Controlling mechanical properties of bio-inspired hydrogels by modulating nano-scale, inter-polymeric junctions

• Seonki Hong,
• Hyukjin Lee and
• Haeshin Lee

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 887–894, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.101

• general approach for creating novel catecholaminergic derivatives of biopolymers such as alginate, hyaluronic acid, chitosan, dextran, and other synthetic or proteineous materials for a variety of applications. Quinone, an oxidized form of catechol, is reactive to nucleophiles such as hydroxyl, amine, and

Antimicrobial nanospheres thin coatings prepared by advanced pulsed laser technique

• Alina Maria Holban,
• Valentina Grumezescu,
• Alexandru Mihai Grumezescu,
• Bogdan Ştefan Vasile,
• Roxana Truşcă,
• Rodica Cristescu,
• Gabriel Socol and
• Florin Iordache

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 872–880, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.99

• -chitosan-magnetite-eugenol (PLA-CS-Fe3O4@EUG) nanospheres by matrix assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigation proved that the homogenous Fe3O4@EUG nanoparticles have an average diameter of about 7 nm, while the PLA

• ) bacteria strains. Moreover, the obtained nano-coatings showed a good biocompatibility and facilitated the normal development of human endothelial cells. These nanosystems may be used as efficient alternatives in treating and preventing bacterial infections. Keywords: antimicrobial; chitosan; magnetite

• Polylactic acid (PLA), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), chitosan (CS), eugenol (EUG), FeCl3, FeSO4·7H2O, NH4OH (25%), chloroform and n-hexane were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich. Preparation of magnetite nanostructures A well-known procedure described in our previous work was used to synthesize the magnetite

Injection of ligand-free gold and silver nanoparticles into murine embryos does not impact pre-implantation development

• Ulrike Taylor,
• Wiebke Garrels,
• Annette Barchanski,
• Svea Peterson,
• Laszlo Sajti,
• Andrea Lucas-Hahn,
• Lisa Gamrad,
• Ulrich Baulain,
• Sabine Klein,
• Wilfried A. Kues,
• Stephan Barcikowski and
• Detlef Rath

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 677–688, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.80

• culture model, noting increased apoptosis, decreased cell numbers and decreased implantation rates [37]. So far, AuNP have only been investigated once in a murine in vitro embryo culture model for their influence on blastocyst development [38]. In this study on chitosan nanoparticles morulae were co

The softening of human bladder cancer cells happens at an early stage of the malignancy process

• Jorge R. Ramos,
• Joanna Pabijan,
• Ricardo Garcia and
• Malgorzata Lekka

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 447–457, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.52

• influence of certain such compounds as chitosan [14] or cisplatin [20] on the mechanics of single cells, while pointing out that studies on the correlation between the mechanical properties and the structure of the actin cytoskeleton are particularly important for developing and monitoring cancer therapies

One pot synthesis of silver nanoparticles using a cyclodextrin containing polymer as reductant and stabilizer

• Arkadius Maciollek and
• Helmut Ritter

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 380–385, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.44

• described which act simultaneously as reducing and stabilization agent in aqueous medium. Typical examples are polyacrylamide, poly(sodium acrylate), polyethylene glycol, chitosan or soluble starch [11][17][18][19]. However, up to now polymers bearing CD attached have not been used for the preparation of

Growth behaviour and mechanical properties of PLL/HA multilayer films studied by AFM

• Cagri Üzüm,
• Johannes Hellwig,
• Narayanan Madaboosi,
• Dmitry Volodkin and
• Regine von Klitzing

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 778–788, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.87

• ]. Engler et al. reported a similar spreading behaviour for smooth-muscle cells [3]. An enhanced cell growth was observed also for cross-linked chitosan/hyaluronan multilayer films, as compared to the native ones [8]. These reports suggest that polyelectrolyte multilayer films are ideal matrices for bio