Strategy to discover full-length amyloid-beta peptide ligands using high-efficiency microarray technology

• Clelia Galati,
• Natalia Spinella,
• Lucio Renna,
• Danilo Milardi,
• Francesco Attanasio,
• Michele Francesco Maria Sciacca and
• Corrado Bongiorno

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2446–2453, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.243

• Aβ and blocking the early steps of amyloid aggregation. Here, we show the combination of high-efficiency slides (HESs) with peptide microarrays as a promising tool for identifying small peptides that bind Aβ monomers. To this aim, HESs with two immobilized reference peptides, (i.e., KLVFF and Semax

• ) with opposite behavior, were investigated for binding to fluorescently labeled Aβ peptide. Transmission electron microscopy was used to demonstrate Aβ fibrillar aggregates missing. The use of HESs was critical to ensure convenient output of the fluorescent microarrays. The resulting sensitivity, as

• well as the low sample consumption and the high potential for miniaturization, suggests that the proposed combination of peptide microarrays and highly efficient slides would be a very effective technology for molecule profiling in AD drug discovery. Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; florescence; high

Self-assembly of chiral fluorescent nanoparticles based on water-soluble L-tryptophan derivatives of p-tert-butylthiacalix[4]arene

• Pavel L. Padnya,
• Irina A. Khripunova,
• Olga A. Mostovaya,
• Timur A. Mukhametzyanov,
• Vladimir G. Evtugyn,
• Vyacheslav V. Vorobev,
• Yuri N. Osin and
• Ivan I. Stoikov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1825–1835, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.184

• -tert-butylthiacalix[4]arene in cone conformation capable of recognizing peptides [35]. Similar compounds in cone and 1,3-alternate conformations containing peptide fragments as substituents were able to form complexes with DNA [36]. In both cases, solubility in water was achieved by introducing

Luminescent supramolecular hydrogels from a tripeptide and nitrogen-doped carbon nanodots

• Maria C. Cringoli,
• Slavko Kralj,
• Marina Kurbasic,
• Massimo Urban and
• Silvia Marchesan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1553–1562, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.157

• with narrower diameter distribution. Keywords: carbon nanodots; composites; hydrogels; nanomaterials; peptide self-assembly; Introduction Carbon nanodots (CNDs) are quasi-spherical nanoparticles with a diameter less than 10 nm. They are a very interesting class of nanocarbons because of their

• ]. In 2016, the interesting hydrogelation ability of guanosine 5′-monophosphate (5′-GMP)-derived CNDs was also reported [21]. To the best of our knowledge, the addition of CNDs to peptide-based hydrogels has not yet been investigated, despite this being an interesting class of supramolecular soft

• materials. Peptide self-assembled hydrogels are inherently biocompatible and biodegradable and thus are promising biomaterials for cell culture, regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, and drug delivery applications [22]. The identification of self-assembling peptides that are as short as possible is

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

• –glycine–aspartic acid (cRGD) adhesion peptide and epidermal growth factor (EGF) in patterned areas via μCP [51]. Another similar copolymer system, which contained methyl propiolate and maleimide moieties, was also synthesized via CVD copolymerization. The concurrently immobilized μCP-patterned PEG and Cys

• –Arg–Glu–Asp–Val (CREDV) peptide showed the synergic anti-fouling property and preferentially enhanced attachment of endothelial cells in such patterned areas [50]. In another report, a multifunctional coating was realized via CVD copolymerization to deposit a poly(p-xylylene) copolymer, which

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

• of 1000–1100 cm−1. The bands at 1289 cm−1 and 1660 cm−1 can be assigned to the amide III and amide I vibrational modes of peptide bonds in proteins, respectively [18][26][28]. The band at 1450 cm−1 arises from CH2 deformation vibrations of all biomolecules. The bands at 2923 and 2952 cm−1 can be

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

• . In the present work, an elastin-like recombinamer bearing lysine amino acids distributed along the recombinamer chain has been cross-linked via Huisgen [2 + 3] cycloaddition. The recombinamer contains the SNA15 peptide domains inspired by salivary statherin, a peptide epitope known to specifically

• the combination of ELRs with mineralizing domains to be obtained. One of these mineralization-enhancing segments is the SNA15 (DDDEEKFLRRIGRFG)* peptide from salivary statherin that has negative and positive charges stemmed from the side chains of aspartic (D), glutamic (E), lysine (K) and arginine (R

Phospholipid arrays on porous polymer coatings generated by micro-contact spotting

• Sylwia Sekula-Neuner,
• Monica de Freitas,
• Lea-Marie Tröster,
• Tobias Jochum,
• Pavel A. Levkin,
• Michael Hirtz and
• Harald Fuchs

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 715–722, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.75

• variety of bio-applications. Keywords: microcontact cantilever spotting; phospholipids; polymeric porous support; polymethacrylate; Introduction Starting with the creation of high density peptide microarrays in the 1990s [1] the development of arrays with DNA molecules and antibodies has produced a

Biological and biomimetic materials and surfaces

• Stanislav Gorb and
• Thomas Speck

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 403–407, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.42

• seed surface. They may additionally protect the mucilage against the mechanical and chemical impact of the animal digestion systems [13]. Animal systems Resilin is a rubber-like protein derived from arthropod exoskeletons. It is composed of a stable network of randomly orientated peptide chains that

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

• was represented by microcrystalline wax or petrolatum (trademark Vaseline) consisting of hydrocarbons of various lengths (C30–C70) and branching positions. The aqueous polar phase was enriched by the water-soluble protein/peptide mixture gelatin or poly(vinyl alcohol), which is considered as a

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

• signals between 173–175 ppm due to carbonyls present in the peptide groups in both the main chain and the protein side chains. The signals at 128 ppm, those from 45 to 70 and those from 15 to 45 ppm are assigned to amino acid aromatic side chains, α-carbons linked to amino groups, and carbons from the

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

• on nanopatterned ECM-mimicking surfaces was evaluated [251]. For this, the authors applied an array of biofunctionalized gold nanostructures. The gold nanoparticles on these surfaces have a diameter of 8 nm and had interparticle spacings of 40 nm or 90 nm and were conjugated with a RGD-peptide or a

• REDV peptide (R: arginine; G: glycine; E: glutamic acid; D: aspartic acid; V: valine) or with vascular endothelial cadherin (VE-cadherin) [251]. Non-functionalized surfaces or surfaces with spacing larger than 73 nm failed to induce the formation of FAs and actin stress fibers [251][254]. The universal

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

• . Nanotherapy based on targeted nanoparticles could become an attractive alternative to conventional oncologic treatments as it allows a local heating in tumoral surroundings without damage to healthy tissue. RGD-peptide-conjugated MNPs have been designed to specifically target αVβ3 receptor-expressing cancer

• molecule which remains on the cell surface [24][25]. The fact that RGD (arginylglycylaspartic acid) peptides are highly specific for integrins (such as αVβ3 and αVβ5, which are specifically expressed in tumor endothelia [26][27]) confirms the validity of this peptide as one of the most promising binding

• nanoparticles (Fe3O4@PMAO). Carboxylic groups of PMAO were anchored with an amino-modified linker to add an alkyne group, which are the alkyne-modified NPs coupled by the azide-modified RGD peptide (RGD-N3) in water in a one-step procedure by a click reaction (Fe3O4@PMAO_RGD). Details of the preparation process

Viability and proliferation of endothelial cells upon exposure to GaN nanoparticles

• Tudor Braniste,
• Ion Tiginyanu,
• Tibor Horvath,
• Simion Raevschi,
• Serghei Cebotari,
• Marco Lux,
• Axel Haverich and
• Andres Hilfiker

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1330–1337, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.124

• cell function. Many studies have tried treating endothelial cells with peptide-coated nanoparticles, with the final outcome dependent upon the surfactant bound to the nanoparticle rather than the nanoparticle itself [11][12]. We propose the use of “smart materials” for such purposes. GaN could be a

• , which make it promising for biomedical applications. Recently, it was shown that GaN does not require surface treatment for biocompatibility [18]. Bulk GaN is nontoxic for cells with or without peptide functionalization of the surface, with only very low amounts of gallium being released during the cell

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

• sequences as our DNA5, DNA1, DNA8, and DNA4 were examined against the NP segment [10]. To ensure the delivery into cells, morpholino oligonucleotides were conjugated to an arginine-rich peptide. The efficiency of the used oligomers were in the following order: DNA1 << DNA8 < DNA4 ≤ DNA5 (reduction by 50% or

Assembling semiconducting molecules by covalent attachment to a lamellar crystalline polymer substrate

• Rainhard Machatschek,
• Patrick Ortmann,
• Renate Reiter,
• Stefan Mecking and
• Günter Reiter

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 784–798, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.70

• solution. However, 1 becomes fluorescent upon reaction with a carboxyl group. Therefore, the covalent attachment of 1 to the crystal surface is conveniently proven by measuring the fluorescence emission. The coupling reaction was carried out in dimethylformamide (DMF) using a standard peptide coupling

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

• necrosis aborting viral multiplication, which has been analyzed in detail especially for TMV [47]. Consequently, direct genetic fusion of enzyme sequences to the ends, or into exposed loops, of viral CPs frequently failed, and also short peptide tags enabling bioaffinity linkage were inserted only

• the ribosome “skip” mechanism ([154] and T. Michon, personal communication), which is attained by foot-and-mouth-disease virus (FMDV) 2a peptide-like junctions [73][163]. Although the enzyme CALB underwent a 45-fold decrease in activity, it functioned stably on the plant viral backbone. The use of

• antibodies as “molecular stickers” and thus spacers was developed into a partially universal coupling concept to viral templates [88]: It allows for the stable binding of functional proteins fused with the Z33 peptide (derived from staphylococcal protein A [164]) to the Fc portions of immunoglobulins IgG1

Early breast cancer screening using iron/iron oxide-based nanoplatforms with sub-femtomolar limits of detection

• Dinusha N. Udukala,
• Hongwang Wang,
• Sebastian O. Wendel,
• Aruni P. Malalasekera,
• Thilani N. Samarakoon,
• Asanka S. Yapa,
• Gayani Abayaweera,
• Matthew T. Basel,
• Pamela Maynez,
• Raquel Ortega,
• Yubisela Toledo,
• Leonie Bossmann,
• Colette Robinson,
• Katharine E. Janik,
• Olga B. Koper,
• Ping Li,
• Massoud Motamedi,
• Daniel A. Higgins,
• Gary Gadbury,
• Gaohong Zhu,
• Deryl L. Troyer and
• Stefan H. Bossmann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 364–373, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.33

• and FRET quenching. Notable exceptions are MMPs 1 (Figure 5) and 7 (Figure 4) where significant matrix effects were detected. As noted in Table S1 in Supporting Information File 1, the physical properties (isoelectric point and hydrophobicity index) of the consensus sequences plus peptide linkers

• designed for detecting MMP 1 and MMP 7 are within the ranges defined by all employed peptide sequences. Pieper et al. have analyzed human serum by fractionating serum proteins, followed by two-dimensional electrophoresis, and sequential anion-exchange and size-exclusion chromatography. They have resolved

• 3700 posttranslationally modified proteins [43]. Based on their findings, we cannot exclude that binding of the peptide sequences designed for MMP 1 and MMP 7 detection to one or several serum protein occurs, which is ultimately responsible for the observed photophysical behavior of these nanoplatforms

Surface-site reactivity in small-molecule adsorption: A theoretical study of thiol binding on multi-coordinated gold clusters

• Elvis C. M. Ting,
• Tatiana Popa and
• Irina Paci

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 53–61, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.6

• used to examine the behavior of single molecules or small molecular clusters on ideal surfaces [23][24][25][26][27][33][34][36][37]. Several classical simulation studies also exist, generally focused investigating peptide behavior at a metal surface [38][39][40]. A still outstanding issue is the change

• in aminoacid or peptide behavior upon adsorption on non-ideal surfaces, i.e., substrates with adatoms, high-Miller-index facets or surface curvature have been examined individually [41][42][43][44][45], but no rigorous studies of the dependence of surface binding on site reactivity or coordination

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

• mineralization-directing peptides designed to yield silica coatings in a reliable and predictable manner via precipitation from tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) precursors. Three peptide groups were compared regarding their influence on silica polymerization: (i) two peptide variants with alternating basic and acidic

• peptides with high ZnO binding affinity. Differential effects on the mineralization of the TMV surface were demonstrated, where a (KD)x charge-relay peptide (designed in this study) led to the most reproducible and selective silica deposition. A homogenous coating of the biotemplate and tight control of

• shell thickness were achieved. Keywords: biomineralization; charge-relay system; peptide; silica; tobacco mosaic virus (TMV); Introduction Amorphous silica (SiO2) precipitated from silicate precursor sols comprises a wide range of versatile materials applied in various technological approaches, for

Natural and artificial binders of polyriboadenylic acid and their effect on RNA structure

• Giovanni N. Roviello,
• Domenica Musumeci,
• Valentina Roviello,
• Marina Pirtskhalava,
• Alexander Egoyan and
• Merab Mirtskhulava

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1338–1347, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.138

• backbone provide determinant contributions for efficient RNA recognition [59]. Besides the RNA binding ability, many other interesting properties of the nucleobase-containing peptide-like molecules are known in the field of biomedicine, including the antigene activity and the modulation of the expression

Fulleropeptide esters as potential self-assembled antioxidants

• Mira S. Bjelaković,
• Tatjana J. Kop,
• Jelena Đorđević and
• Dragana R. Milić

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1065–1071, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.107

• at the same time novel opportunities for developing diverse scientific fields, particularly in materials science [1], supramolecular chemistry [2], and medicinal chemistry [3][4]. The derivatization of fullerene with peptide units substantially modifies its original properties, rendering them

• wide range of activities of fullerene–peptide conjugates has been studied [3][7][16]. Fulleropeptides synthesized by Prato's research group [17] showed a good bacteriostatic activity against Gram-positive bacterium S. aureus making it interesting for potential antimicrobial chemotherapeutics. Recently

• contribution to the development of carriers for biomolecules [21]. Higashi and co-workers have reported the aggregation properties and a high superoxide scavenging activity of fullerene–poly(Glu)peptide nanoparticles as self-assembled structures [22]. Fullerene C60 and fulleropyrrolidine derivatives showed

Protein corona – from molecular adsorption to physiological complexity

• Lennart Treuel,
• Dominic Docter,
• Michael Maskos and
• Roland H. Stauber

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 857–873, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.88

• occur upon adsorption onto NP surfaces resulting in altered protein conformations [6][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59]. Such altered conformations may well lead to the exposure of cryptic peptide epitopes [60][61], altered function and/or avidity effects [22][43][62][63][64]. When

The effect of surface charge on nonspecific uptake and cytotoxicity of CdSe/ZnS core/shell quantum dots

• Vladimir V. Breus,
• Anna Pietuch,
• Marco Tarantola,
• Thomas Basché and
• Andreas Janshoff

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 281–292, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.26

• ][27]. Furthermore, we combined ECIS with single-particle tracking, which was previously used to follow the intracellular pathway of Tat peptide-conjugated QDs in living cells [28], transport of QD-labelled monoclonal anti-HER2 antibody in mice [29], specific recognition of avidin-CD14 receptor by

• ). For internalized peptide-coated QDs, an involvement of more than one motor protein such as kinesin or dynein was reported earlier. Here, some repetitive back-and-forth movements were assigned to the competition between motors with different directionality or conjunction of the cargo in the cytoplasm

Multifunctional layered magnetic composites

• Maria Siglreitmeier,
• Baohu Wu,
• Tina Kollmann,
• Martin Neubauer,
• Gergely Nagy,
• Dietmar Schwahn,
• Vitaliy Pipich,
• Damien Faivre,
• Dirk Zahn,
• Andreas Fery and
• Helmut Cölfen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 134–148, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.13

• helical (Gly–Hyp–Pro)n peptide [44] of 100 Å length with two associated iron clusters. a) The ferric ion (light blue) is coordinated by seven oxygen atoms of which the three hydroxides show the strongest interaction and an Fe–O distance of 2.7 Å. The Fe–O distances to the solvent and to carbonyl/hydroxy

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

• even its physiological role as a trace element is controversially discussed. Supporters of its physiological role have suggested a function in the form of a Cr3+-binding peptide, the so-called chromodulin, occurring in carbohydrate, fat, or cholesterol, whereby metabolism can increase insulin