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

• bio-organic transistor (Figure 3). In this construction, the source and drain patterned substrate was covered with p-type poly[2,5-bis(3-tetradecylthiophen-2-yl)thieno[3,2-b]thiophene], a water droplet and a Au-plate modified with the odorant binding protein as a gate. Enantiomers of odorant carvone

• could be clearly discriminated by this sensing system. The capacitance changes may be caused by the binding of the odorant to the protein accompanied with the derivation of the free-energy and conformational changes. Such capacitance-modulated transistors would be useful for molecular sensing with weak

• related to protein metabolism, food products and pharmaceuticals. Such difficult goals can be achieved through a nanoarchitectonics approach, namely molecular imprinting [103][104][105]. Qiu and co-workers developed sensors for chirality detection of amino acid guests using an organic electrochemical

Gold-coated plant virus as computed tomography imaging contrast agent

• Alaa A. A. Aljabali,
• Mazhar S. Al Zoubi,
• Khalid M. Al-Batanyeh,
• Ali Al-Radaideh,
• Mohammad A. Obeid,
• Abeer Al Sharabi,
• Walhan Alshaer,
• Bayan AbuFares,
• Tasnim Al-Zanati,
• Murtaza M. Tambuwala,
• Naveed Akbar and
• David J. Evans

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1983–1993, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.195

• ; computed tomography (CT); gold; nanotechnology; viruses; targeting; Introduction Numerous types of nanomaterials are currently under investigation in medicine, including dendrimers, polymeric nanoparticles (NPs), liposomes and protein-based NPs. Each system has advantages and disadvantages in terms of its

• toxicity, biocompatibility, immunogenicity, distribution and the payload being carried. Modified protein cages are robust systems that combine imaging capabilities and target selectivity on the same platform. One application is the development of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents. Current

• -hydroxysulfosuccinimide (sulfo-NHS), bicinchoninic acid (BCA) protein assay kit, RPMI, foetal calf serum, and T125 mm tissue culture flasks were purchased from ThermoFisher Scientific; EGM-2 medium was purchased from Lonza. Cell culture medium phenol red-free (high-glucose Dulbecco modified eagle medium (DMEM

Magnetic properties of biofunctionalized iron oxide nanoparticles as magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents

• Natalia E. Gervits,
• Andrey A. Gippius,
• Alexey V. Tkachev,
• Evgeniy I. Demikhov,
• Sergey S. Starchikov,
• Igor S. Lyubutin,
• Alexander L. Vasiliev,
• Vladimir P. Chekhonin,
• Maxim A. Abakumov,
• Alevtina S. Semkina and
• Alexander G. Mazhuga

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1964–1972, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.193

• due to the separation of the MNPs by nonmagnetic HSA protein molecules. In particular, this leads to the transition of coated nanoparticles to the paramagnetic state at a lower temperature. The NMR spectra of uncoated, functionalized nanoparticles revealed no changes in the hyperfine parameters of the

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

• proteins, resulting in the formation of protein corona [48][49]. To minimize the adverse effects of the presence of the protein corona in vivo, the surface coating using PEG can endow the NPs with so-called “stealth” properties to reduce the adsorption of high molecular weight proteins, allowing them to

Lipid nanostructures for antioxidant delivery: a comparative preformulation study

• Elisabetta Esposito,
• Maddalena Sguizzato,
• Markus Drechsler,
• Paolo Mariani,
• Federica Carducci,
• Claudio Nastruzzi,
• Giuseppe Valacchi and
• Rita Cortesi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1789–1801, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.174

• nanostructured lipid carriers compositions. Human skin explants were treated with α-tocopherol-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers and then exposed to cigarette smoke, and the protein levels of the stress-induced enzyme heme oxygenase were analyzed in skin homogenates. Interestingly, it was found that

• the physical and chemical stability, particle size analysis and TOC encapsulation efficiency were periodically evaluated by PCS and HPLC, respectively, as above reported. Western blot analysis for HO-1 and HO-2 protein Cytotoxicity determination Experiments were carried out to assess the range of NLC

• media at 37 °C in a humidified 5% CO2 atmosphere for 24 h. Protein extraction Samples for Western blot analysis were washed in PBS and frozen in liquid nitrogen. The biopsies were extracted in ice-cold conditions using a tissue protein extraction reagent (T-PER buffer, Thermo Fisher Scientific, MA, USA

Novel hollow titanium dioxide nanospheres with antimicrobial activity against resistant bacteria

• Carol López de Dicastillo,
• Cristian Patiño,
• María José Galotto,
• Yesseny Vásquez-Martínez,
• Claudia Torrent,
• Daniela Alburquenque,
• Alejandro Pereira and
• Juan Escrig

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1716–1725, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.167

• cells through various processes, such as lipid peroxidation of cell membrane, damaging DNA and/or amino acid- and protein-based cell oxidation [50][51]. This analysis also evidenced that, although an important enhancement of CSTiO2 antimicrobial activity occurred within 60 min of UV irradiation, no

Doxorubicin-loaded human serum albumin nanoparticles overcome transporter-mediated drug resistance in drug-adapted cancer cells

• Hannah Onafuye,
• Sebastian Pieper,
• Dennis Mulac,
• Jindrich Cinatl Jr.,
• Mark N. Wass,
• Klaus Langer and
• Martin Michaelis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1707–1715, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.166

• produce [13][14][15][16][17], and HSA is a well-tolerated material. It is the most abundant protein in human blood plasma and used in many pharmaceutical formulations, in particular as part of critical care treatment [18]. Results Nanoparticle size, polydispersity and drug load HSA nanoparticles were

Materials nanoarchitectonics at two-dimensional liquid interfaces

• Katsuhiko Ariga,
• Michio Matsumoto,
• Taizo Mori and
• Lok Kumar Shrestha

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1559–1587, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.153

A biomimetic nanofluidic diode based on surface-modified polymeric carbon nitride nanotubes

• Kai Xiao,
• Baris Kumru,
• Lu Chen,
• Lei Jiang,
• Bernhard V. K. J. Schmidt and
• Markus Antonietti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1316–1323, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.130

• the process of photosynthesis, light-driven passive ion transport results in a proton gradient across cell membranes, which enables the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) via ATP synthase [6]. All these passive and active ion transport processes in vivo occur in biological protein nanopores

Multicomponent bionanocomposites based on clay nanoarchitectures for electrochemical devices

• Giulia Lo Dico,
• Bernd Wicklein,
• Lorenzo Lisuzzo,
• Giuseppe Lazzara,
• Pilar Aranda and
• Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1303–1315, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.129

• appropriate isoelectric point (at pH 4.0–4.5) for inclusion and immobilization at the surface of the halloysite lumen. Then, HNTs were exploited as nanocontainers for GOx, avoiding the direct interaction the protein with the sepiolite fibres that may lead to enzymatic inactivity [58][59]. In fact, assays

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

• as a sequence in tyrosine kinase inhibitor peptide (Tkip), thought to act as a mimic of the suppressor of cytokine signalling (SOCS) protein [16]. However, the antiviral activity of FluPep does not depend on blocking cytokine signalling, which is intracellular, but instead this peptide appears to

• virus particle binding, the virion will enter the cell, replicate its genome, translate viral protein components, assemble viral particles and then egress from the infected cell by lysis. The released viral particles will then infect neighbouring cells. By putting an agarose overlay on cultured cells

• purchased from Peptide Protein Research (PPR Ltd, Hampshire, UK). The alkanethiol ethylene glycol ligand, HS(CH2)11(OC2H4)4OH, was purchased from Prochimia (ProChimia Surface Sp. z o.o., Sopot, Poland). Gold nanoparticles of 9 nm diameter stabilized in citrate buffer were purchased from British Biocell

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

• /bjnano.10.101 Abstract Background: When nanoparticles (NPs) are applied into a biological fluid, such as blood, proteins bind rapidly to their surface forming a so-called “protein corona”. These proteins are strongly attached to the NP surface and confers them a new biological identity that is crucial

• for the biological response in terms of body biodistribution, cellular uptake, and toxicity. The corona is dynamic in nature and it is well known that the composition varies in dependence of the physicochemical properties of the NPs. In the present study we investigated the protein corona that forms

• around poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) NPs at different serum concentrations using two substantially different serum types, namely fetal bovine serum (FBS) and human serum. The corona was characterized by means of sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), Bradford protein

Experimental study of an evanescent-field biosensor based on 1D photonic bandgap structures

• Jad Sabek,
• Francisco Javier Díaz-Fernández,
• Luis Torrijos-Morán,
• Zeneida Díaz-Betancor,
• Ángel Maquieira,
• María-José Bañuls,
• Elena Pinilla-Cienfuegos and
• Jaime García-Rupérez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 967–974, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.97

• Mach–Zehnder interferometers or bimodal waveguides, respectively. By using this type of structures, outstanding results have been obtained for the specific detection of a wide range of analytes, reaching detect limits even below the nanogram-per-milliliter range for protein detection [5] and below the

Effects of gold and PCL- or PLLA-coated silica nanoparticles on brain endothelial cells and the blood–brain barrier

• Aniela Bittner,
• Angélique D. Ducray,
• Hans Rudolf Widmer,
• Michael H. Stoffel and
• Meike Mevissen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 941–954, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.95

• cytotoxicity in HUVECs. Furthermore, Si-NPs were shown to induce oxidative stress and inflammation mediated by mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) [21] pathways that are related to cell proliferation and differentiation but also to

• , proliferation and inflammation in rBCEC4 cells Possible changes in protein expression representing inhibition or activation of several crucial proteins of different signaling pathways involved in regulatory processes including cell survival and proliferation were investigated with western blotting. The active

• , phosphorylated (P-) form of the proteins of interest was compared to their inactive, non-phosphorylated form. Protein kinase B (Akt) could be detected in its inactive and active form but neither exposure to Si- nor to Au-NPs caused significant changes in its expression. However, a trend to an increase in P-Akt

Outstanding chain-extension effect and high UV resistance of polybutylene succinate containing amino-acid-modified layered double hydroxides

• Adam A. Marek,
• Vincent Verney,
• Christine Taviot-Gueho,
• Grazia Totaro,
• Laura Sisti,
• Annamaria Celli and
• Fabrice Leroux

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 684–695, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.68

• ]. LDHs are considered to be “green” and low environmental impact fillers [12], biocompatible [13] and food compatible [14]. Indeed the choice of organo-modified LDH using amino acids, and among them the protein-building amino acids, has already been demonstrated [15]. Having in mind that UV stabilization

Mechanical and thermodynamic properties of Aβ₄₂, Aβ₄₀, and α-synuclein fibrils: a coarse-grained method to complement experimental studies

• Adolfo B. Poma,
• Horacio V. Guzman,
• Mai Suan Li and
• Panagiotis E. Theodorakis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 500–513, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.51

• harmonic potentials to the furthest bottom and top particles of the protein. Then, we take values for the elastic constants equal to kbottom = 100 kcal/mol/Å and ktop = 0.1 kcal/mol/Å for the top part of the fibril. The top part is moving with pulling speed equal to vpull = 5 × 10−5 Å/ns. As a result of

• preparation of samples with well-ordered Aβ40 or Aβ42 fibrils. In this regard, our CG simulation is an ideal protocol as it enables the calculation of the melting temperatures for well-ordered Aβ fibrils. To assess the thermal stability of the fibril, we compute the probability of finding the protein in the

• each system are highlighted in yellow. List of geometric parameters of the fibril structures used to determine the YL, YT, and S. The last line of each fibril entry gives the protein segment used to define the shear plane as illustrated in Figure 3. The elastic moduli in GPa for the Aβ40, Aβ42 and α

Biocompatible organic–inorganic hybrid materials based on nucleobases and titanium developed by molecular layer deposition

• Leva Momtazi,
• Henrik H. Sønsteby and
• Ola Nilsen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 399–411, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.39

• where interaction with the surrounding tissue is controlled at the surface of the material, whereas load is governed by bulk properties. The surface of a material is responsible for interactions with the surrounding tissue by directing protein absorption, which in turn controls cell adhesion and

Heating ability of magnetic nanoparticles with cubic and combined anisotropy

• Nikolai A. Usov,
• Mikhail S. Nesmeyanov,
• Elizaveta M. Gubanova and
• Natalia B. Epshtein

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 305–314, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.29

• –dipole interaction within the cluster. A similar effect is also confirmed for clusters of nanoparticles with cubic or combined anisotropy. For example, “protein coronas” around the nanoparticles can keep them separated in a natural way. This effect can be used to improve the ability of magnetite

Mechanism of silica–lysozyme composite formation unravelled by in situ fast SAXS

• Tomasz M. Stawski,
• Daniela B. van den Heuvel,
• Rogier Besselink,
• Dominique J. Tobler and
• Liane G. Benning

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 182–197, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.17

• of protein-sensitized biomedical devices and sensors [1][2][3][4][5][6]. In a broader perspective, many processes involving the assembly of nanoparticles to higher-level hierarchical structures are known to be directed by small organic molecules and macromolecules [7][8][9][10]. Such fundamental

• the folding/structure of the protein, its enzymatic activity and the exact protein localization with respect to the silica NPs inside flocculated composites [16][17][19][21][22][23][24]. The inherent nature of the aggregation processes leading to silica–lysozyme composites, involves structural changes

• aggregation of silica NPs (ca. 5 nm in diameter) at a time resolution of 50 ms. It is important to note that at typical NPs sizes and concentrations [17][24] and protein concentrations [27] usually employed to make such SiO2–LZM composites, the relative X-ray scattering contrast/intensity of lysozyme, in the

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

• which the recognition event takes place in a very specific manner through the interaction between the antigen located on the diseased cell and the two ends of the Y-shaped protein. Thus, many different antibodies have been attached on the surface of multiple types of nanoparticles to induce selectivity

• antibody attachment with a high precision level [29]. Another interesting strategy is the attachment of protein A on the nanoparticle surface prior to the incorporation of the antibody [30]. Protein A is a membrane protein produced by Staphylococcus aureus in order to complex the immunoglobulins by the

• complement region (Fc) deactivating the immune attack of the host. Thus, antibodies can be anchored to the surface of a nanoparticle decorated with protein A thanks to the strong affinity between the protein and the Fc region, which is not involved in the recognition process and therefore, this process

Characterization and influence of hydroxyapatite nanopowders on living cells

• Przemyslaw Oberbek,
• Tomasz Bolek,
• Adrian Chlanda,
• Seishiro Hirano,
• Sylwia Kusnieruk,
• Julia Rogowska-Tylman,
• Ganna Nechyporenko,
• Viktor Zinchenko,
• Wojciech Swieszkowski and
• Tomasz Puzyn

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 3079–3094, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.286

• by cell division, and is connected to apoptosis, i.e., programmed cell death. According to Ramovatar et al. [49], a high intracellular Ca2+ concentration may trigger a cascade of events, i.e., the activation of calpain (protein kinases), the disruption of the cytoskeletal integrity [72], the

• induction of stress inside the cell and the activation of the tumour-suppressor gene p53 [73][74], which promotes the downstream gene expression finally leading to an apoptosis. Gene p53 is also activated by phosphorylation, that is, the attachment of the phosphate group (PO43−) to the protein chain [75][76

• chromatography, protein purification, cell-culture substrates, catalyst production and waste management. Lower crystallinity, high purity and high zeta potential of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles are desired in a material intended for long-term medical use in the body. Since calcium deficiency is a feature of

Time-resolved universal temperature measurements using NaYF₄:Er³⁺,Yb³⁺ upconverting nanoparticles in an electrospray jet

• Kristina Shrestha,
• Arwa A. Alaulamie,
• Ali Rafiei Miandashti and
• Hugh H. Richardson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2916–2924, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.270

• understand temperature-dependent reactions such as protein unfolding inside microjet/microdroplets and microfluidic systems. Keywords: electrospray; microjet; nanothermometry; temperature measurement; time-resolved measurement; upconverting nanoparticles; Introduction There is need and interest to non

• measurements inside the Taylor cone. We believe that the findings of this paper provide a foundation for time-resolved temperature measurements using NaYF4:Er3+,Yb3+ UCNPs and can be used to understand temperature dependent reactions like protein unfolding phenomenon inside the microjet/microdroplets

The effect of flexible joint-like elements on the adhesive performance of nature-inspired bent mushroom-like fibers

• Elliot Geikowsky,
• Serdar Gorumlu and
• Burak Aksak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2893–2905, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.268

• , rubber-like protein resilin. Light blue regions (hair shaft and discoidal tip structure) mainly consist of stiffer chitinous material. Adapted from [32]. b) Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of synthetic, polymeric, bent fibers inspired by the adhesive hairs of the beetle, showing joints between

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

• blue (MB), pigments of cultural heritage interest (alizarin-s, AZ-s) [58] and highly toxic protein oligomers [59]. Tests are carried out in gap-mode, absorbing the probe molecules on gold films with side-illumination at an excitation wavelength of 638 nm. Molecular solutions at different concentrations

• removed from the near-field region of the sample, just excluding the feedback loop of the STM system. Vibrational bands of all molecules agree with the literature [60][61][62][63]. We finally apply our tips to obtain TERS spectra from the N-terminal domain of the Escherichia coli protein HypF (HypF-N

• ). This a small stably folded α/β protein with 91-residues (10 kDa) [64] that is capable of forming amyloid species like those associated with neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s [65], and have recently been the subject of TERS investigations [66][67][68]. In particular, we focus on

Nanoantenna structures for the detection of phonons in nanocrystals

• Alexander G. Milekhin,
• Sergei A. Kuznetsov,
• Ilya A. Milekhin,
• Larisa L. Sveshnikova,
• Tatyana A. Duda,
• Ekaterina E. Rodyakina,
• Alexander V. Latyshev,
• Volodymyr M. Dzhagan and
• Dietrich R. T. Zahn

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2646–2656, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.246

• substances of extremely low concentrations. For example, Adato et al. demonstrated the detection of a concentration as low as 145 protein molecules per nanoantenna [19]. SEIRA has been extended to the far-IR spectral range for which special nanoscale slot-antenna arrays were designed to determine glucose and