Use of Nanosphere Self-Assembly to Pattern Nanoporous Membranes for the Study of Extracellular Vesicles.

Nanoscale biocomponents naturally released by cells, such as extracellular vesicles (EVs), have recently gained interest due to their therapeutic and diagnostic potential. Membrane based isolation and co-culture systems have been utilized in an effort to study EVs and their effects. Nevertheless, improved platforms for the study of small EVs are still needed.

Enzymatic Biotransformation of Pomegranate Ellagitannins: Initial Approach to Reaction Conditions.

Background: Ellagitannase (Ellagitannin acyl hydrolase) is an inducible enzyme with great potential use in food industry since allows the ellagic acid release from ellagitannins.

Objective: In this work, ellagitannase was produced by the fungus GH1 in solid state fermentation using polyurethane foam as solid support and pomegranate husk ellagitannins as sole carbon source and ellagitannase inducer and an initial approach to the enzymatic reaction conditions was reached.

Materials And Methods: Ellagitannase was produced by GH1 in solid state fermentation and the ideal reaction conditions for ellagitannase activity based on ellagic acid quantification as ellagitannins biotransformation product by high performance liquid chromatographic are reported.

Use of porous membranes in tissue barrier and co-culture models.

Porous membranes enable the partitioning of cellular microenvironments in vitro, while still allowing physical and biochemical crosstalk between cells, a feature that is often necessary for recapitulating physiological functions. This article provides an overview of the different membranes used in tissue barrier and cellular co-culture models with a focus on experimental design and control of these systems. Specifically, we discuss how the structural, mechanical, chemical, and even the optical and transport properties of different membranes bestow specific advantages and disadvantages through the context of physiological relevance.

Fabrication techniques enabling ultrathin nanostructured membranes for separations.

The fabrication of nanostructured materials is an area of continuous improvement and innovative techniques that fulfill the demand of many fields of research and development. The continuously decreasing size of the smallest patternable feature has expanded the catalog of methods enabling the fabrication of nanostructured materials. Several of these nanofabrication techniques have sprouted from applications requiring nanoporous membranes such as molecular separations, cell culture, and plasmonics.

Nitroxide-Functionalized Graphene Oxide from Graphite Oxide.

A facile method for preparing functionalized graphene oxide single layers with nitroxide groups is reported herein. Highly oxidized graphite oxide (GO=90.6%) was obtained, slightly modifying an improved Hummer's method.