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

Cardiomyocyte uptake mechanism of a hydroxyapatite nanoparticle mediated gene delivery system

• Hiroaki Komuro,
• Masahiro Yamazoe,
• Kosuke Nozaki,
• Akiko Nagai and
• Tetsuo Sasano

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1685–1692, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.150

• sufficiently studied in cardiomyocytes. The aim of this study was to determine how hydroxyapatite (HAp) nanoparticles contribute to the delivery of plasmid DNA (pDNA) into cardiomyocytes. We fabricated HAp nanoparticles using the water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion method and used these nanoparticles as the delivery

• medical and dental applications, such as dental implants, orthopedics, and drug delivery systems, since it has similar elements found in bone and teeth. In addition, CaP stabilizes the nucleic acid against nuclease degradation, forms ionic interactions with the phosphates of DNA, and its biodegradation is

• pH-sensitive [7][8][9]. Besides, CaP can be internalized in targeting cells though the endocytic pathway. Later on, CaP is dissolved in the endosome under acidic conditions, which contributes to the DNA release into the cytosol before the endosome–lysosome fusion. Although there are a number of

Antimicrobial metal-based nanoparticles: a review on their synthesis, types and antimicrobial action

• Matías Guerrero Correa,
• Fernanda B. Martínez,
• Cristian Patiño Vidal,
• Camilo Streitt,
• Juan Escrig and
• Carol Lopez de Dicastillo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1450–1469, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.129

• ][132]. When the size of titanium dioxide is reduced to the nanoscale (TiO2 NPs), its photocatalytic property is greatly improved, generating more reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS damages bacterial cells, DNA chains, and other cellular structures through oxidative stress. Therefore, the use of TiO2

• production and clearance of ROS in cells are balanced by those enzymatic systems. Nevertheless, when these reactive species are in excess, a set of redox reactions can lead to cell death by the alteration of different essential structures (such as cell membrane, DNA, proteins, and electron transport chain

• ]. Silver, gold, zinc oxide, and titanium dioxide NPs can be attracted to the cell wall by electrostatic attraction [161], van der Waals forces [162], and hydrophobic interactions [163], inducing changes in the shape, function and permeability of the cells. Proteins and DNA Proteins play a fundamental role

Thermophoretic tweezers for single nanoparticle manipulation

• Jošt Stergar and
• Natan Osterman

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1126–1133, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.97

• the feedback-loop frequency for three different sizes of colloidal beads with the same Soret coefficient (, ST = 0.6) and a 1000 base pairs long DNA molecule (D = 8 µm2/s, ST = 0.3). As expected, a smaller size (i.e., larger diffusion constant) of the particles/molecules or a smaller value of ST

• video is available as Supporting Information File 2). It can be easily imagined that instead of the nanoparticles also two fluorescently labeled molecules could be manipulated. Braun et al. [30] demonstrated the trapping of two λ-DNA molecules inside a specially designed thermophoretic trap structure

• stiffness as a function of the feedback loop frequency for different particles: beads with a diameter of 1000, 200, and 50 nm (all with the same ST) and a 1000 base pairs long DNA molecule. Example of a tailored nanoparticle trap. Preset feedback rules result in a creation of a 20 × 10 μm2 potential well

Applications of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles in drug and therapeutic delivery, and biotechnological advancements

• Maria Suciu,
• Corina M. Ionescu,
• Alexandra Ciorita,
• Septimiu C. Tripon,
• Dragos Nica,
• Hani Al-Salami and
• Lucian Barbu-Tudoran

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1092–1109, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.94

• reactive oxygen species, ROS, which can potentiate direct damage to DNA and proteins, and induce lipid peroxidation) [24][56]. It was also shown that histidine–proline-rich glycoproteins with high molecular weight, e.g., kininogen and plasma prekallikrein, from blood serum attach strongly to the surface of

• ) and very large (more than 200 nm) SPIONs are to be considered dangerous for the human organism, and that the intermediate range from 30 to 50 nm should be used for nanomedicine [68]. Very small nanoparticles can easily enter a cell nucleus inducing DNA damage [69], and some authors emphasize that

Highly sensitive detection of estradiol by a SERS sensor based on TiO₂ covered with gold nanoparticles

• Andrea Brognara,
• Ili F. Mohamad Ali Nasri,
• Beatrice R. Bricchi,
• Andrea Li Bassi,
• Caroline Gauchotte-Lindsay,
• Matteo Ghidelli and
• Nathalie Lidgi-Guigui

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1026–1035, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.87

• possess many of the important qualities required for the functionalization of SERS sensors [18][19][20][21]. Aptamers are single-stranded DNA molecules that are specifically selected to bind to a target molecule. They are relatively cheap and their chemistry is easy to tune so that they can attach to a

• aptamers is that their Raman fingerprint is easily recognizable, as DNA is an extensively studied molecule. In this study, we focus on the detection of E2 with an aptamer-functionalized sensor. E2 is the main female hormone responsible for growth, reproduction, breast development, maturation, bone

• . MCH occupies gold sites that are not functionalized with the aptamer (Figure 1). This prevents the deposition of unwanted molecules from the sample, which could blur the signal. It also prevents the amine groups of DNA to form weak bonds with the gold and it helps the aptamer to have a homogeneous

Wet-spinning of magneto-responsive helical chitosan microfibers

• Dorothea Brüggemann,
• Johanna Michel,
• Naiana Suter,
• Matheus Grande de Aguiar and
• Michael Maas

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 991–999, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.83

• actuators; chitosan fibers; helical fibers; magnetic tissue engineering; mechanical properties; wet-spinning; Introduction Helical fibrous structures are ubiquitous in nature and are found at virtually every length scale. A few examples are the structural motifs in proteins and DNA at the molecular level

Key for crossing the BBB with nanoparticles: the rational design

• Sonia M. Lombardo,
• Marc Schneider,
• Akif E. Türeli and
• Nazende Günday Türeli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 866–883, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.72

• , such as the phage-display technique. This technique is an effective method for isolating novel peptides with specific binding properties. DNA sequences are inserted into bacteriophage genes, resulting in the expression of the encoded proteins on their surface. Biopanning is then used to isolate and

• amplify phages displaying peptides able to interact with the proteins or cell lines of interest [121]. The results of this technique are entirely dependent on the library of DNA sequences used and attention should be given to select tissue-specific peptides [122]. Among others, two interesting peptides

Multilayer capsules made of weak polyelectrolytes: a review on the preparation, functionalization and applications in drug delivery

• Varsha Sharma and
• Anandhakumar Sundaramurthy

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 508–532, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.41

• inorganic particles, NPs, proteins, biological cells, liposomes, DNA, dyes and drugs have served as suitable sacrificial templates [22]. After serving as a support to develop multilayer assembly, the core is dissolved by using suitable solvents. Organic cores such as melamine formaldehyde (MF) and

• drug release time could be extended by increasing the crystal size and thickness of the multilayer films. Alternatively, the protein aggregates or DNA could also be used as templates to encapsulate them in PLL-succinylated PLL layers for model viral assembly or gene transfer [66]. Another way of

• use of UV light in the thiol-ene approach limits its application in drug delivery as it can damage DNA and cross-react with cysteine residues in proteins. The DAC approach may also affect cysteine residues in proteins that might undergo Michael addition to result in malemides [90]. Similarly, the use

Nanoarchitectonics: bottom-up creation of functional materials and systems

• Katsuhiko Ariga

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 450–452, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.36

• that were formed by metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) [27], and the formation of high-tolerance crystalline hydrogels from cyclic dipeptides upon self-assembly [28]. In addition, a review on the use of DNA as the fundamental material building block for molecular and structural engineering [29

Poly(1-vinylimidazole) polyplexes as novel therapeutic gene carriers for lung cancer therapy

• Gayathri Kandasamy,
• Elena N. Danilovtseva,
• Vadim V. Annenkov and
• Uma Maheswari Krishnan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 354–369, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.26

• efficiency enabled by a pH-responsive endo-lysosomal escape [15]. It was therefore expected that poly(vinylimidazole) side chains will show a higher transfection efficiency. Alkylated poly(1-vinylimidazole) with different chain lengths has been investigated for DNA complexation and transfection in HepG2

• liver cancer cells. Butylated PVI was found to be nontoxic and the most effective when compared to other alkyl derivatives regarding DNA complexation [16]. Carboxymethyl poly(1-vinylimidazole) has also been investigated for DNA complexation and was found to exert no toxicity to cells [17]. Poly(1

• -vinylimidazole) chains modified with aminoethyl groups demonstrated excellent DNA binding ability in synergy with lactosylated poly(ʟ-lysine). This system was found to exhibit excellent gene transfection ability specifically in hepatocytes through interactions with the asialoglycoprotein receptor expressed on

Using gold nanoparticles to detect single-nucleotide polymorphisms: toward liquid biopsy

• María Sanromán Iglesias and
• Marek Grzelczak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 263–284, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.20

• cancer biomarker. We discuss the main mechanisms of the assays that either are assisted by DNA-based molecular machines or by enzymatic reactions, summarize their performance and provide an outlook towards future developments. Keywords: amplification reactions; biomarkers; colorimetric biosensing; gold

• tissues or serum and encompass a wide variety of molecules, including DNA, mRNA, enzymes, metabolites, transcription factors, and cell surface receptors. The first report on cell-free DNA in body fluids by Mandel and Metais in 1948 [2], opened the possibility to screen the presence of a disease through a

• simple blood test, setting thus a milestone of “liquid biopsy”. Liquid biopsy has the potential to accelerate the early cancer diagnosis by the detection of biomolecules such as cell-fee DNA directly in blood samples. Currently, the development of liquid biopsies is directly linked to the state-of-the

Rational design of block copolymer self-assemblies in photodynamic therapy

• Maxime Demazeau,
• Laure Gibot,
• Anne-Françoise Mingotaud,
• Patricia Vicendo,
• Clément Roux and
• Barbara Lonetti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 180–212, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.15

Nonclassical dynamic modeling of nano/microparticles during nanomanipulation processes

• Moharam Habibnejad Korayem,
• Ali Asghar Farid and
• Rouzbeh Nouhi Hefzabad

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 147–166, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.13

• time simulation using the Lundberg cylindrical contact model for DNA. A) Present study simulation method. B) Korayem and Saraee simulation [16]. Comparison of the deflections of a polystyrene nanorod using classical and nonclassical models assuming l/d = 0.25. Comparison of polystyrene nanorod

Molecular architectonics of DNA for functional nanoarchitectures

• Debasis Ghosh,
• Lakshmi P. Datta and
• Thimmaiah Govindaraju

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 124–140, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.11

• Debasis Ghosh Lakshmi P. Datta Thimmaiah Govindaraju Bioorganic Chemistry Laboratory, New Chemistry Unit and The School of Advanced Materials (SAMat), Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur P. O., Bengaluru 560064, Karnataka, India 10.3762/bjnano.11.11 Abstract DNA is

• the key biomolecule central to almost all processes in living organisms. The eccentric idea of utilizing DNA as a material building block in molecular and structural engineering led to the creation of numerous molecular-assembly systems and materials at the nanoscale. The molecular structure of DNA is

• believed to have evolved over billions of years, with structure and stability optimizations that allow life forms to sustain through the storage and transmission of genetic information with fidelity. The nanoscale structural characteristics of DNA (2 nm thickness and ca. 40–50 nm persistence length) have

Internalization mechanisms of cell-penetrating peptides

• Ivana Ruseska and
• Andreas Zimmer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 101–123, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.10

• process [30]. Membrane perturbation as an internalization mechanism has also been proposed for the MPG-family of amphipathic peptides (Figure 2) [3][17][31]. MPG carriers are amphipathic peptides able to form stable complexes with antisense oligonucleotides, plasmid DNA, siRNA and peptides, which improve

The different ways to chitosan/hyaluronic acid nanoparticles: templated vs direct complexation. Influence of particle preparation on morphology, cell uptake and silencing efficiency

• Arianna Gennari,
• Julio M. Rios de la Rosa,
• Erwin Hohn,
• Maria Pelliccia,
• Enrique Lallana,
• Roberto Donno,
• Annalisa Tirella and
• Nicola Tirelli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2594–2608, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.250

• luciferase silencing using nanoparticles obtained via a templated or direct complexation method. The results are expressed as the percentage of luciferase expression relative to the average RLUs of the negative control (i.e., cells pre-transfected with the pGL3 plasmid DNA, without anti-Luc siRNA treatment

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

• various proteins, and among them the human transferrin protein was found to induce the highest intracellular uptake following 24 h incubation of these hybrids with cell cultures [5]. In the second, functional colloidal superstructures assembled using DNA linkers elicited a reduction in the response of

Integration of sharp silicon nitride tips into high-speed SU8 cantilevers in a batch fabrication process

• Nahid Hosseini,
• Matthias Neuenschwander,
• Oliver Peric,
• Santiago H. Andany,
• Jonathan D. Adams and
• Georg E. Fantner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2357–2363, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.226

• fabrication yield and an easy bottom-up recipe. Genolet et al. have shown AFM images of DNA-plasmid molecules using SU8 cantilevers [21]. SU8-based Hall effect sensor cantilevers have also been presented by Mouaziz and co-workers [22]. In addition, SU8 cantilevers have shown a performance of high-speed

Targeted therapeutic effect against the breast cancer cell line MCF-7 with a CuFe₂O₄/silica/cisplatin nanocomposite formulation

• B. Rabindran Jermy,
• Vijaya Ravinayagam,
• Widyan A. Alamoudi,
• Dana Almohazey,
• Hatim Dafalla,
• Lina Hussain Allehaibi,
• Abdulhadi Baykal,
• Muhammet S. Toprak and
• Thirunavukkarasu Somanathan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2217–2228, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.214

• ). In vitro anticancer studies Cisplatin is a well-known efficient anticancer drug that binds to DNA blocking cell division. As with many anticancer drugs, cisplatin has off-target toxicity, mainly in the kidneys, liver, heart, nerves, and ears. In addition, most patients develop chemoresistance to

Nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond for nanoscale magnetic resonance imaging applications

• Alberto Boretti,
• Lorenzo Rosa,
• Jonathan Blackledge and
• Stefania Castelletto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2128–2151, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.207

Review of advanced sensor devices employing nanoarchitectonics concepts

• Katsuhiko Ariga,
• Tatsuyuki Makita,
• Masato Ito,
• Taizo Mori,
• Shun Watanabe and
• Jun Takeya

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2014–2030, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.198

• receptors and enzymes, and macromolecular interfaces at DNA and proteins. This mechanism for the enhancement of the molecular recognition capability at interfaces is surely applicable to other molecular recognition pairs and should also lead to highly efficient molecular recognition of various aqueous

• optimize the discrimination between uracil and thymine derivatives [178][179] that cannot be discriminated by naturally occurring DNA and RNA. Although the structural difference between uracil and thymine is only one methyl group, the difference in the binding constant between them is more than 60 times. A

Porous silver-coated pNIPAM-co-AAc hydrogel nanocapsules

• William W. Bryan,
• Riddhiman Medhi,
• Maria D. Marquez,
• Supparesk Rittikulsittichai,
• Michael Tran and
• T. Randall Lee

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1973–1982, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.194

• various core materials [21][22][23][24]. Recent studies involving spherical capsules have introduced a variety of materials into the core such as DNA, antibiotics, fluorescent dyes, and metal nanoparticles [25][26][27][28][29][30]. These types of particles show great promise for applications such as drug

Synthesis and potent cytotoxic activity of a novel diosgenin derivative and its phytosomes against lung cancer cells

• Liang Xu,
• Dekang Xu,
• Ziying Li,
• Yu Gao and
• Haijun Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1933–1942, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.189

• anticancer formulation for lung cancer. Experimental Materials 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), DNA-free RNaseA, and propidium iodide (PI) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (St Louis, USA). Di was obtained from Energy Chemical (Shanghai, China). RPMI 1640 medium and trypsin

Toxicity and safety study of silver and gold nanoparticles functionalized with cysteine and glutathione

• Barbara Pem,
• Igor M. Pongrac,
• Lea Ulm,
• Ivan Pavičić,
• Valerije Vrček,
• Darija Domazet Jurašin,
• Marija Ljubojević,
• Adela Krivohlavek and
• Ivana Vinković Vrček

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1802–1817, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.175

• , reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, apoptosis induction and DNA damage in murine fibroblast cells (L929), while ecotoxicity was tested using the aquatic model organism Daphnia magna. The toxicity of these nanoparticles was considerably lower compared to their ionic metal forms (i.e., Ag+ and Au3

• studies indicating that AgNPs negatively impact cell membranes, interfere with signaling pathways, disrupt the cell cycle, and cause mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, DNA damage and apoptosis [7][8][9]. Many reports on AgNP toxicity attribute it fully or partially to dissolved or released ionic

• toxic than their ionic counterparts, requiring 10–50 times higher doses to achieve the same toxic effect. As oxidative stress may induce damage to DNA molecules [79], which will consequently lead to apoptosis if severe enough, the DNA damage signaling pathway was evaluated by detecting the ataxia