A reduced form of a synthetic hydrogen-assembled molecular shuttle for nano-technological applications has been investigated by molecular dynamics simulations and density functional theory calculations. It is composed by a benzylic amide macrocycle mechanically locked onto a thread in acetonitrile solution. Classical sampling indicates, in agreement with experimental findings, that in equilibri...

Insulin-loaded nanoparticles were prepared by ionotropic pre-gelation of alginate with calcium chloride followed by complexation between alginate and chitosan. The influence of the pH and stoichiometry relationship between polyelectrolytes providing individual particles with a nano-scale size was assessed by photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Insulin– ...

The attachment of antibodies onto polyaniline nanofibres using covalent chemistry was investigated for the first time. Polyaniline nanofibres were functionalised post-polymerisation to attach either amide or carboxylic acid side-groups. These templates could then be further modified to attach antibodies, specifically in this instance mouse immunoglobulin G (IgG). The resultant conjugates were c...

Hetero-dimeric magnetic nanoparticles of the type Au-Fe3O4 have been synthesised from separately prepared, differently shaped (spheres and cubes), monodisperse nanoparticles. This synthesis was achieved by the following steps: (a) Mono-functionalising each type of nanoparticles with aldehyde functional groups through a solid support approach, where nanoparticle decorated silica nanoparticles we...

Graphene oxide (GO) has been extensively explored in nanomedicine for its excellent physiochemical, electrical, and optical properties. Here, polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polyethylenimine (PEI) are covalently conjugated to GO via amide bonds, obtaining a physiologically stable dual-polymer-functionalized nano-GO conjugate (NGO-PEG-PEI) with ultra-small size. Compared with free PEI and the GO-P...

Scattering scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) has emerged as a powerful nanoscale spectroscopic tool capable of characterizing individual biomacromolecules and molecular materials. However, applications of scattering-based near-field techniques in the infrared (IR) to native biosystems still await a solution of how to implement the required aqueous environment. In this work, we dem...

Background Nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems exhibit promising therapeutic efficacy in cancer chemotherapy. However, ideal nano drug carriers are supposed to be sufficiently internalized into cancer cells and then release therapeutic cargoes in response to certain intracellular stimuli, which has never been an easy task to achieve. Objective This study is to design mesoporous silica ...

Symplectin is a photoprotein from a luminous squid, Symplectoteuthis oualaniensis. It has a luminous substrate, dehydrocoelenterazine (DCZ), linked through a thioether bond with a cysteine residue. We have proven the binding site of luminous substrate in symplectin by using an artificial analogue of DCZ, ortho-fluoro-DCZ (F-DCZ). F-DCZ-symplectin emitting strong blue light was reconstituted fro...

In this paper, the chemical functionalization of carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT-COOH) by 1,2-phenylenediamine, have been investigated. MWNT-benzimidazole is obtained through MWNT-Amide reaction with POCl3 after 72h, which is confirmed by FT-IR, SEM, TGA, and elemental analysis. These functionalizations have been chosen due to –NH2 and NHCO active sites in MWNT-Amide for future...