Various Biomolecules (various + biomolecule)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Self-Assembled Graphene,Enzyme Hierarchical Nanostructures for Electrochemical Biosensing

ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 19 2010
Qiong Zeng
Abstract The self-assembly of sodium dodecyl benzene sulphonate (SDBS) functionalized graphene sheets (GSs) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) by electrostatic attraction into novel hierarchical nanostructures in aqueous solution is reported. Data from scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction demonstrate that the HRP,GSs bionanocomposites feature ordered hierarchical nanostructures with well-dispersed HRP intercalated between the GSs. UV-vis and infrared spectra indicate the native structure of HRP is maintained after the assembly, implying good biocompatibility of SDBS-functionalized GSs. Furthermore, the HRP,GSs composites are utilized for the fabrication of enzyme electrodes (HRP,GSs electrodes). Electrochemical measurements reveal that the resulting HRP,GSs electrodes display high electrocatalytic activity to H2O2 with high sensitivity, wide linear range, low detection limit, and fast amperometric response. These desirable electrochemical performances are attributed to excellent biocompatibility and superb electron transport efficiency of GSs as well as high HRP loading and synergistic catalytic effect of the HRP,GSs bionanocomposites toward H2O2. As graphene can be readily non-covalently functionalized by "designer" aromatic molecules with different electrostatic properties, the proposed self-assembly strategy affords a facile and effective platform for the assembly of various biomolecules into hierarchically ordered bionanocomposites in biosensing and biocatalytic applications. [source]


Synthesis, Functionalization, and Bioconjugation of Monodisperse, Silica-Coated Gold Nanoparticles: Robust Bioprobes,

ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 6 2005
S. H. Liu
Abstract Herein, we report an efficient process for preparing monodisperse Au@SiO2 nanoparticles using homogeneous shaking and without the use of surface-coupling silane agents or large stabilizers. The resulting pure-silica surface of the Au@SiO2 nanoparticles is very important for straightforward surface functionalization with different functional groups via well-established silica surface chemistry. Subsequent covalent bioconjugation of the aldehyde-functionalized Au@SiO2 nanoparticles with various biomolecules is successfully employed to make robust nanoprobes for fast, colorimetric DNA and protein detection based on the sequence-specific hybridization properties of DNA and the specific binding affinity between proteins, respectively. [source]


Preparing titania aerogel monolithic chromatography columns using supercritical carbon dioxide

JOURNAL OF SEPARATION SCIENCE, JSS, Issue 11 2010
Ruohong Sui
Abstract The search for a method to fabricate monolithic inorganic columns has attracted significant recent attention due to their unique ability in separation applications of various biomolecules. Silica and polymer based monolithic columns have been prepared, but titania and other metal oxide monoliths have been elusive, primarily due to their fragility. This article describes a new approach for preparing nanostructured titania based columns, which offer better performance over conventional particle packed columns for separating a wide variety of biomolecules including phosphopeptides. TiO2 monolithic aerogels were synthesized in separation columns using in situ sol-gel reactions in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) followed by calcination, and compared to those prepared in heptanes. The characterization results show that scCO2 is a better solvent for the sol-gel reactions, providing lower shrinkage with the anatase TiO2 monolith composed of nanofibers with very high surface areas. The monolithic columns show the ability to isolate phosphopeptides with little flow resistance compared to conventional titania particle based microcolumns. [source]


Monodisperse magnetic nanoparticles for biomedical applications

POLYMER INTERNATIONAL, Issue 7 2007
Chenjie Xu
Abstract Magnetic nanoparticles that are superparamagnetic with high saturation moment have great potential for biomedical applications. Solution-phase syntheses have recently been applied to make various kinds of monodisperse magnetic nanoparticles with standard deviation in diameter of less than 10%. However, the surface of these nanoparticles is coated with a layer of hydrocarbon molecules due to the use of lipid-like carboxylic acid and amine in the syntheses. Surface functionalization leads to the formation of water-soluble nanoparticles that can be further modified with various biomolecules. Such functionalization has brought about several series of monodisperse magnetic nanoparticle systems that have shown promising applications in protein or DNA separation, detection and magnetic resonance imaging contrast enhancement. The goal of this mini review is to summarize the recent progress in the synthesis and surface modification of monodisperse magnetic nanoparticles and their applications in biomedicine. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry [source]


Recent Progress in Biomolecular Engineering

BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRESS, Issue 1 2000
Dewey D. Y. Ryu
During the next decade or so, there will be significant and impressive advances in biomolecular engineering, especially in our understanding of the biological roles of various biomolecules inside the cell. The advances in high throughput screening technology for discovery of target molecules and the accumulation of functional genomics and proteomics data at accelerating rates will enable us to design and discover novel biomolecules and proteins on a rational basis in diverse areas of pharmaceutical, agricultural, industrial, and environmental applications. As an applied molecular evolution technology, DNA shuffling will play a key role in biomolecular engineering. In contrast to the point mutation techniques, DNA shuffling exchanges large functional domains of sequences to search for the best candidate molecule, thus mimicking and accelerating the process of sexual recombination in the evolution of life. The phage-display system of combinatorial peptide libraries will be extensively exploited to design and create many novel proteins, as a result of the relative ease of screening and identifying desirable proteins. Even though this system has so far been employed mainly in screening the combinatorial antibody libraries, its application will be extended further into the science of protein-receptor or protein-ligand interactions. The bioinformatics for genome and proteome analyses will contribute substantially toward ever more accelerated advances in the pharmaceutical industry. Biomolecular engineering will no doubt become one of the most important scientific disciplines, because it will enable systematic and comprehensive analyses of gene expression patterns in both normal and diseased cells, as well as the discovery of many new high-value molecules. When the functional genomics database, EST and SAGE techniques, microarray technique, and proteome analysis by 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis or capillary electrophoresis in combination with mass spectrometer are all put to good use, biomolecular engineering research will yield new drug discoveries, improved therapies, and significantly improved or new bioprocess technology. With the advances in biomolecular engineering, the rate of finding new high-value peptides or proteins, including antibodies, vaccines, enzymes, and therapeutic peptides, will continue to accelerate. The targets for the rational design of biomolecules will be broad, diverse, and complex, but many application goals can be achieved through the expansion of knowledge based on biomolecules and their roles and functions in cells and tissues. Some engineered biomolecules, including humanized Mab's, have already entered the clinical trials for therapeutic uses. Early results of the trials and their efficacy are positive and encouraging. Among them, Herceptin, a humanized Mab for breast cancer treatment, became the first drug designed by a biomolecular engineering approach and was approved by the FDA. Soon, new therapeutic drugs and high-value biomolecules will be designed and produced by biomolecular engineering for the treatment or prevention of not-so-easily cured diseases such as cancers, genetic diseases, age-related diseases, and other metabolic diseases. Many more industrial enzymes, which will be engineered to confer desirable properties for the process improvement and manufacturing of high-value biomolecular products at a lower production cost, are also anticipated. New metabolites, including novel antibiotics that are active against resistant strains, will also be produced soon by recombinant organisms having de novo engineered biosynthetic pathway enzyme systems. The biomolecular engineering era is here, and many of benefits will be derived from this field of scientific research for years to come if we are willing to put it to good use. [source]


Loss of Ammine from Platinum(II) Complexes: Implications for Cisplatin Inactivation, Storage, and Resistance,

CHEMISTRY - A EUROPEAN JOURNAL, Issue 9 2005
Justin Kai-Chi Lau
Abstract Potential consequences of the binding of the anticancer drug cisplatin to various biomolecules in the cell have been investigated by using a combined density functional theory and continuum dielectric model approach. Since the ammine ligands remain coordinated at the metal upon formation of the most frequent DNA adducts, whereas they were found to be displaced from the metal upon formation of drug metabolites, we have analyzed the factors governing ammine loss from platinum(II) complexes as a possible pathway of cisplatin inactivation. The calculations systematically show the effect of 1) the trans ligand, 2) the charge of complex, 3) the nucleophile, and 4) the environment on the thermodynamic instability and kinetic lability of the platinum,ammine bonds. After initial binding of cisplatin hydrolysis products to thioethers or thiols, loss of the ammine trans to this sulfur ligand rather than replacement of the sulfur ligand itself by other nucleophiles like guanine-N7 is predicted to be the predominant reaction. The results of this study contribute to an understanding of the modes of cisplatin inactivation prior to DNA binding, for example, by elevated glutathione levels in cisplatin-resistant cancer cells. [source]