved in regulatory processes including cell survival and proliferation were investigated with western blotting. The active

• , phosphorylated (P-) form of the proteins of interest was compared to their inactive, non-phosphorylated form. Protein kinase B (Akt) could be detected in its inactive and active form but neither exposure to Si- nor to Au-NPs caused significant changes in its expression. However, a trend to an increase in P-Akt

Outstanding chain-extension effect and high UV resistance of polybutylene succinate containing amino-acid-modified layered double hydroxides

• Adam A. Marek,
• Vincent Verney,
• Christine Taviot-Gueho,
• Grazia Totaro,
• Laura Sisti,
• Annamaria Celli and
• Fabrice Leroux

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 684–695, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.68

• ]. LDHs are considered to be “green” and low environmental impact fillers [12], biocompatible [13] and food compatible [14]. Indeed the choice of organo-modified LDH using amino acids, and among them the protein-building amino acids, has already been demonstrated [15]. Having in mind that UV stabilization

Mechanical and thermodynamic properties of Aβ₄₂, Aβ₄₀, and α-synuclein fibrils: a coarse-grained method to complement experimental studies

• Adolfo B. Poma,
• Horacio V. Guzman,
• Mai Suan Li and
• Panagiotis E. Theodorakis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 500–513, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.51

• harmonic potentials to the furthest bottom and top particles of the protein. Then, we take values for the elastic constants equal to kbottom = 100 kcal/mol/Å and ktop = 0.1 kcal/mol/Å for the top part of the fibril. The top part is moving with pulling speed equal to vpull = 5 × 10−5 Å/ns. As a result of

• preparation of samples with well-ordered Aβ40 or Aβ42 fibrils. In this regard, our CG simulation is an ideal protocol as it enables the calculation of the melting temperatures for well-ordered Aβ fibrils. To assess the thermal stability of the fibril, we compute the probability of finding the protein in the

• each system are highlighted in yellow. List of geometric parameters of the fibril structures used to determine the YL, YT, and S. The last line of each fibril entry gives the protein segment used to define the shear plane as illustrated in Figure 3. The elastic moduli in GPa for the Aβ40, Aβ42 and α

Biocompatible organic–inorganic hybrid materials based on nucleobases and titanium developed by molecular layer deposition

• Leva Momtazi,
• Henrik H. Sønsteby and
• Ola Nilsen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 399–411, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.39

• where interaction with the surrounding tissue is controlled at the surface of the material, whereas load is governed by bulk properties. The surface of a material is responsible for interactions with the surrounding tissue by directing protein absorption, which in turn controls cell adhesion and

Heating ability of magnetic nanoparticles with cubic and combined anisotropy

• Nikolai A. Usov,
• Mikhail S. Nesmeyanov,
• Elizaveta M. Gubanova and
• Natalia B. Epshtein

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 305–314, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.29

• –dipole interaction within the cluster. A similar effect is also confirmed for clusters of nanoparticles with cubic or combined anisotropy. For example, “protein coronas” around the nanoparticles can keep them separated in a natural way. This effect can be used to improve the ability of magnetite

Mechanism of silica–lysozyme composite formation unravelled by in situ fast SAXS

• Tomasz M. Stawski,
• Daniela B. van den Heuvel,
• Rogier Besselink,
• Dominique J. Tobler and
• Liane G. Benning

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 182–197, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.17

• of protein-sensitized biomedical devices and sensors [1][2][3][4][5][6]. In a broader perspective, many processes involving the assembly of nanoparticles to higher-level hierarchical structures are known to be directed by small organic molecules and macromolecules [7][8][9][10]. Such fundamental

• the folding/structure of the protein, its enzymatic activity and the exact protein localization with respect to the silica NPs inside flocculated composites [16][17][19][21][22][23][24]. The inherent nature of the aggregation processes leading to silica–lysozyme composites, involves structural changes

• aggregation of silica NPs (ca. 5 nm in diameter) at a time resolution of 50 ms. It is important to note that at typical NPs sizes and concentrations [17][24] and protein concentrations [27] usually employed to make such SiO2–LZM composites, the relative X-ray scattering contrast/intensity of lysozyme, in the

Targeting strategies for improving the efficacy of nanomedicine in oncology

• Gonzalo Villaverde and
• Alejandro Baeza

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 168–181, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.16

• which the recognition event takes place in a very specific manner through the interaction between the antigen located on the diseased cell and the two ends of the Y-shaped protein. Thus, many different antibodies have been attached on the surface of multiple types of nanoparticles to induce selectivity

• antibody attachment with a high precision level [29]. Another interesting strategy is the attachment of protein A on the nanoparticle surface prior to the incorporation of the antibody [30]. Protein A is a membrane protein produced by Staphylococcus aureus in order to complex the immunoglobulins by the

• complement region (Fc) deactivating the immune attack of the host. Thus, antibodies can be anchored to the surface of a nanoparticle decorated with protein A thanks to the strong affinity between the protein and the Fc region, which is not involved in the recognition process and therefore, this process

Characterization and influence of hydroxyapatite nanopowders on living cells

• Przemyslaw Oberbek,
• Tomasz Bolek,
• Adrian Chlanda,
• Seishiro Hirano,
• Sylwia Kusnieruk,
• Julia Rogowska-Tylman,
• Ganna Nechyporenko,
• Viktor Zinchenko,
• Wojciech Swieszkowski and
• Tomasz Puzyn

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 3079–3094, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.286

• by cell division, and is connected to apoptosis, i.e., programmed cell death. According to Ramovatar et al. [49], a high intracellular Ca2+ concentration may trigger a cascade of events, i.e., the activation of calpain (protein kinases), the disruption of the cytoskeletal integrity [72], the

• induction of stress inside the cell and the activation of the tumour-suppressor gene p53 [73][74], which promotes the downstream gene expression finally leading to an apoptosis. Gene p53 is also activated by phosphorylation, that is, the attachment of the phosphate group (PO43−) to the protein chain [75][76

• chromatography, protein purification, cell-culture substrates, catalyst production and waste management. Lower crystallinity, high purity and high zeta potential of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles are desired in a material intended for long-term medical use in the body. Since calcium deficiency is a feature of

Time-resolved universal temperature measurements using NaYF₄:Er³⁺,Yb³⁺ upconverting nanoparticles in an electrospray jet

• Kristina Shrestha,
• Arwa A. Alaulamie,
• Ali Rafiei Miandashti and
• Hugh H. Richardson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2916–2924, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.270

• understand temperature-dependent reactions such as protein unfolding inside microjet/microdroplets and microfluidic systems. Keywords: electrospray; microjet; nanothermometry; temperature measurement; time-resolved measurement; upconverting nanoparticles; Introduction There is need and interest to non

• measurements inside the Taylor cone. We believe that the findings of this paper provide a foundation for time-resolved temperature measurements using NaYF4:Er3+,Yb3+ UCNPs and can be used to understand temperature dependent reactions like protein unfolding phenomenon inside the microjet/microdroplets

The effect of flexible joint-like elements on the adhesive performance of nature-inspired bent mushroom-like fibers

• Elliot Geikowsky,
• Serdar Gorumlu and
• Burak Aksak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2893–2905, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.268

• , rubber-like protein resilin. Light blue regions (hair shaft and discoidal tip structure) mainly consist of stiffer chitinous material. Adapted from [32]. b) Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of synthetic, polymeric, bent fibers inspired by the adhesive hairs of the beetle, showing joints between

Low cost tips for tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy fabricated by two-step electrochemical etching of 125 µm diameter gold wires

• Antonino Foti,
• Francesco Barreca,
• Enza Fazio,
• Cristiano D’Andrea,
• Paolo Matteini,
• Onofrio Maria Maragò and
• Pietro Giuseppe Gucciardi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2718–2729, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.254

• blue (MB), pigments of cultural heritage interest (alizarin-s, AZ-s) [58] and highly toxic protein oligomers [59]. Tests are carried out in gap-mode, absorbing the probe molecules on gold films with side-illumination at an excitation wavelength of 638 nm. Molecular solutions at different concentrations

• removed from the near-field region of the sample, just excluding the feedback loop of the STM system. Vibrational bands of all molecules agree with the literature [60][61][62][63]. We finally apply our tips to obtain TERS spectra from the N-terminal domain of the Escherichia coli protein HypF (HypF-N

• ). This a small stably folded α/β protein with 91-residues (10 kDa) [64] that is capable of forming amyloid species like those associated with neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s [65], and have recently been the subject of TERS investigations [66][67][68]. In particular, we focus on

Nanoantenna structures for the detection of phonons in nanocrystals

• Alexander G. Milekhin,
• Sergei A. Kuznetsov,
• Ilya A. Milekhin,
• Larisa L. Sveshnikova,
• Tatyana A. Duda,
• Ekaterina E. Rodyakina,
• Alexander V. Latyshev,
• Volodymyr M. Dzhagan and
• Dietrich R. T. Zahn

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2646–2656, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.246

• substances of extremely low concentrations. For example, Adato et al. demonstrated the detection of a concentration as low as 145 protein molecules per nanoantenna [19]. SEIRA has been extended to the far-IR spectral range for which special nanoscale slot-antenna arrays were designed to determine glucose and

Enhanced antineoplastic/therapeutic efficacy using 5-fluorouracil-loaded calcium phosphate nanoparticles

• Shanid Mohiyuddin,
• Saba Naqvi and
• Gopinath Packirisamy

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2499–2515, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.233

• nanoparticles in biomedical applications is extended to tissue engineering, gene/siRNA delivery, anticancer drug delivery, protein and antigen delivery, vaccine delivery, insulin as well as imaging probe or contrasting agent delivery for bio-imaging. 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU), a well-known anticancer agent

• micrographs of CaP@5-FU NP treated cells. In the induction of apoptotsis in cells, an activated ROCK1 protein is involved in the cellular shrinking and formation of membrane blebbing. The mechanistic action of activated ROCK1 to stabilize the actin, phosphorylate myosin and finally the coupling of the actin

• NP-treated HCT-15 cells was undertaken. The gene-specific amplification in a thermal cycler enables the quantification of protein expression. The apoptosis can occur through either the intrinsic mitochondrial-mediated pathway or by the extrinsic death receptor (FasL) facilitated pathway. With the

Block copolymers for designing nanostructured porous coatings

• Roberto Nisticò

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2332–2344, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.218

• )molecules were selected as target probes: methylene blue (a dye of 0.5 nm in width) and the protein RNAse (3.8 nm), respectively. The results evidenced that the diffusion of the protein is more restricted as compared to the dye, suggesting a steric selectivity of the depth-filtering system analyzed. In

Nanoscale characterization of the temporary adhesive of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus

• Ana S. Viana and
• Romana Santos

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2277–2286, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.212

• protein is pulled from the surface of the adhesive fibrils and the “hidden length” of the amino acid chain is extended [1]. When probed directly in milli-Q water, pull-off forces around 63 ± 40 pN were needed to break these sacrificial bonds [1]. As for barnacle cyprid larvae they use glycoproteinaceous

• species, Semibalanus balanoides [2][3] and Balanus amphitrite [4]. Cyprid adhesive footprints have a porous and fibrillar appearance, with nanofibrils of varying height (7–150 nm) and bundles of protein aggregates present in the network structure. The footprints probed in air (but kept moist with

• within an intermolecular β-sheet as protein is pulled from the surface of the adhesive fibrils and the “hidden length” of the amino acid chain is extended [1]. In E. solae the sawtooth peaks observed in the retracting force–extension curve were equally spaced (15.5 ± 4.2 nm), indicating an underlying

Electrospun one-dimensional nanostructures: a new horizon for gas sensing materials

• Muhammad Imran,
• Nunzio Motta and
• Mahnaz Shafiei

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2128–2170, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.202

• ) with response and recovery times of 8 s and 5 s for 100 ppm of acetone [146]. SnO2 NTs have also been functionalized by bio-inspired Pt particles (2 nm diameter) at 0.16 wt % and Au particles (2.7 nm diameter) at 0.08 wt % using a protein nanocage by single-nozzle electrospinning [183] as shown

• limited ability to uniformly disperse NPs. A solution could be the encapsulation of NPs in polar proteins that could repel each other resulting in uniform dispersion over the entire surface area. Kim et al. [75][189][190][191] reported protein (apoferritin) encapsulated catalytic/noble metal NP

• . Furthermore, these sensors exhibit an excellent selectivity to acetone compared to other target gases, including ethanol, acetic acid, dimethylformamide (DMF) and ammonia [11][193]. Cho et al. [190] have synthesized Pt, Cu and La NPs (3–5 nm) to surface functionalize ZnO NFs using protein (apoferrtin (AF

The structural and chemical basis of temporary adhesion in the sea star Asterina gibbosa

• Birgit Lengerer,
• Marie Bonneel,
• Mathilde Lefevre,
• Elise Hennebert,
• Philippe Leclère,
• Emmanuel Gosselin,
• Peter Ladurner and
• Patrick Flammang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2071–2086, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.196

• footprint material is produced by two adhesive gland cell types [25]. The content of type 2 adhesive cells is secreted first, and is supposed to form the thin homogeneous film. The content of type 1 adhesive cells forms the thick meshwork and provides the cohesive strength [26]. One protein present in the

• meshwork was recently characterized and named sea star footprint protein-1 (Sfp1) [8]. Thirty-four additional proteins specific for footprints were identified and at least two were found to be glycosylated [28][29]. Additionally, lectin labelling of tube foot sections and footprints in A. rubens revealed

• the presence of various sugar moieties (N-acetylgalactosamine, N-acetylglucosamine, galactose, mannose and glucose residues) within the adhesive material [28]. Among sea stars, the protein and carbohydrate composition of the adhesive material has been solely investigated in the species A. rubens. Yet

A visible-light-controlled platform for prolonged drug release based on Ag-doped TiO₂ nanotubes with a hydrophobic layer

• Caihong Liang,
• Jiang Wen and
• Xiaoming Liao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1793–1801, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.170

• intensity (dark or under visible light) on the controlled drug delivery, with the release efficiency of amipicillin from the amphiphilic or normal nanotubes detected within a time scale of 120 min [25]. Our previous study [15] using a protein as a model drug and testing within 200 min of release (using the

Interaction-tailored organization of large-area colloidal assemblies

• Silvia Rizzato,
• Elisabetta Primiceri,
• Anna Grazia Monteduro,
• Adriano Colombelli,
• Angelo Leo,
• Maria Grazia Manera,
• Roberto Rella and
• Giuseppe Maruccio

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1582–1593, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.150

• high sensitivity of these oscillations to refractive index changes in the surrounding environment was exploited for monitoring binding events in real time and detecting gas [9][10], protein–ligand interactions, nucleic acid and protein conformational changes [11][12]. On the other hand, magnonic [13

Nanoporous silicon nitride-based membranes of controlled pore size, shape and areal density: Fabrication as well as electrophoretic and molecular filtering characterization

• Axel Seidenstücker,
• Stefan Beirle,
• Fabian Enderle,
• Paul Ziemann,
• Othmar Marti and
• Alfred Plettl

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1390–1398, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.131

• very low flow resistance of these porous membranes in ionic solutions as expected theoretically. Size-selective separation of protein molecules was demonstrated by real-time fluorescence microscopy. Keywords: ion transport; micellar technique; molecular filtration; nanopores; solid-state membrane

• areas on the CCD camera array imaging three detection volumes each being 450 µm apart from the membrane level and about 10 × 10 × 1 µm3 in size. A measurement starts by applying a droplet of a protein or protein mixture with a pipette to the cis channel and initiating the data acquisition. More

• , two experiments are reported: First the diffusion of a mixture of GFP (green fluorescent protein, mass 26.9 kDa) and TG (thyreoglobulin, mass 660–690 kDa) through the membrane is recorded. The green data points represent the time-dependent fluorescence intensity of GFP molecules that have passed the

Surface characterization of nanoparticles using near-field light scattering

• Eunsoo Yoo,
• Yizhong Liu,
• Chukwuazam A. Nwasike,
• Sebastian R. Freeman,
• Brian C. DiPaolo,
• Bernardo Cordovez and
• Amber L. Doiron

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1228–1238, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.114

• studies of reaction kinetics at the particle surface that result in changes in particle size, dielectric constant, or surface chemistry, which is of particular interest in protein adsorption to nanoparticles for biomedical applications. Results and Discussion Size, morphology, and elemental analysis of

• interest in protein or biomolecule binding to nanoparticles for biomedical applications. Experimental Materials for nanoparticle synthesis The metallic precursors iron(II) chloride (FeCl2), iron(III) chloride (FeCl3), N,N’-diisopropylcarbodiimide (DIC), 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP), dimethyl sulfoxide

Heterostuctures of 4-(chloromethyl)phenyltrichlorosilane and 5,10,15,20-tetra(4-pyridyl)-21H,23H-porphine prepared on Si(111) using particle lithography: Nanoscale characterization of the main steps of nanopatterning

• Phillip C. Chambers and
• Jayne C. Garno

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1211–1219, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.112

• triple-decker sandwich complex of phthalocyanine compounds prepared on graphite was studied using STM by Lei et al. [17]. A method of photocatalytic lithography was reported for making porphyrin surface structures that were applied for preparing protein arrays [18][19]. The assembly of porphyrins at