Three-Dimensional Membranes of Natural Polymer Complex Nanoparticle for Potential Medical Applications.

Skin wound healing is a complex biological process of tissue regeneration in which the wound dressing is crucial for rapid healing; it must protect the wound keep an adequate level of moisture and prevent infections. Alginate (AL), a polysaccharide from brown algae, has been extensively studied for wound treatment, and aloe vera gels (AVGs) have also been used in the treatment of skin. The AVG main bioactive polysaccharide was combined with AL for the preparation of membranes.

Lensfree optofluidic plasmonic sensor for real-time and label-free monitoring of molecular binding events over a wide field-of-view.

We demonstrate a high-throughput biosensing device that utilizes microfluidics based plasmonic microarrays incorporated with dual-color on-chip imaging toward real-time and label-free monitoring of biomolecular interactions over a wide field-of-view of >20 mm(2). Weighing 40 grams with 8.8 cm in height, this biosensor utilizes an opto-electronic imager chip to record the diffraction patterns of plasmonic nanoapertures embedded within microfluidic channels, enabling real-time analyte exchange.

Actively transporting virus like analytes with optofluidics for rapid and ultrasensitive biodetection.

Effective analyte delivery is essential to achieve rapid and sensitive biodetection systems. In this article, we present an actively controlled fluidic system integrated with a suspended plasmonic nanohole sensor to achieve superior analyte delivery efficiency and ultrafast sensor response, as compared to conventional fluidic systems. 70 nm sized virus like analyte solution is used to experimentally demonstrate the system performance improvements.

Microfluidic channel with embedded SERS 2D platform for the aptamer detection of ochratoxin A.

A selective aptameric sequence is adsorbed on a two-dimensional nanostructured metallic platform optimized for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) measurements. Using nanofabrication methods, a metallic nanostructure was prepared by electron-beam lithography onto a glass coverslip surface and embedded within a microfluidic channel made of polydimethylsiloxane, allowing one to monitor in situ SERS fingerprint spectra from the adsorbed molecules on the metallic nanostructures. The gold structure was designed so that its localized surface plasmon resonance matches the excitation wavelength used for the Raman measurement.

Reusable nanostencils for creating multiple biofunctional molecular nanopatterns on polymer substrate.

In this paper, we demonstrate a novel method for high throughput patterning of bioprobes with nanoscale features on biocompatible polymer substrate. Our technique, based on nanostencil lithography, employs high resolution and robust masks integrated with array of reservoirs. We show that the smallest pattern size can reach down to 100 nm.

SERS detection of streptavidin/biotin monolayer assemblies.

A two-dimensional array of gold nanotriangles inscribed onto glass coverslips were optimized for the surface-enhanced Raman detection of streptavidin/biotin monolayer assemblies. The nanostructures were fabricated by electron beam lithography, and its optical parameters were optimized to be probed under a Raman microscope with a linearly polarized He-Ne laser with an excitation wavelength of λ = 632.8 nm.

Plasmonic properties of Fischer's patterns: polarization effects.

We report the fabrication and the optical study of Fisher's patterns inscribed on glass slides. Such structures, fabricated by electron beam lithography, consist of gold nanotriangles, organized in a hexagonal arrangement. By changing the fabrication conditions, it is possible to control precisely the size of the structures and the gap distance between facing triangles but most importantly, to finely tune their localized surface plasmon resonance.

Positionally controlled growth of cells using a cytophobic fluorinated polymer.

This paper presents a novel method for cell positioning on a substrate which combines the optical quality of glass and the cell-repelling property of fluoropolymers. The process employs plasma lithography, which utilizes the high-resolution patterning of photolithography along with the versatility of the plasma polymerization. When mammalian cells were grown over these substrates, they avoided the fluoropolymer regions and grew almost exclusively within the exposed glass areas (windows).

The use of natural product scaffolds as leads in the search for trypanothione reductase inhibitors.

Twenty-three heterocyclic compounds were evaluated for their potential as trypanothione reductase inhibitors. As a result, the harmaline, 10-thiaisoalloxazine, and aspidospermine frameworks were identified as the basis of inhibitors of Trypanosoma cruzi trypanothione reductase. Two new compounds showed moderately strong, linear competitive inhibition, namely N,N-dimethyl-N-[3-(7-methoxy-1-methyl-3,4-dihydro-9H-beta-carbolin-9-yl)propyl]amine (15) and 1,3-bis[3-(dimethylamino)propyl]-1,5-dihydro-2H-pyrimido[4,5-b][1,4]benzothiazine-2,4(3H)-dione (21), with K(i) values of 35.