The use of biomolecules to synthesize inorganic nanomaterials, including metallic nanoparticles, offers the ability to induce controlled growth under mild environmental conditions. Here, recently discovered silk-like "suckerin" proteins are used to induce the formation of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Advantage is taken of the distinctive biological and physico-chemical characteristics of suckerins, namely their facile recombinant expression, their solubility in aqueous solutions, and their modular primary structure with high molar content of redox-active tyrosine (Tyr) residues to induce the formation of AuNPs not only in solution, but also from nanostructured solid substrates fabricated from suckerins.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/marc.201500218 | DOI Listing |
Sci Adv
January 2025
Simpson Querrey Institute for Epigenetics, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
The stability of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) is tightly regulated during transcriptional elongation for proper control of gene expression. Our recent studies revealed that promoter-proximal Pol II is destabilized via the ubiquitin E3 ligase cullin 3 (CUL3) upon loss of transcription elongation factor SPT5. Here, we investigate how CUL3 recognizes chromatin-bound Pol II as a substrate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
January 2025
Glycologix, Inc., 100 Cummings Center, Beverly, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Chemical modification of naturally derived glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) expands their potential utility for applications in soft tissue repair and regenerative medicine. Here we report the preparation of a novel crosslinked chondroitin sulfate (~200 to 2000 kilodaltons) that is both soluble in aqueous solution and microfilterable. We refer to these materials as "SuperGAGs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNanomaterials (Basel)
January 2025
Department of Applied Chemistry and Institute of Natural Sciences, Kyung Hee University, Yongin-si 17104, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.
The combination of molybdenum disulfide (MoS) with plasmonic nanomaterials has opened up new possibilities in biological applications by combining MoS's biocompatibility and high surface area with the optical sensitivity of plasmonic metals. These MoS-plasmonic hybrid systems hold great promise in areas such as biosensing, bioimaging, and phototherapy, where their complementary properties facilitate improved detection, real-time visualization, and targeted therapeutic interventions. MoS's adjustable optical features, combined with the plasmon resonance of noble metals such as gold and silver, enhance signal amplification, enabling detailed imaging and selective photothermal or photodynamic therapies while minimizing effects on healthy tissue.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiosensors (Basel)
December 2024
School of Chinese Materia Medica, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 102488, China.
Microbial contamination is an important factor threatening the safety of Chinese medicine preparations, and microfluidic detection methods have demonstrated excellent advantages in the application of rapid bacterial detection. In our study, a novel optical biosensor was developed for the rapid and sensitive detection of in traditional Chinese medicine on a microfluidic chip. Immune gold@platinum nanocatalysts (Au@PtNCs) were utilized for specific bacterial labeling, while magnetic nano-beads (MNBs) with a novel high-gradient magnetic field were employed for the specific capture of bacteria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiosensors (Basel)
December 2024
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Sogang University, Seoul 04107, Republic of Korea.
Recently, gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) have been widely used in biological applications due to their ultrasmall size, ranging within a few nanometers; large specific surface area; easy functionalization; unique fluorescence properties; and excellent conductivity. However, because they are unstable in solution, AuNCs require stabilization by using ligands such as dendrimers, peptides, DNA, and proteins. As a result, the properties of AuNCs and their formation are determined by the ligand, so the selection of the ligand is important.
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