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

• ; electrophoretic sedimentation; proton pump; purple membrane; Introduction The so-called purple membrane (PM) has attracted large attention in the scientific literature after this light-driven proton pump was first discovered in the 1970s [1][2]. The membrane patches of about 1 µm in diameter, consisting of the

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

• lysosomal permeabilization and mitochondrial damage happened in RAW 264.7 cells but not in the other cell types. The particles were cytotoxic to RAW 264.7 and BEAS-2B cells but not to other cells. The nanoparticles perturbed the proton pump activity in RAW 264.7 cells, causing osmotic swelling and lysosomal

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

• correspond to the states of a proton pump driven by a nonequilibrium electron flow. This is a minimalist toy model for pumps like the cytochrome c oxidase proton pump [1][37]. The driving force is provided by electron energy, Δμ, released by dissipative tunneling of electrons between donor and acceptor

Functionalized polystyrene nanoparticles as a platform for studying bio–nano interactions

• Cornelia Loos,
• Tatiana Syrovets,
• Anna Musyanovych,
• Volker Mailänder,
• Katharina Landfester,
• G. Ulrich Nienhaus and
• Thomas Simmet

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2403–2412, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.250

• show signs of apoptosis at this time point [41]. These data are in agreement with the previously proposed ‘‘proton-sponge’’ hypothesis, which refers to a continuous activation of the lysosomal proton pump, lysosomal swelling and rupture by particles carrying amino groups on their surface [20][41][50