Cells have the ability to break and chemically modify GaP(As) nanowires.

Semiconductor nanowires are known for their unusual geometry, providing unique electronic and optical properties. Substrates with vertical nanowires have highly non-uniform surfaces, which are attractive in terms of the study of live cells that can interact and be labeled with the wires. Despite several previous works studying cells cultivated over nanowires, questions regarding cell rupture and interaction with the wires remain open.

One-Pot Synthesis of Affordable Redox-Responsive Drug Delivery System Based on Trithiocyanuric Acid Nanoparticles.

Redox-responsive drug delivery systems present a promising avenue for drug delivery due to their ability to leverage the unique redox environment within tumor cells. In this work, we describe a facile and cost-effective one-pot synthesis method for a redox-responsive delivery system based on novel trithiocyanuric acid (TTCA) nanoparticles (NPs). We conduct a thorough investigation of the impact of various synthesis parameters on the morphology, stability, and loading capacity of these NPs.

Registration of Functioning of a Single Horseradish Peroxidase Macromolecule with a Solid-State Nanopore.

Currently, nanopore-based technology for the determination of the functional activity of single enzyme molecules continues its development. The use of natural nanopores for studying single enzyme molecules is known. At that, the approach utilizing artificial solid-state nanopores is also promising but still understudied.

Monitoring of breast cancer progression via aptamer-based detection of circulating tumor cells in clinical blood samples.

Breast cancer (BC) diagnostics lack noninvasive methods and procedures for screening and monitoring disease dynamics. Admitted CellSearch is used for fluid biopsy and capture of circulating tumor cells of only epithelial origin. Here we describe an RNA aptamer (MDA231) for detecting BC cells in clinical samples, including blood.

Droplet Microfluidic Device for Chemoenzymatic Sensing.

The rapid detection of pollutants in water can be performed with enzymatic probes, the catalytic light-emitting activity of which decreases in the presence of many types of pollutants. Herein, we present a microfluidic system for continuous chemoenzymatic biosensing that generates emulsion droplets containing two enzymes of the bacterial bioluminescent system (luciferase and NAD(P)H:FMN-oxidoreductase) with substrates required for the reaction. The developed chip generates "water-in-oil" emulsion droplets with a volume of 0.

Persistent red blood cells retain their ability to move in microcapillaries under high levels of oxidative stress.

Oxidative stress is one of the key factors that leads to red blood cells (RBCs) aging, and impairs their biomechanics and oxygen delivery. It occurs during numerous pathological processes and causes anaemia, one of the most frequent side effects of cancer chemotherapy. Here, we used microfluidics to simulate the microcirculation of RBCs under oxidative stress induced by tert-Butyl hydroperoxide.

Nanomechanical characterization of exosomes and concomitant nanoparticles from blood plasma by PeakForce AFM in liquid.

Background: To date, EVs characterization techniques are extremely diverse. The contribution of AFM, in particular, is often confined to size distribution. While AFM provides a unique possibility to carry out measurements in situ, nanomechanical characterization of EVs is still missing.

Microfluidic Characterization of Red Blood Cells Microcirculation under Oxidative Stress.

Microcirculation is one of the basic functional processes where the main gas exchange between red blood cells (RBCs) and surrounding tissues occurs. It is greatly influenced by the shape and deformability of RBCs, which can be affected by oxidative stress induced by different drugs and diseases leading to anemia. Here we investigated how in vitro microfluidic characterization of RBCs transit velocity in microcapillaries can indicate cells damage and its correlation with clinical hematological analysis.

Negative Pressure Provides Simple and Stable Droplet Generation in a Flow-Focusing Microfluidic Device.

Droplet microfluidics is an extremely useful and powerful tool for industrial, environmental, and biotechnological applications, due to advantages such as the small volume of reagents required, ultrahigh-throughput, precise control, and independent manipulations of each droplet. For the generation of monodisperse water-in-oil droplets, usually T-junction and flow-focusing microfluidic devices connected to syringe pumps or pressure controllers are used. Here, we investigated droplet-generation regimes in a flow-focusing microfluidic device induced by the negative pressure in the outlet reservoir, generated by a low-cost mini diaphragm vacuum pump.

Crystal structures of a llama VHH antibody BCD090-M2 targeting human ErbB3 receptor.

: The ability of ErbB3 receptor to functionally complement ErbB1-2 and induce tumor resistance to their inhibitors makes it a unique target in cancer therapy by monoclonal antibodies. Here we report the expression, purification and structural analysis of a new anti-ErbB3 single-chain antibody. : The VHH fragment of the antibody was expressed in cells as a SUMO fusion, cleaved by TEV protease and purified to homogeneity.

Microfluidic droplet platform for ultrahigh-throughput single-cell screening of biodiversity.

Ultrahigh-throughput screening (uHTS) techniques can identify unique functionality from millions of variants. To mimic the natural selection mechanisms that occur by compartmentalization in vivo, we developed a technique based on single-cell encapsulation in droplets of a monodisperse microfluidic double water-in-oil-in-water emulsion (MDE). Biocompatible MDE enables in-droplet cultivation of different living species.