生物信息学技术

Stability of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) is often compromised in physiological conditions. The loss of colloidal stability might lead to undesired biological responses for drug delivery nanosystems. Here a methodology to confer additional stability to the AuNPs by the addition of P ...

Efficient delivery of nucleic acids into cells is a promising technique to modulate cellular gene expression for therapeutic and research applications. Cationic lipid-based liposomes represent one of the most intensively studied and employed nonviral vectors. They are positi ...

The surface modification of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can be tailored to allow the formation of a complex between these potential carriers with DNA. In this chapter, protocols developed in our lab to prepare transfection vectors through the modification of MWCNTs are described. The protocol ...

The successful delivery of hydrophobic drugs to cellular targets continues to present challenges to the pharmaceutical industry. The advances made by nanotechnology have generated new avenues for selectively loading, delivering, and targeting these drugs to their biological ...

Silver and large gold nanoparticles are more efficient scatterers than smaller particles, which can be advantageous for a variety of single-particle-based sensing and spectroscopic applications. The increased susceptibility to surface oxidation and the larger surface area of ...

Iron oxide nanoparticles, due to their exceptional magnetic property, biocompatibility, and biodegradability, have long been studied as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (Xie et al., Curr Med Chem 16(10):1278–1294, 2009; Xie et al., Adv Drug deliv Rev 62(11):1064–1079, 2010). ...

We have recently developed a universal procedure to functionalize inorganic nanoparticles with a dense layer of DNA through the self-assembly of DNA block copolymers and nanoparticles. This functionalization strategy allows one to combine the useful physical properties of inor ...

Passivating surfaces against protein adsorption is important for many biotechnological applications. Current approaches have been exploiting the use of zwitterions instead of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). Commonly used zwitterions are polymeric and are grafted onto surfa ...

Colloidal stability of nanoparticles in biological media is crucial to preserve their utility as aggregation often leads to undesirable biological response. A quantitative measurement of nanoparticles aggregation in solution would provide a valuable assessment of colloi ...

The cryosectioning technique is an alternative method for preparing biological material for Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). We have applied this technique to study the mechanism of cell internalization of stimuli-responsive polymeric nanogels exploited as cargo n ...

Nanoparticles (NPs) are being implemented in a wide range of applications, and it is critical to proactively investigate their toxicity. Due to the extensive range of NPs being produced, in vitro studies are a valuable approach for toxicity screening. Key information required to support in v ...

The venerable solution-depletion method is perhaps the most unambiguous method of measuring solute adsorption from solution to solid particles, requiring neither complex instrumentation nor associated interpretive theory. We describe herein an SDS-gel electrophoresis ...

Over the last decade the existence of “the corona,” a natural interface between nanomaterials and living matter in biological milieu, evolved from a vague concept into broadly recognized fact. This robust shell arises (to some extent) on the surface of all nanoparticles (NPs), even the ones des ...

Thermal denaturation, or melting, measurements are a classic technique for analysis of thermodynamics of nucleic base driven associations in solution, as well as of interactions between nucleic acids and small molecule ligands such as drugs or carcinogens. Performed on surface-im ...

Functionalization is a key element in biodetection technologies such as micro/nano-mechanical sensors. Since assay sensitivity and stability drastically depends on a proper bioreceptor immobilization, the sensing surface must be first chemically modified with uniform, w ...

Polymeric coatings, usually referred as tridimensional chemistries, provide homogenous surface derivatization methods presenting a high reactive group concentration and resulting in an increased binding capacity of targets. Furthermore, they act as linkers distribut ...

The inherent properties of silica, such as optical transparency, high biocompatibility, chemical and colloidal stability, controllable porosity, and easy surface modification, provide silica materials with a tremendous potential in biomedicine. Therefore, the coating of Au ...

Quantum dots (QDs) are well-established as photoluminescent nanoparticle probes for in vitro or in vivo imaging, sensing, and even drug delivery. A critical component of this research is the need to reliably conjugate peptides, proteins, oligonucleotides, and other biomolecules to QDs ...

Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are highly fluorescent nanocrystals that have abundant potential for uses in biological imaging and sensing. However, the best materials are synthesized in hydrophobic surfactants that prevent direct aqueous solubilization. While several m ...

Nanoparticle–protein conjugates hold great promise in biomedical applications. Diverse strategies have been developed to link nanoparticles to proteins. This chapter describes a method to assemble and purify nanoparticle–protein conjugates. First, stable and biocompa ...