Heptanol-mediated phase separation determines phase preference of molecules in live cell membranes.

The localization of many membrane proteins within cholesterol- and sphingolipid-containing microdomains is essential for proper cell signaling and function. These membrane domains, however, are too small and dynamic to be recorded, even with modern super-resolution techniques. Therefore, the association of membrane proteins with these domains can only be detected with biochemical assays that destroy the integrity of cells require pooling of many cells and take a long time to perform.

Cytoskeleton-dependent clustering of membrane-bound prion protein on the cell surface.

Prion diseases are a group of neurodegenerative disorders that infect animals and humans with proteinaceous particles called prions. Prions consist of scrapie prion protein (PrP), a misfolded version of the cellular prion protein (PrP). During disease progression, PrP replicates by interacting with PrP and inducing its conversion to PrP.

Peptide nanotube for carbon dioxide chemisorption with regeneration properties and water compatibility.

A solid peptide nanotube material based on the self-assembled heptapeptide Ac-KLVFFAL-NH2 (KL-7) was demonstrated to be capable of selective chemisorption of carbon dioxide. The selective adsorption resulted from the chemical reaction of carbon dioxide with the amino group exposed on the KL-7 nanotube surface, with this reaction shown using solid-state NMR to have formed carbamate. The KL-7 nanotube powder showed good regeneration properties and was effective in the presence of water.

A TiO-Au-polymer hybrid system for the photoelectrochemical immunoassay of SirT1.

Human sirtuin1 (SirT1), which is a member of the sirtuin family, plays an important role in a wide range of cellular processes. Here we demonstrate a new strategy for the photoelectrochemical assay of SirT1 in different cell lines based on a semiconductor-polymer hybrid system consisting of Au-polymer and TiO-Au nanocomposites. Au-polymer (GC-HBAP) hybrids were synthesized from crosslinked hyperbranched azo-polymer and gold colloids and then used as an immobilization platform for SirT1 antibody.

Label-free colorimetric protein assay and logic gates design based on the self-assembly of hemin-graphene hybrid nanosheet.

Here we report a label-free colorimetric method for protein assay based on the intrinsic peroxidase-like catalytic activity of DNA-hemin-graphene (DNA-GH) composite. By using aptamers as protein recognition elements, protein-mediated aggregation of the DNA-GH composite leads to the decrease or increase of the colorimetric signal depending on the sandwich or competitive design strategy. Thrombin and PDGF-BB were chosen as model analytes and the detection limits (LOD) by this method were estimated to be 0.

A highly sensitive immunosensor for calmodulin assay based on enhanced biocatalyzed precipitation adopting a dual-layered enzyme strategy.

Calmodulin (CaM) is a ubiquitous protein in eukaryotic cells, and it plays an important role in cancer progression. In this paper, a highly sensitive immunosensor adopting a dual-layered enzyme strategy was proposed for electrochemical detection of CaM. This immunosensor was constructed by introducing honeycomb-like mesoporous carbon (HMPC) as a sensor platform to sequentially immobilize antibody (Ab1), CaM and a multi-functionalized label.

Fluorescence assay for glycan expression on living cancer cells based on competitive strategy coupled with dual-functionalized nanobiocomposites.

Cell surface glycans are a class of sophisticated biomolecules related to cancer development and progression, and their analysis is of great significance for early cancer diagnosis and treatment. In this paper, we proposed a fluorescence assay to evaluate glycan expression on living cancer cells based on a competitive strategy coupled with dual-functionalized nanobiocomposites. The competitive assay was conducted between living cancer cells and thiomannosyl derivatives using concanavalin A (Con A)-modified electrode as the interaction platform.

Visible-light-activated photoelectrochemical biosensor for the study of acetylcholinesterase inhibition induced by endogenous neurotoxins.

In this report, a novel visible-light-activated photoelectrochemical biosensor was fabricated to study the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity induced by two endogenous neurotoxins, 1(R)-methyl-6,7-dihydroxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline [(R)-Sal] and 1(R),2(N)-dimethyl-6,7-dihydroxy-1,2,3,4-tetra-hydroisoquinoline [(R)-NMSal], which have drawn much attention in the study of the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease. The photoelectrode was prepared by three steps, as follows. At first, nitrogen and fluorine co-doped TiO2 nanotubes (TNs) were obtained by anodic oxidation of a Ti sheet.