Small protein sequences can induce cellular uptake of complex nanohybrids

• Jan-Philip Merkl,
• Malak Safi,
• Christian Schmidtke,
• Fadi Aldeek,
• Johannes Ostermann,
• Tatiana Domitrovic,
• Sebastian Gärtner,
• John E. Johnson,
• Horst Weller and
• Hedi Mattoussi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2477–2482, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.238

• on the ability of functional fusion proteins presenting a lytic gamma peptide, to promote interactions with HeLa cells and delivery of large hybrid nanostructures. Keywords: bioconjugation; cellular uptake; nanoparticle hybrids; polymer encapsulation; self-assembly; Introduction Developing hybrid

• reported that a sizable fraction of the delivered nanoparticles can end up in the cytoplasm, by either circumventing endocytosis through the use of virus-derived peptide sequences, or non-disruptively penetrating the cellular membranes [13]. Escape from endosomal vesicles of once endocytosed nanoparticles

• membranes [18][19]. Here, we report on the use of a lytic gamma peptide (γ-peptide) derived from the Nudaurelia Capensis Omega virus (NωV), which was genetically fused onto maltose binding protein appended with 6-histidine tag, (His6-MBP-γ), to promote the intracellular delivery of hybrid QD-AuNP assemblies

High-tolerance crystalline hydrogels formed from self-assembling cyclic dipeptide

• Yongcai You,
• Ruirui Xing,
• Qianli Zou,
• Feng Shi and
• Xuehai Yan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1894–1901, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.184

• Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China 10.3762/bjnano.10.184 Abstract Peptide-based supramolecular hydrogels, as a new type of biological nanoarchitectonic structure, hold great promise

• their high water content and highly tunable mechanical properties, hydrogels as soft nanoarchitectonics and soft matter are well-suited in extensive applications, such as tissue engineering, drug delivery, and electronic and photonic energy storage [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. Self-assembled peptide

• hydrogels with adjustable mechanical and physicochemical properties [29][30][31][32][33]. Peptide-based supramolecular hydrogels have been widely used in biological and nanotechnology fields [34]. However, linear peptide-based hydrogels usually have several deficiencies, such as poor molecular rigidity

Engineered superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) for dual-modality imaging of intracranial glioblastoma via EGFRvIII targeting

• Xianping Liu,
• Chengjuan Du,
• Haichun Li,
• Ting Jiang,
• Zimiao Luo,
• Zhiqing Pang,
• Daoying Geng and
• Jun Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1860–1872, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.181

• Education, 826 Zhangheng Road, Shanghai 201203, China 10.3762/bjnano.10.181 Abstract In this work, a peptide-modified, biodegradable, nontoxic, brain-tumor-targeting nanoprobe based on superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) (which have been commonly used as T2-weighted magnetic resonance (MR

• ) contrast agents) was successfully synthesized and applied for accurate molecular MR imaging and sensitive optical imaging. PEPHC1, a short peptide which can specifically bind to epidermal growth factor receptor variant III (EGFRvIII) that is overexpressed in glioblastoma, was conjugated with SPIONs to

• promising marker for sensitive glioblastoma detection and localization in molecular MR imaging. PEPHC1 (the sequence: HFLIIGFMRRAACGA) is a small peptide that has been identified for specific binding with EGFRvIII [26]. Thus PEPHC1 grafting to PEGylated SPIONs could help to construct a targeted nanoprobe

Biocatalytic oligomerization-induced self-assembly of crystalline cellulose oligomers into nanoribbon networks assisted by organic solvents

• Yuuki Hata,
• Yuka Fukaya,
• Toshiki Sawada,
• Masahito Nishiura and
• Takeshi Serizawa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1778–1788, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.173

• calibrated using peptide standards (ProteoMass MALDI–MS Standard) at 757.3997 (bradykinin fragment 1–7), 1533.8582 Da (P14R), and 2465.1989 Da (ACTH fragment 18–39). The and the PSD of DP were calculated using the following equations: where is the number average molecular weight, Ni is the peak area of i

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

• Building, Crown Street, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZB, UK 10.3762/bjnano.10.104 Abstract The influenza (“flu”) type-A virus is a major medical and veterinary health concern and causes global pandemics. The peptide “FluPep” is an established inhibitor of influenza virus infectivity in model

• nanoparticles in a variety of tests, including ligand exchange with dithiothreitol. The free FluPep ligand peptide was found to inhibit viral plaque formation in canine MDCK cells (IC50 = 2.1 nM), but was less potent than FluPep itself (IC50 = 140 pM). Nanoparticles functionalised with FluPep ligand showed

• enhanced antiviral activity compared to the free peptides. The IC50 value of the FluPep-functionalised nanoparticles decreased as the grafting density of FluPep ligand increased from 0.03% to 5% (both mol/mol), with IC50 values down to about 10% of that of the corresponding free peptide. The data

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

• the standard technique for the investigation of complex protein mixtures in recent years. Following tryptic digestion of the proteins, peptides were identified using LC–MS/MS on an orbitrap-based mass spectrometer and software-based data evaluation to interpret the peptide fragmentation data. In this

• cysteine and variable modification: oxidation of methionine, allowing for three variable PTM per peptide; (c) precursor mass error tolerance of 5 ppm; (d) fragment mass error tolerance of 1 Da. Proteins with a −log P value > 80 were considered to be reliable. Cell culture HepG2 cells were cultivated in 75

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

• versatile alternatives to antibodies for targeting purposes. The use of relatively short peptide chains provides some important advantages, such as i) only little alteration of the hydrodynamic diameter of the nanoparticles, ii) multigram production with high purity, iii) possibility to attach multiple

• copies of them on the nanoparticle surface which enhances the uptake, iv) possibility to use non-natural aminoacids improving the versatility and v) low immunogenicity [31]. The tripeptide Arg–Gly–Asp (RGD) is probably one of the most employed peptide in the targeting design of nanoparticles. RGD binds

• is cyclized by the disulfide bridge between both terminal cysteines, exhibits significantly a higher tumour specificity than linear RGD [34]. iRGD works in a sequential manner, first it binds to αβ-integrin by the RGD sequence encrypted within the cyclic structure and then, the peptide is broken by

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

• appearance of some of typical vibrational bands of protein samples such as the phenylalanine (Phe) ring breathing mode at 1004 cm−1 or the amide II band at 1550 cm−1 due to the C–N stretching mode and N–H bending mode of the atoms forming the peptide chain. No signal is detected when the tip is not in

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

• both in vitro and in vivo studies [5]. Gold nanoparticles conjugated with a trans-activating transcriptional activator (TAT) peptide modification encapsulated with the drug doxorubicin showed enhanced toxicity in brain cancer models [6]. Further, mesoporous silica nanoparticles were successfully used

Colorimetric detection of Cu²⁺ based on the formation of peptide–copper complexes on silver nanoparticle surfaces

• Gajanan Sampatrao Ghodake,
• Surendra Krishna Shinde,
• Rijuta Ganesh Saratale,
• Avinash Ashok Kadam,
• Ganesh Dattatraya Saratale,
• Asad Syed,
• Fuad Ameen and
• Dae-Young Kim

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1414–1422, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.134

• + is based on coordination reactions of Cu2+ with casein peptide-functionalized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), leading to a distinct color change of the solution from yellow to red. The developed method has a good detection limit of about 0.16 µM Cu2+ using 0.05 mL of AgNPs stock solution and a

• typical experiment, casein peptide-modified AgNPs were prepared by reduction of AgNO3 and the functionality of the AgNP–peptide conjugates to coordinate Cu2+ was improved by removing unbound casein peptides. Highly dispersed and stable 20 nm diameter AgNPs had an extinction peak at about 410 nm with a

• Cu2+-binding casein peptide ligands. The solution of aggregates was incubated for 20 min to allow for the coordination to occur. Results and Discussion Synthesis and characterization of casein peptide-capped AgNPs The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of spherical AgNPs immediately caused an absorbance

Enzymatically promoted release of organic molecules linked to magnetic nanoparticles

• Chiara Lambruschini,
• Silvia Villa,
• Luca Banfi,
• Fabio Canepa,
• Fabio Morana,
• Annalisa Relini,
• Paola Riani,
• Renata Riva and
• Fulvio Silvetti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 986–999, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.92

• two parts: a) a peptide specifier, which will act as the recognizing element for plasmin, and which will be bound to pyrenylmethylamine (or, in future, with a cytotoxic drug) through the C-terminus; b) a spacer between the peptide specifier and the nanoparticle. On the basis of previous work by others

• and from our own experience, we thought that at least a tripeptide would be necessary as the peptide specifier to grant selectivity by plasmin or other similar proteases. It is well known that plasmin is selective for lysine (or, to a lesser extent, arginine) as the scissile amino acid (P1), while a

• less polar amino acid, such as leucine, is preferred at P2. For the P3 position, any amino acid is in principle suitable. However, as suggested by Katzenellenbogen et al. [38], a D-amino acid would be preferred for the amino terminus to help prevent degradation of the peptide specifier by other

Liquid-crystalline nanoarchitectures for tissue engineering

• Baeckkyoung Sung and
• Min-Ho Kim

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 205–215, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.22

• , preosteoblasts and fibroblasts, which has a potential for the treatment of spinal cord injuries [91][92]. Osteogenesis and biomineralization can be induced by using 2D substrate matrices made of M13 phages and M13-based peptide amphiphiles, which are in hierarchical nematic, cholesteric, and smectic-like

• peptide amphiphiles can be made to encapsulate living cells in an anisotropic monodomain gel [36]. The gel self-assembly is induced by cooling within a physiological temperature range via nozzle-protrusion into the salty buffer. During the process, human mesenchymal stem cells and HL-1 cardiomyocytes were

Bombyx mori silk/titania/gold hybrid materials for photocatalytic water splitting: combining renewable raw materials with clean fuels

• Stefanie Krüger,
• Michael Schwarze,
• Otto Baumann,
• Christina Günter,
• Michael Bruns,
• Christian Kübel,
• Dorothée Vinga Szabó,
• Rafael Meinusch,
• Verónica de Zea Bermudez and
• Andreas Taubert

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 187–204, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.21

• stemming from silk, PEO, or residual EtAcAc connected to the TNPs [62]. The O 1s binding energies at 531.8 eV and 533.3 eV can be attributed to Ti–OH motives [63]. The main N 1s peak at 400.1 eV is attributed to the amide and amine groups (peptide bonds) of silk (Table S3, Supporting Information File 1

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