Structural insights into ternary immunocomplex formation and cross-reactivity: binding of an anti-immunocomplex FabB12 to Fab220-testosterone complex.

Anti-immunocomplex (Anti-IC) antibodies have been used in developing noncompetitive immunoassays for detecting small molecule analytics (haptens). These antibodies bind specifically to the primary antibody in complex with hapten. Although several anti-IC antibody-based immunoassays have been developed, structural studies of these systems are very limited.

Self-assembling peptide RADA16: a promising scaffold for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

RADA16 is a peptide-based biomaterial whose acidic aqueous solution spontaneously forms an extracellular matrix-like 3D structure within seconds upon contact with physiological pH body fluids. Meanwhile, its good biocompatibility, low immunogenicity, nontoxic degradation products and ease of modification make it an ideal scaffold for tissue engineering. RADA16 is a good delivery vehicle for cells, drugs and factors.

Silk fibroin-based biomaterials for disc tissue engineering.

Low back pain is the major cause of disability worldwide, and intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is one of the most important causes of low back pain. Currently, there is no method to treat IVDD that can reverse or regenerate intervertebral disc (IVD) tissue, but the recent development of disc tissue engineering (DTE) offers a new means of addressing these disadvantages. Among numerous biomaterials for tissue engineering, silk fibroin (SF) is widely used due to its easy availability and excellent physical/chemical properties.

Photo-Responsive Supramolecular Micelles for Controlled Drug Release and Improved Chemotherapy.

Development of stimuli-responsive supramolecular micelles that enable high levels of well-controlled drug release in cancer cells remains a grand challenge. Here, we encapsulated the antitumor drug doxorubicin (DOX) and pro-photosensitizer 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) within adenine-functionalized supramolecular micelles (A-PPG), in order to achieve effective drug delivery combined with photo-chemotherapy. The resulting DOX/5-ALA-loaded micelles exhibited excellent light and pH-responsive behavior in aqueous solution and high drug-entrapment stability in serum-rich media.