Smart polymeric materials: emerging biochemical applications

Smart polymeric materials respond with a considerable change in their properties to small changes in their environment. Environmental stimuli include temperature, pH, chemicals, and light. "Smart" stimuli-sensitive materials can be either synthetic or natural. This review discusses the application of smart materials as tools to solve biological problems such as bioseparation, drug delivery, biosensor design, tissue engineering, protein folding, and microfluidics. The goal for these endeavors is to mimic the "smartness" of biological systems and ultimately moderate complex systems such as immune responses at desired levels. The versatility and untapped potential of smart polymeric materials makes them one of the most exciting interfaces of chemistry and biology.     

Potentiometric and voltammetric polymer lab chip sensors for determination of nitrate, pH and Cd(II) in water

Microparticles are phospholipid vesicles shed mostly in biological fluids, such as blood or urine, by various types of cells, such as red blood cells (RBCs), platelets, lymphocytes, endothelial cells. These microparticles contain a subset of the proteome of their parent cell, and their ready availability in biological fluid has raised strong interest in their study, as they might be markers of cell damage. However, their small size as well as their particular physico-chemical properties makes them hard to detect, size, count and study by proteome analysis. In this review, we report the pre-analytical and methodological caveats that we have faced in our own research about red blood cell microparticles in the context of transfusion science, as well as examples from the literature on the proteomics of various kinds of microparticles.     

Scaling up in isolation of medium-size uraemic toxins

Plasmatic accumulation of uraemic toxins in the middle molecular mass range has been reported to be associated with several pathologies observed in uraemic patients. The very low concentration of these toxins in uraemic body fluids makes classical chromatography techniques inadequate in isolating sufficient amounts of these endogenous substances, thus precluding their identification. A scaling up of gel permeation and ion-exchange chromatographies was therefore developed. This considerably increased the amount of uraemic toxins isolated, thus allowing the study of their chemical nature and facilitating understanding of their biological activities.     

P4S10/dimethicone tandem: efficient reagent for thionation of various aromatic amides and esters

Organosulfur compounds are valuable because of their rich and varied chemistry especially in biological field. We report a new and efficient way for thionation of various aromatic amides and esters using P₄S₁₀/dimethicone tandem. The ease of handling and higher yield makes this protocol economical.     

Carbohydrate chemistry in drug discovery

The multitude of roles that carbohydrates and their glyco-conjugates play in biological processes has stimulated great interest in determining the nature of their interactions in both normal and diseased states. Manipulating such interactions will provide leads for drug discovery. Of the major classes of biomolecule, carbohydrates are the most structurally diverse. This hetereogeneity makes isolation of pure samples, and in sufficient amounts, from biological sources extremely difficult. Chemical synthesis offers the advantage of producing pure and structurally defined oligosaccharides for biological investigations. Although the complex nature of carbohydrates means that this is challenging, recent advances in the field have facilitated access to these molecules. The synthesis and isolation of oligosaccharides combined with progress in glycoarray technology have aided the identification of new carbohydrate-binding drug targets. This review aims to provide an overview of the latest advancements in carbohydrate chemistry and the role of these complex molecules in drug discovery, focusing particularly on synthetic methodologies, glycosaminoglycans, glycoprotein synthesis and vaccine development over the last few years.     

Biological applications of a new isothermal calorimeter that simultaneously measures at four temperatures

Isothermal calorimetry is a powerful technique for the study of kinetics of physical, chemical, and biological processes, for example, of their temperature dependence. A new heat conduction calorimeter that simultaneously makes measurements on four samples at four different temperatures is presented in this article. Results from tests with four biological systems (milk fermentation, carrot juice spoilage, sunflower seed germination, and moss respiration) are shown. In all the cases, the instrument could measure the heat production rate—and thus the process rate—at the different temperatures used.     

Intein-mediated biotinylation of proteins and its application in a protein microarray

We report here the first example using an intein-mediated expression system to generate biotinylated proteins suitable for immobilization onto avidin-functionalized glass slides. With this novel array, proteins are site-specifically immobilized on the glass surface and are able to retain their native activity. The advantage of the avidin/biotin linkage over his-tag/Ni-NTA strategies for protein immobilization is highlighted by its ability to withstand a variety of chemical conditions, which makes this new protein array compatible with most biological assays.     

基因检测技术在食品物种鉴定中的应用

食品安全关系国计民生,食品物种鉴定是食品安全链的重要环节。基因检测技术的发展使食品物种鉴定变得更加快速、准确、灵敏。本文对近十年来国内外采用基因检测技术进行食品物种鉴定的研究和应用情况进行了总结和分析,包括基因检测技术的特点、主要方法及其在动物源性食品、植物源性食品、高附加值食品和深加工食品分析中的应用以及未来的发展。     

Interplay of H‐Bonds with Aromatics in Isolated Complexes Identifies Isomeric Carbohydrates

The tremendous isomeric diversity of carbohydrates enables a wide range of their biological functions but makes the identification and study of these molecules difficult. We investigated the ability of intermolecular interactions to communicate structural specificity of carbohydrates to protonated aromatic molecules in non‐covalent complexes, isolated and cooled in the gas phase. Our study revealed that small structural differences between carbohydrate isomers of any type, including enantiomers, are accurately communicated by these interactions to aromatic molecules as detectable changes in their electronic excitation spectra. The specific response of the aromatics to the isomers of carbohydrates is fine‐tuned by the interplay of the various involved non‐covalent bonds. These findings enable the gas‐phase identification and relative quantification of any isomers of oligosaccharides in their solution mixtures using the 2D UV‐MS fingerprinting technique.     

Amphipathic DNA Origami Nanoparticles to Scaffold and Deform Lipid Membrane Vesicles

We report a synthetic biology‐inspired approach for the engineering of amphipathic DNA origami structures as membrane‐scaffolding tools. The structures have a flat membrane‐binding interface decorated with cholesterol‐derived anchors. Sticky oligonucleotide overhangs on their side facets enable lateral interactions leading to the formation of ordered arrays on the membrane. Such a tight and regular arrangement makes our DNA origami capable of deforming free‐standing lipid membranes, mimicking the biological activity of coat‐forming proteins, for example, from the I‐/F‐BAR family.     

Determination of gallium in biological fluids using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

A procedure for the determination of gallium in biological fluids by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was developed. The detection limits of gallium calculated from the 3s value were 60 ng/L for urine, 32 ng/L for a model solution of intestinal juice, and 50 ng/L for serum. The accuracy of the procedure was tested using a standard addition method. The nature of a background signal on the masses of gallium isotopes was studied with the use of a high-resolution mass spectrometer, and the background concentration of gallium in biological fluids was evaluated (5–7 ng/L). It was found that a background level in measurements performed on a quadrupole mass spectrometer depends on the interfering influence of polyatomic ions with close m/z ratios rather than on the background concentration of gallium. The procedure makes it possible to study the stability of pharmaceutical preparations based on gallium in biological media, their metabolism, and the excretion of preparations from the body.     

Synthesis,Surface, and Antimicrobial Activity of Hydrophobically Thiadiazole,Pyridazine, and Pyrimidine Systems Based on Surface Active Agents

A series of hydrophobically thiadiazole, pyridazine, and pyrimidine were synthesized with surface and biological activities from cheap, available, and safe raw materials such as fatty acids. Thus, diazotizations of thiadiazole derivative 2 and malononitrile resulted a hydrazone derivative 3 , which was used to construct various biologically active compounds with low toxicity, good solubility and biodegradation, surface properties with biological activity. The results revealed that these substances have the ability to reduce the surface tension, reduce the wetting time, varying degrees of foam and emulsifying stability, which makes use in the different industries. As well as their biodegradability, which confirms that these compounds are environmentally friendly to humans and the environment. Furthermore, the effect of these compounds against certain microorganisms has been studied and shown to be highly effective against the activity of these organisms.     

A novel on-tissue cycloaddition reagent for mass spectrometry imaging of lipid C=C position isomers in biological tissues

Application of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging(MALDI-MSI) to investigate the spatiotemporal alterations of lipids in biological tissues has brought many significant results.However, the presence of structural isomers varying in C=C double bond(DB) locations makes isomerresolved MSI an urgent need. Herein, we introduce a new type of light-driven on-tissue [2 + 2] cycloaddition reaction coupled with MALDI-MS/MS imaging to identify lipid DB position isomers and...     

Phosphorescent oxygen sensor with dendritic protection and two-photon absorbing antenna

Imaging oxygen in 3D with submicron spatial resolution can be made possible by combining phosphorescence quenching technique with multiphoton laser scanning microscopy. Because Pt and Pd porphyrin-based phosphorescent dyes, traditionally used as phosphors in biological oxygen measurements, exhibit extremely low two-photon absorption (2PA) cross-sections, we designed a nanosensor for oxygen, in which a 2P absorbing antenna is coupled to a metalloporphyrin core via intramolecular energy transfer (ET) with the purpose of amplifying the 2PA induced phosphorescence of the metalloporphyrin. The central component of the device is a polyfunctionalized Pt porphyrin, whose triplet state emission at ambient temperatures is strong, occurs in the near infrared and is sensitive to O2. The 2PA chromophores are chosen in such a way that their absorption is maximal in the near infrared (NIR) window of tissue (e.g., 700-900 nm), while their fluorescence is overlapped with the absorption band(s) of the core metalloporphyrin, ensuring an efficient antenna-core resonance ET. The metalloporphyrin-antenna construct is embedded inside the protecting dendritic jacket, which isolates the core from interactions with biological macromolecules, controls diffusion of oxygen and makes the entire sensor water-soluble. Several Pt porphyrin-coumarin based sensors were synthesized and their photophyics studied to evaluate the proposed design.     

Covalently Binding of Bovine Serum Albumin to Unsaturated Poly(Globalide‐Co‐ε‐Caprolactone) Nanoparticles by Thiol‐Ene Reactions

When nanoparticles (NPs) are introduced to a biological fluid, different proteins (and other biomolecules) rapidly get adsorbed onto their surface, forming a protein corona capable of giving to the NPs a new “identity” and determine their biological fate. Protein–nanoparticle conjugation can be used in order to promote specific interactions between living systems and nanocarriers. Non‐covalent conjugates are less stable and more susceptible to desorption in biological media, which makes the development of engineered nanoparticle surfaces by covalent attachment an interesting topic. In this work, the surface of poly(globalide‐co‐ε‐caprolactone) (PGlCL) nanoparticles containing double bonds in the main polymer chain is covalently functionalized with bovine serum albumin (BSA) by thiol‐ene chemistry, producing conjugates which are resistant to dissociation. The successful formation of the covalent conjugates is confirmed by flow cytometry (FC) and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) allows the visualization of the conjugate formation, and the presence of a protein layer surrounding the NPs can be observed. After conjugation with BSA, NPs present reduced cell uptake by HeLa and macrophage RAW264.7 cells, in comparison to uncoated NP. These results demonstrate that it is possible to produce stable conjugates by covalently binding BSA to PGlCL NP through thiol‐ene reaction.     

Kinetic evaluation of pharmacological effects based on allosteric coupling of the benzodiazepine/gamma-aminobutyric acidA receptor in the brain.

A mathematical allosteric coupling model has been proposed to describe the process by which binding to the benzodiazepine/gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor complex initiates a biological response. The model states that the first receptors (benzodiazepine receptors) can diffuse independently in the plane of the membrane and reversibly associate with the second receptors (GABA receptors) to regulate their activity (induction of increased chloride ion flux due to the opening of the chloride ion channel). The ratio of agonist-bound to total GABA receptor density was defined to be directly proportional to the biological response in the model. The analysis makes the following assumptions: i) the binding affinity of agonists (muscimol or benzodiazepine) to the benzodiazepine receptor/GABA receptor complex is much greater than that to each receptor alone; ii) the double receptor-single agonist (benzodiazepine, muscimol or GABA) ternary complex binds to the other agonist with a high binding affinity as compared with that of each agonist to an agonist-free receptor complex; iii) benzodiazepine receptor-GABA receptor interaction is enhanced in the presence of each agonist; iv) the GABA receptor is desensitized after the binding of GABA agonist (GABA or muscimol) to the receptor. The modeling exercise shows that the benzodiazepine concentration required for half-maximal biological response is lower than that required for half-maximal receptor binding. In the case of the GABA agonist, a linear relationship between receptor occupancy and biological response was observed. The degree of discrepancy between the two profiles (receptor occupancy and biological response) concerning benzodiazepine concentration dependency and time dependency increased with a decrease in the dissociation constants based on the benzodiazepine receptor-GABA receptor interaction.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Functional Xeno Nucleic Acids for Biomedical Application

Functional nucleic acids(FNAs) refer to a type of oligonucleotides with functions over the traditional genetic roles of nucleic acids, which have been widely applied in screening, sensing and imaging fields. However, the potential application of FNAs in biomedical field is still restricted by the unsatisfactory stability, biocompatibility, biodistribution and immunity of natural nucleic acids(DNA/RNA). Xeno nucleic acids(XNAs) are a kind of nucleic acid analogues with chemically modified sugar groups that possess improved biological properties, including improved biological stability, increased binding affinity, reduced immune responses, and enhanced cell penetration or tissue specificity. In the last two decades, scientists have made great progress in the research of functional xeno nucleic acids, which makes it an emerging attractive biomedical application material. In this review, we summarized the design of functional xeno nucleic acids and their applications in the biomedical field.     

Smart Nanodrug with Nuclear Localization Sequences in the Presence of MMP-2 To Overcome Biobarriers and Drug Resistance

A series of physiological barriers have impeded nanoparticle-based drug formulations (NDFs) from reaching their targeted sites and achieving therapeutic outcomes. In this study, we develop size-controllable stealth doxorubicin-loaded nanodrug coated with CD47 peptides (DOX/sNDF-CD47) based on supramolecular chemistry to overcome multiple biological barriers. The smart DOX/sNDF-CD47 can efficiently decrease sequestration by macrophages and disassemble into poly(amidoamine) dendrimers with nuclear localization sequences (DOX/PAMAM-NLS) in the presence of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2). Such structure transformation endows DOX/sNDF-CD47 with the ability of deep penetration in multicellular tumor spheroid, lysosomal escape, and nucleus localization, resulting in excellent cytotoxicity and drug resistance combating. In vivo experiments further confirmed that DOX/sNDF-CD47 has good tumor-targeting ability and can significantly improve therapeutic efficacy of DOX on xenograft tumor model. The ability to overcome multiple biological barriers makes sNDF-CD47 a promising NDFs to treat cancer expressing MMP-2 and combating drug resistance.     

Modifying the 5′‐Cap for Click Reactions of Eukaryotic mRNA and To Tune Translation Efficiency in Living Cells

The 5′‐cap is a hallmark of eukaryotic mRNAs and plays fundamental roles in RNA metabolism, ranging from quality control to export and translation. Modifying the 5′‐cap may thus enable modulation of the underlying processes and investigation or tuning of several biological functions. A straightforward approach is presented for the efficient production of a range of N7‐modified caps based on the highly promiscuous methyltransferase Ecm1. We show that these, as well as N²‐modified 5′‐caps, can be used to tune translation of the respective mRNAs both in vitro and in cells. Appropriate modifications allow subsequent bioorthogonal chemistry, as demonstrated by intracellular live‐cell labeling of a target mRNA. The efficient and versatile N7 manipulation of the mRNA cap makes mRNAs amenable to both modulation of their biological function and intracellular labeling, and represents a valuable addition to the chemical biology toolbox.     

涡流色谱技术在生物样品分析中的应用

生物样品的复杂性使其在进行分析测定前必须经过处理。传统的样品前处理方法(如液-液萃取、固相萃取等)耗时长且操作繁琐。涡流色谱作为在线萃取技术,可以实现生物样品直接进样,减少了样品处理步骤,有效富集纯化了分析物,是一种高通量、高选择性的生物样品前处理方法。为此,本文介绍了涡流色谱技术的原理及优势,并总结了不同涡流柱的特点及其在生物样品分析领域中的应用情况。