Mutation of arginine residues to avoid non-specific cellular uptakes for hepatitis B virus core particles

Background: The hepatitis B virus core (HBc) particle is known as a promising new carrier for the delivery of drugs and nucleic acids. However, since the arginine-rich domain that is located in the C-terminal region of the HBc monomer binds to the heparan sulphate proteoglycan on the cell surface due to its positive charge, HBc particles are introduced non-specifically into a wide range of cells. To avoid non-specific cellular uptake with the intent to control the ability of cell targeting, we individually replaced the respective arginine (R) residues of the arginine-rich domain located in amino acid positions 150?159 in glycine (G) residues. Results: The mutated HBc particles in which R154 was replaced with glycine (G) residue (R154G) showed a drastic decrease in the ability to bind to the heparan sulphate proteoglycan and to avoid non-specific cellular uptake by several types of cancer cells. Conclusions: Because this mutant particle retains most of its C-terminal arginine-rich residues, it would be useful in the targeting of specificity-altered HBc particles in the delivery of nucleic acids.

Izzat Bin Mohamed Suffian

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Multifunctional polymeric nanoparticles doubly loaded with SPION and ceftiofur retain their physical and biological properties

Background: Advances in nanostructure materials are leading to novel strategies for drug delivery and targeting, contrast media for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), agents for hyperthermia and nanocarriers. Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) are useful for all of these applications, and in drug-release systems, SPIONs allow for the localization, direction and concentration of drugs, providing a broad range of therapeutic applications. In this work, we developed and characterized polymeric nanoparticles based on poly (3-hydroxybutyric acid-co-hydroxyvaleric acid) (PHBV) functionalized with SPIONs and/or the antibiotic ceftiofur. These nanoparticles can be used in multiple biomedical applications, and the hybrid SPION?ceftiofur nanoparticles (PHBV/SPION/CEF) can serve as a multifunctional platform for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and its associated bacterial infections. Results: Morphological examination using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed nanoparticles with a spherical shape and a core-shell structure. The particle size was evaluated using dynamic light scattering (DLS), which revealed a diameter of 243.0???17?nm. The efficiency of encapsulation (45.5???0.6% w/v) of these polymeric nanoparticles was high, and their components were evaluated using spectroscopy. UV?VIS, FTIR and DSC showed that all of the nanoparticles contained the desired components, and these compounds interacted to form a nanocomposite. Using the agar diffusion method and live/dead bacterial viability assays, we demonstrated that these nanoparticles have antimicrobial properties against Escherichia coli, and they retain their magnetic properties as measured using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Cytotoxicity was assessed in HepG2 cells using live/dead viability assays and MTS, and these assays showed low cytotoxicity with IC50?>?10?mg/mL nanoparticles. Conclusions: Our results indicate that hybrid and multifunctional PHBV/SPION/CEF nanoparticles are suitable as a superparamagnetic drug delivery system that can guide, concentrate and site?specifically release drugs with antibacterial activity.

Paula Solar

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Charge Sensitivity Enhancement via Mechanical Oscillation in Suspended Carbon Nanotube Devices

Nano Letters

DOI: 10.1021/nl504282s

Pasi Häkkinen, Andreas Isacsson, Alexander Savin, Jaakko Sulkko and Pertti Hakonen

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Highly Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells with Tunable Structural Color

Nano Letters

DOI: 10.1021/nl504349z

Wei Zhang, Miguel Anaya, Gabriel Lozano, Mauricio E. Calvo, Michael B. Johnston, Hernán Míguez and Henry J. Snaith

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Direct Design of an Energy Landscape with Bistable DNA Origami Mechanisms

Nano Letters

DOI: 10.1021/nl5045633

Lifeng Zhou, Alexander E. Marras, Hai-Jun Su and Carlos E. Castro

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Direct Imaging of Charge Transport in Progressively Reduced Graphene Oxide Using Electrostatic Force Microscopy

ACS Nano

DOI: 10.1021/nn507150q

Sibel Ebru Yalcin, Charudatta Galande, Rajesh Kappera, Hisato Yamaguchi, Ulises Martinez, Kirill A. Velizhanin, Stephen K. Doorn, Andrew M. Dattelbaum, Manish Chhowalla, Pulickel M. Ajayan, Gautam Gupta and Aditya D. Mohite

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pH-Activated Nanoparticles for Controlled Topical Delivery of Farnesol To Disrupt Oral Biofilm Virulence

ACS Nano

DOI: 10.1021/nn507170s

Benjamin Horev, Marlise I. Klein, Geelsu Hwang, Yong Li, Dongyeop Kim, Hyun Koo and Danielle S. W. Benoit

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Surface and Interfacial Engineering of Iron Oxide Nanoplates for Highly Efficient Magnetic Resonance Angiography

ACS Nano

DOI: 10.1021/nn507193f

Zijian Zhou, Changqiang Wu, Hanyu Liu, Xianglong Zhu, Zhenghuan Zhao, Lirong Wang, Ye Xu, Hua Ai and Jinhao Gao

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Thickness-Dependent Air-Exposure-Induced Phase Transition of CuPc Ultrathin Films to Well-Ordered One-Dimensional Nanocrystals on Layered Substrates

The Journal of Physical Chemistry C

DOI: 10.1021/jp512613z

Lei Zhang, Yingguo Yang, Han Huang, Lu Lyu, Hong Zhang, Ningtong Cao, Haipeng Xie, Xingyu Gao, Dongmei Niu and Yongli Gao

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DFT Study of the Lewis Acidities and Relative Hydrothermal Stabilities of BEC and BEA Zeolites Substituted with Ti, Sn, and Ge

The Journal of Physical Chemistry C

DOI: 10.1021/jp512269s

Brian D. Montejo-Valencia and María C. Curet-Arana

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Co Polyoxometalates and a Co3O4 Thin Film Investigated by L-Edge X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy

The Journal of Physical Chemistry C

DOI: 10.1021/jp5124037

Amber M. Hibberd, Hoang Q. Doan, Elliot N. Glass, Frank M. F. de Groot, Craig L. Hill and Tanja Cuk

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Facile Synthesis of Carbon Supported Pd3Au@Super-Thin Pt Core/Shell Electrocatalyst with a Remarkable Activity for Oxygen Reduction

The Journal of Physical Chemistry C

DOI: 10.1021/jp5106168

Huanqiao Li, Rui Yao, Dan Wang, Jingfang He, Mingrun Li and Yujiang Song

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Visible-Frequency Metasurfaces for Broadband Anomalous Reflection and High-Efficiency Spectrum Splitting

Nano Letters

DOI: 10.1021/nl5041572

Zhongyang Li, Edgar Palacios, Serkan Butun and Koray Aydin

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Heterogeneous, Three-Dimensional Texturing of Graphene

Nano Letters

DOI: 10.1021/nl504612y

Michael Cai Wang, SungGyu Chun, Ryan Steven Han, Ali Ashraf, Pilgyu Kang and SungWoo Nam

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Electronic Transport of Encapsulated Graphene and WSe2 Devices Fabricated by Pick-up of Prepatterned hBN

Nano Letters

DOI: 10.1021/nl504750f

Joel I-Jan Wang, Yafang Yang, Yu-An Chen, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Hugh O. H. Churchill and Pablo Jarillo-Herrero

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Variation of Energy Density of States in Quantum Dot Arrays due to Interparticle Electronic Coupling

Nano Letters

DOI: 10.1021/nl5046507

Manca Logar, Shicheng Xu, Shinjita Acharya and Fritz B. Prinz

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Heterodimerization via the Covalent Bonding of Ta@Si16 Nanoclusters and C60 Molecules

The Journal of Physical Chemistry C

DOI: 10.1021/jp511157n

Masato Nakaya, Takeshi Iwasa, Hironori Tsunoyama, Toyoaki Eguchi and Atsushi Nakajima

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Oxygen Transport and Incorporation in Pt/HfO2 Stacks Deposited on Germanium and Silicon

The Journal of Physical Chemistry C

DOI: 10.1021/jp511127c

Guilherme Koszeniewski Rolim, Angelo Gobbi, Gabriel Vieira Soares and Cláudio Radtke

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Self-Assembly of Atomically Thin and Unusual Face-Centered Cubic Re Nanowires within Carbon Nanotubes

Chemistry of Materials

DOI: 10.1021/cm504012h

Fan Zhang, Pengju Ren, Xiulian Pan, Jingyue Liu, Mingrun Li and Xinhe Bao

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