The Competitive Dynamic Binding of Some Blood Proteins Adsorbed on Gold Nanoparticles

Nanoparticle (NP) surfaces are modified immediately by the adsorption of proteins when injected into human blood, leading to the formation of a protein corona. The protein‐coated NPs may be recognized by living cells. Furthermore, the adsorption of serum proteins is a continuous competitive dynamic process that is the key to exploring the bioapplication and biosafety of NPs. In this study, the competitive dynamic adsorption of some serum proteins on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) is investigated by fluorescence emission, dynamic light scattering, and sodium dodecyl sulfate‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Serum proteins with different AuNPs binding affinities are used to address the competitive dynamic process of protein‐AuNP interactions in vitro. The results show that more abundant serum proteins, such as human serum albumin, adsorb on AuNPs first, and then the higher binding affinity and lower concentration serum proteins, such as fibrinogen (FIB), replace the abundant and lower binding affinity serum proteins. However, the lower binding affinity serum proteins, such as hemoglobin, do not replace the higher binding affinity proteins from the protein‐AuNP conjugates. During the dynamic exchange process, the larger the binding affinities difference between two proteins, the faster the exchange rate. This dynamic exchange process usually takes longer in inner protein‐AuNP conjugates (hard corona) than the external surface of protein‐AuNP conjugates (soft corona).     

Static Magnetic Field Dictates Protein Corona Formation on the Surface of Glutamine‐Modified Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) have become important tools for the imaging and detecting of prevalent diseases for many years. Scientists usually harness their attraction to a static magnetic field (SMF) to increase targeting efficiency and minimize side effects. To prolong blood circulation time and minimize reticuloendothelial system clearance, SPIONs are increasingly designed with a negatively charged surface. Understanding how a SMF affects the SPIONs with a negative surface charge is fundamental to any potential downstream applications of SPIONs as drug delivery carriers and bio‐separation nanoparticles. The goal of our study is to investigate the effect of SMF treatment (204 mT) on the in vitro and in vivo protein corona formed on negatively charged SPIONs. The results reveal that the amount of protein and the composition of protein corona is directly related to the SMF treatment. Compared with the in vivo protein corona, SMF treatment exercises considerable influence on the composition of the in vitro protein corona. The in vitro protein corona formed on SPIONs modulates the secretion of inflammatory cytokines from cells. To the best of our knowledge, this report describes the first demonstration of a SMF as an influencing factor on protein corona formation in vivo. Our results help to elucidate the biological mechanisms of SPIONs with SMF treatment and suggest that the protein corona effect should be considered during the development of a magnetic target.     

表面增强拉曼散射(SERS)衬底的研究及应用

表面增强拉曼散射(surface enhanced Raman scattering,SERS)是通过吸附在粗糙金属表面或金属纳米结构上的分子与金属表面发生的等离子共振(SPR)相互作用而引起的拉曼散射增强现象,是一种高灵敏的探测界面特性和分子间相互作用的光谱手段。文章归纳总结了近年来常用的SERS衬底的制备方法(溶液中的金属溶胶(MNPs in suspension)、 金属纳米粒子的自组装(self-assembly)、 模板法(Template method)和纳米光刻法(Nanolithographic)等;综述了这些衬底的表面增强拉曼特性;着重介绍了SERS增强在环境监测和生物医学应用上的最新国内外研究动态。目前已经能够实现增强因子高、 可靠性好、 重现性强的SERS衬底的可控制备,表明SERS可以作为一种高性能的分析探测工具,充分实现其潜在应用价值。     

Fluorescence Investigation on the Interaction of a Prevalent Competitive Fluorescent Probe with Entomic Odorant Binding Protein

In recent years, one prevalent competitive fluorescent probe, N-phenyl-1-naphthylamine (1-NPN), was frequently utilized to measure the binding affinity of entomic odorant binding proteins (OBPs) with diverse plant volatiles or pheromones. Nevertheless, the details and model of the binding interaction are still largely unknown, although it is vital to investigate the physiological function of OBPs. Here we studied the binding interaction between 1-NPN and OBP2, a recombinant OBP from eastern honeybee, Apis cerana, by the combination of fluorescence quenching spectra, synchronous fluorescence spectra, ultraviolet spectra, circular dichroism spectra, and molecular docking. The Stern–Volmer curve of the fluorescence quenching of OBP2 by 1-NPN indicated it was a static quenching mechanism, and the binding constants and binding number were determined, respectively. Based on the Förster theory of nonradiation energy transfer (FRET), the binding distance was calculated, and the intrinsic fluorescent energy was predicted to transfer from the donor OBP2 to the acceptor 1-NPN. Synchronous fluorescence spectra and circular dichroism spectra were used to investigate the conformational change in binding progress. The thermodynamic parameters showed that the interaction was mainly driven by hydrophobic force, which was validated by the molecular docking; meanwhile, the binding mode was revealed and one hydrogen bond was found between the nitrogen atom of 1-NPN and Glu29 of OBP2.     

稀磁ZnO纳米颗粒的生长和性能

利用Zn、Fe、Mn、Co的铜铁试剂盐为前驱体,胺为表面包裹剂,在200℃N2保护下生长了2%的过渡金属离子掺杂的ZnO稀磁纳米晶体,研究了纳米晶体的结构、形态、光学和磁学性能。所有ZnO纳米晶体均为近圆形的颗粒,晶体结构为六角纤锌矿结构,无其他氧化物相的析出,但过渡金属离子的掺入使纳米颗粒的尺寸增大。在掺杂纳米颗粒的吸收谱和发射谱中均可以观察到明显的激子吸收和发射峰,所有纳米颗粒在温度高于43K时只有顺磁性。     

Magnetic Properties of Nanoparticles of Antiferromagnetic Materials

Hyperfine Interactions - The magnetic properties of antiferromagnetic nanoparticles have been studied by Mössbauer spectroscopy and neutron scattering. Temperature series of Mössbauer...     

Poly(allylamine) Stabilized Iron Oxide Magnetic Nanoparticles

This paper describes a new method for the dispersing and surface-functionalization of metal oxide magnetic nanoparticles (10 nm) with poly(allylamine) (PAA). In this approach, Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles, prepared with diethanolamine (DEA) as the surface capping agent in diethyleneglycol (DEG) and methanol, are ligand exchanged with PAA. This method allows the dispersing of magnetic nanoparticles into individual or small clusters of 2–5 nanoparticles in aqueous solutions. The resulting nanoparticles are water soluble and stable for months. The PAA stabilized Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles are characterized by TEM, TGA, and FT-IR. The PAA-coated Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles will allow further chemical tailoring and engineering of their surfaces for biomedical applications.     

Exsolution of Nickel Nanoparticles from Mixed-Valence Metal Oxides: A Quantitative Evaluation by Magnetic Measurements

A fast and accurate experimental method is demonstrated to assess the fraction of exsolved metallic nanoparticles using magnetic measurements. As a benchmark, nanometric metallic nickel exsolved from (La_1−xSr_x)(Cr_1−yNi_y)O_3−δ is used for its high relevance as a solid oxide fuel cell component. The method is based on the difference in the magnetic response of the exsolved metallic nickel (ferromagnetic) and Sr-doped lanthanum chromite ceramic matrix (paramagnetic). The exsolved nickel results in coherent nanoparticles pinned on the surface of the Sr-doped lanthanum chromite ceramic matrix, as evidenced by electron microscopy analyses. The results obtained indicate the procedure as a fast and sensitive method to study the exsolution of ferromagnetic nanoparticles.     

Imaging the Magnetic Reversal of Isolated and Organized Molecular‐Based Nanoparticles using Magnetic Force Microscopy

In the race towards miniaturization in nanoelectronics, magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have emerged as potential candidates for their integration in ultrahigh‐density recording media. Molecular‐based materials open the possibility to design new tailor‐made MNPs with variable composition and sizes, which benefit from the intrinsic properties of these materials. Before their implementation in real devices is reached, a precise organization on surfaces and a reliable characterization and manipulation of their individual magnetic behavior are required. In this paper, it is demonstrated how molecular‐based MNPs are accurately organized on surfaces and how the magnetic properties of the individual MNPs are detected and tuned by means of low‐temperature magnetic force microscopy (LT‐MFM) with variable magnetic field. The magnetization reversal on isolated and organized MNPs is investigated; in addition, the temperature dependence of their magnetic response is evaluated.     

Decrease in the Particle Size and Coercivity of Self‐Assembled CoNi Nanoparticles Synthesized Under a Repulsive Magnetic Field

Towards the challenge for synthesis of smaller‐sized heterostructures and hybrid composites for nanomagnets and magnetic fluid applications. Here, a novel method is reported to reduce the particle size of Cobalt–Nickel (CoNi) magnetic nanoparticles by placing them between a static, repulsive magnetic field (N–N/S–S) during synthesis in contrast to the conventional method of applying an attractive (N–S) magnetic field. The obtained smaller sized‐CoNi nanoparticles (≈40 nm) possess a uniform size, an excellent monodispersity, and outstanding magnetic properties. The results clearly demonstrate that the size and morphology change of CoNi nanoparticles have great influence on their magnetic properties. This study provides a footprint to design new heterostructured magnetic nanomaterials under the same‐poled magnetic field for potential applications in magnetic fluids, spintronics, and other related industries.     

AutoPPI: An Ensemble of Deep Autoencoders for Protein–Protein Interaction Prediction

Proteins are essential molecules, that must correctly perform their roles for the good health of living organisms. The majority of proteins operate in complexes and the way they interact has pivotal influence on the proper functioning of such organisms. In this study we address the problem of protein–protein interaction and we propose and investigate a method based on the use of an ensemble of autoencoders. Our approach, entitled AutoPPI, adopts a strategy based on two autoencoders, one for each type of interactions (positive and negative) and we advance three types of neural network architectures for the autoencoders. Experiments were performed on several data sets comprising proteins from four different species. The results indicate good performances of our proposed model, with accuracy and AUC values of over 0.97 in all cases. The best performing model relies on a Siamese architecture in both the encoder and the decoder, which advantageously captures common features in protein pairs. Comparisons with other machine learning techniques applied for the same problem prove that AutoPPI outperforms most of its contenders, for the considered data sets.     

Correlation of Electronic and Magnetic Properties of Thin Polymer Layers with Cobalt Nanoparticles

Nanoparticles (NPs) of cobalt are synthesized in shallow layers of polyimide using 40 keV implantation of Co⁺ ions with a few different fluences at various ion current densities. Nucleation of individual NPs at low fluencies and their percolation at high fluencies are crucial processes governing the electrical and magnetic properties of the metal/polymer nanocomposites that can be controlled by the implantation regimes. In particular, one can tune the magnetoresistance between negative and positive through appropriate choice of ion fluence and current density. The found non‐monotonous dependence of the magnetoresistance on the applied magnetic field allows suggestion of spin‐dependent domain wall scattering affecting the electron transport. The samples implanted with low fluencies demonstrate superparamagnetic behavior down to very low blocking temperatures. For high fluence (1.25 × 10¹⁷ cm⁻²) the transition to ferromagnetic ordering is observed that is related to the increased magnetic interaction of NPs.     

Amphiphilic Core–Shell Nanocomposite Particles for Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging

A scalable synthesis of magnetic core–shell nanocomposite particles, acting as a novel class of magnetic resonance (MR) contrast agents, has been developed. Each nanocomposite particle consists of a biocompatible chitosan shell and a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) core where multiple aggregated γ‐Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles are confined within the hydrophobic core. Properties of the nanocomposite particles including their chemical structure, particle size, size distribution, and morphology, as well as crystallinity of the magnetic nanoparticles and magnetic properties were systematically characterized. Their potential application as an MR contrast agent has been evaluated. Results show that the nanocomposite particles have good stability in biological media and very low cytotoxicity in both L929 mouse fibroblasts (normal cells) and HeLa cells (cervical cancer cells). They also exhibited excellent MR imaging performance with a T₂ relaxivity of up to 364 mM_Fe^?1 s^?1. An in vivo MR test performed on a naked mouse bearing breast tumor indicates that the nanocomposite particles can localize in both normal liver and tumor tissues. These results suggest that the magnetic core–shell nanocomposite particles are an efficient, inexpensive and safe T₂‐weighted MR contrast agent for both liver and tumor MR imaging in cancer therapy.     

金膜表面等离激元诱导邻巯基苯甲酸脱羧反应的表面增强拉曼光谱研究

贵金属纳米结构表面等离激元共振(SPR)因其广泛的用途而备受关注,它不仅可以催化某些特殊的表面反应,同时还能产生表面增强拉曼散射效应(SERS),极大增强分子的表面拉曼信号,因此两者结合后可在纳米结构表面采用SERS光谱跟踪SPR催化反应.目前此类研究主要集中在氮氮(N N)偶联,因此亟待拓展SPR反应种类及提高催化活...     

Facile Synthesis of Manganese Tellurite Nanoparticles for Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Guided Photothermal Therapy

In this study, manganese tellurite (MnTeO₃) nanoparticles are developed as theranostic agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided photothermal therapy of tumor. MnTeO₃ nanoparticles are synthesized via a simple one-step method. The as-synthesized MnTeO₃ nanoparticles with uniform size show good biocompatibility. In particular, MnTeO₃ nanoparticles exhibit a high photothermal conversion efficiency (η = 26.3%), which is higher than that of gold nanorods. Moreover, MnTeO₃ nanoparticles also have high MRI performance. The longitudinal relaxivity (r₁) value of MnTeO₃ nanoparticles is determined to be 8.08 ± 0.2 mm ⁻¹ s⁻¹, which is higher than that of clinically approved T₁-contrast agents Gd-DTPA (4.49 ± 0.1 mm ⁻¹ s⁻¹). The subsequent MnTeO₃ nanoparticles-mediated photothermal therapy displays a highly efficient ablation of tumor cells both in vitro and in vivo with negligible toxicity. It is demonstrated that MnTeO₃ nanoparticles can serve as promising theranostic agents with great potentials for MRI-guided photothermal therapy.     

化学合成的钯改性的NiFe2O4纳米颗粒的结构和磁性

采用溶胶-凝胶自动燃烧方法合成了镍铁-钯复合材料NiFe₂O₄-Pd的磁性纳米颗粒. 样品在800 ℃烧结6 h生成结晶相. X射线衍射证实样品呈尖晶石结构. 利用场发射扫描电子显微镜研究结构形态和纳米颗粒的大小. 饱和磁化强度在100和300 K时,随着钯含量增加达5%降低,但加入10%Pd时磁化强度突然上升.     

Engineering the Internal Structure of Magnetic Silica Nanoparticles by Thermal Control

Calcination of hydrated iron salts in the pores of both spherical and rod‐shaped mesoporous silica nanoparticles (NPs) changes the internal structure from an ordered 2D hexagonal structure into a smaller number of large voids in the particles with sizes ranging from large hollow cores down to ten nanometer voids. The voids only form when the heating rate is rapid at a rate of 30 °C min^?1. The sizes of the voids are controlled reproducibly by the final calcination temperature; as the temperature is decreased the number of voids decreases as their size increases. The phase of the iron oxide NPs is α‐Fe₂O₃ when annealed at 500 °C, and Fe₃O₄ when annealed at lower temperatures. The water molecules in the hydrated iron (III) chloride precursor salts appear to play important roles by hydrolyzing Si? O? Si bonding, and the resulting silanol is mobile enough to affect the reconstruction into the framed hollow structures at high temperature. Along with hexahydrates, trivalent Fe³⁺ ions are assumed to contribute to the structure disruption of mesoporous silica by replacing tetrahedral Si⁴⁺ ions and making Fe? O? Si bonding. Volume fraction tomography images generated from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images enable precise visualization of the structures. These results provide a controllable method of engineering the internal shapes in silica matrices containing superparamagnetic NPs.     

Au标蛋白自组装表面增强拉曼光谱的研究

采用免疫Au标技术,用尺寸大约在13 nm的Au胶体颗粒标记了人血清蛋白(Human IgG),然后将Au标蛋白复合体固定在通过三氨基三乙氧基硅烷和戊二醛自组装单膜的Si片上。这种方法在基底表面上不仅牢固地固定了单层Au纳米颗粒标记的蛋白分子复合体而且提高了复合体的表面覆盖度,保持了生物分子的结构。利用原子力显微镜(AFM)观察了Au标蛋白的自组装表面。实验结果表明Au标蛋白在Si片表面聚积形成一定的Au标蛋白分子的复合体“岛状”单层,并且在这些岛状单层上获得了很明显的标记蛋白的表面增强拉曼散射(SERS)信号。文章在Si表面自组装了Au标蛋白分子,获得了较好的蛋白分子的SERS信号,提供了一种研究蛋白分子的SERS活性基底。     

Intensity Range Based Quantitative FRET Data Analysis to Localize Protein Molecules in Live Cell Nuclei

F?rster (fluorescence) resonance energy transfer (FRET) is an ideal technique to estimate the distance between interacting protein molecules in live specimens using intensity-based microscopy. The spectral overlap of donor and acceptor- essential for FRET-also generates a contamination of the FRET signal. There are a number of algorithms available to remove this spectral bleedthrough (SBT) contamination and in this paper we compare two popular algorithms to estimate the SBT element and to calculate a more precise level of energy transfer efficiency, and with that a more accurate distance estimate.