Phospholipid lung surfactant and nanoparticle surface toxicity: Lessons from diesel soots and silicate dusts

Because of their small size, the specific surface areas of nanoparticulate materials (NP), described as particles having at least one dimension smaller than 100 nm, can be large compared with micrometer-sized respirable particles. This high specific surface area or nanostructural surface properties may affect NP toxicity in comparison with micrometer-sized respirable particles of the same overall composition. Respirable particles depositing on the deep lung surfaces of the respiratory bronchioles or alveoli will contact pulmonary surfactants in the surface hypophase. Diesel exhaust ultrafine particles and respirable silicate micrometer-sized insoluble particles can adsorb components of that surfactant onto the particle surfaces, conditioning the particles surfaces and affecting their in vitro expression of cytotoxicity or genotoxicity. Those effects can be particle surface composition-specific. Effects of particle surface conditioning by a primary component of phospholipid pulmonary surfactant, diacyl phosphatidyl choline, are reviewed for in vitro expression of genotoxicity by diesel exhaust particles and of cytotoxicity by respirable quartz and aluminosilicate kaolin clay particles. Those effects suggest methods and cautions for assaying and interpreting NP properties and biological activities.     

Engineering of a two-step purification strategy for a panel of monoclonal immunoglobulin M directed against undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells

A two-step purification strategy comprising of polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation and anion-exchange chromatography was developed for a panel of monoclonal immunoglobulin M (IgM) (pI 5.5–7.7) produced from hybridoma cultures. PEG precipitation was optimized with regards to concentration, pH and mixing. For anion-exchange chromatography, different resins were screened of which Fractogel EMD, a polymer grafted porous resin had the highest capacity. Despite its significantly slower mass transfer, the binding capacity was still higher compared to a convection driven resin (monolith). This purification strategy was successfully demonstrated for all 9 IgMs in the panel. In small scale most antibodies could be purified to >95% purity with the exception of two which gave a lower final purity (46% and 85%). The yield was dependent on the different antibodies ranging from 28% to 84%. Further improvement of recovery and purity was obtained by the digestion of DNA present in the hybridoma supernatant using an endonuclease, benzonase. So far this strategy has been applied for the purification of up to 2 l hybridoma supernatants.     

A modeling concept of a mechanical system having a piecewise linear spring property for its diagnosis

Machine condition monitoring and fault diagnosis of rotating machinery are very important because of the wide use of rotating machinery in industry. Couplings and gears are used in many mechanical systems to connect elements and transmit power. The system is usually modeled as a single-degree-of-freedom system with a piecewise linear spring property, where the mass of main machine is only considered. In the present study, the dynamic behavior of a system with an unsymmetrical nonlinearity and a significant mass of the connecting part was investigated both experimentally and by numerical simulation. In the experiment, a 1/3 sub-harmonic oscillation was observed, but this oscillation was not found in the simulation using a single-degree-of-freedom system, in which the mass of the connecting part was ignored. However, when a two-degrees-of-freedom system was used that considered both the mass of the connecting part and the impact property, the 1/3 sub-harmonic oscillation was observed. Thus it is recognized that an adequate mathematical model for diagnosis in the early stage of abnormality must be selected on the basis of the mass ratio between the connecting part and the main body.     

Cell-Penetrating Mitochondrion-Targeting Ligands for the Universal Delivery of Small Molecules,Proteins and Nanomaterials

Mitochondria are key organelles that perform vital cellular functions such as those related to cell survival and death. The targeted delivery of different types of cargos to mitochondria is a well-established strategy to study mitochondrial biology and diseases. Of the various existing mitochondrion-transporting vehicles, most suffer from poor cytosolic entry, low delivery efficiency, limited cargo types, and cumbersome preparation protocols, and none was known to be universally applicable for mitochondrial delivery of different types of cargos (small molecules, proteins, and nanomaterials). Herein, two new cell-penetrating, mitochondrion-targeting ligands (named Mito^Ligand) that are capable of effectively “tagging” small-molecule drugs, native proteins and nanomaterials are disclosed, as well as their corresponding chemoselective conjugation chemistry. Upon successful cellular delivery and rapid endosome escape, the released native cargos were found to be predominantly localized inside mitochondria. Finally, by successfully delivering doxorubicin, a well-known anticancer drug, to the mitochondria of HeLa cells, we showed that the released drug possessed potent cell cytotoxicity, disrupted the mitochondrial membrane potential and finally led to apoptosis. Our strategy thus paves the way for future mitochondrion-targeted therapy with a variety of biologically active agents.     

Double shearography for engineering metrology: optical and digital approach

This paper presents a double shearographic configuration based on the optical method by using two Michelson interferometers in tandem. The problems associated with the extraction of second order derivatives by optical means and a comparison with the proposed novel approach by digital means are discussed in this paper.     

Pressurized hot water extraction (PHWE)

Pressurized hot water extraction (PHWE) has become a popular green extraction method for different classes of compounds present in numerous kinds of matrices such as environmental, food and botanical samples. PHWE is also used in sample preparation to extract organic contaminants from foodstuff for food safety analysis and soils/sediments for environmental monitoring purposes. The main parameters which influence its extraction efficiency are namely the temperature, extraction time, flow rates and addition of modifiers/additives. Among these different parameters studied, temperature is described as the most important one. It is reported that the extraction of certain compounds is rather dependent on pressurized water with different applied temperature. Thus, the stability and reduced solubilities of certain compounds at elevated temperatures are highlighted in this review. With some modifications, a scaled-up PHWE could extract a higher amount of desirable compounds from solid and powdered samples such as plant and food materials. The PHWE extracts from plants are rich in chemical compounds or metabolites which can be a potential lead for drug discovery or development of disease-resistant food crops.     

Transparent titania nanotubes of micrometer length prepared by anodization of titanium thin film deposited on ITO

Transparent TiO₂ nanotube arrays of micrometer lengths were prepared by anodization of titanium thin film RF sputtered on indium tin oxide (ITO) which was coated on glass substrate. The sputtering process took place at elevated temperature of 500 °C. The structures of the films were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) while the optical properties of the films were investigated using UV-visible spectroscopy. Two types of electrolytes were used in this work: an aqueous mixture of acetic acid and HF solution and a mixture of NH₄F and water dissolved in ethylene glycol. The concentration of NH₄F, voltage and the thickness of the sputtered titanium film were varied to study their effect on the formation of TiO₂ nanotube arrays. It is demonstrated in this work that the nanoporous layer is formed on top of the ordered array of TiO₂ nanotubes. Furthermore, the optical transmittance of TiO₂ nanotubes annealed at 450 °C is much lower than the non annealed TiO₂ nanotubes in the visible wavelength region.     

Nanosecond laser ablation and deposition of silicon

Nanosecond-pulsed KrF (248 nm, 25 ns) and Nd:YAG (1064 nm, 532 nm, 355 nm, 5 ns) lasers were used to ablate a polycrystalline Si target in a background pressure of <10⁻⁴ Pa. Si films were deposited on Si and GaAs substrates at room temperature. The surface morphology of the films was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Round droplets from 20 nm to 5 μm were detected on the deposited films. Raman Spectroscopy indicated that the micron-sized droplets were crystalline and the films were amorphous. The dependence of the properties of the films on laser wavelengths and fluence is discussed.     

Facile synthesis of core‐surface crosslinked nanoparticles by interblock RAFT polymerization

A new, efficient method for synthesizing stable nanoparticles with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) functionalities on the core surface, in which the micellization and crosslinking reactions occur in one pot, has been developed. First, amphiphilic PEO‐b‐PS copolymers were synthesized by reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) radical polymerization of styrene using (PEO)‐based trithiocarbonate as a macro‐RAFT agent. The low molecular weight PEO‐b‐PS copolymer was dissolved in isopropyl alcohol where the block copolymer self‐assembled as core‐shell micelles, and then the core‐shell interface crosslink was performed using divinylbenzene as a crosslinking agent and 2,2′‐azobisisobutyronitrile as an initiator. The design of the amphiphilic RAFT agent is critical for the successful preparation of core‐shell interface crosslinked micellar nanoparticles, because of RAFT functional groups interconnect PEO and polystyrene blocks. The PEO functionality of the nanoparticles surface was confirmed by ¹H NMR and FTIR. The size and morphology of the nanoparticles was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and dynamic laser light scattering analysis. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2010