Gold nanorods (GNRs) with different aspect ratios were fabricated through seed-mediated growth and surface activation by alkanethiols for the attachment of antibodies to yield gold nanorod molecular probes (GNrMPs). Multiplex sensing was demonstrated by the distinct response of the plasmon spectra of the GNrMPs to binding events of three targets (goat anti-human IgG1 Fab, rabbit anti-mouse IgG1 Fab, rabbit anti-sheep IgG (H+L)). Plasmonic sensors are highly specific and sensitive and can be used to monitor refractive index changes caused by molecular interactions in their immediate vicinity with potential to achieve single-particle biosensing. This technique can play a key role in developing novel optical biosensors for both in vivo and in vitro detection and single-receptor kinetics.

The present study addresses the hypothesis that CO produced from endogenous heme oxygenase (HO) can dilate newborn cerebral arterioles. HO-2 protein was highly expressed in large and small blood vessels, as well as parenchyma, of newborn pig cerebrum. Topically applied CO dose-dependently dilated piglet pial arterioles in vivo over the range 10−11—10−9M (maximal response). CO-induced cerebrovascular dilation was abolished by treatment with the Ca2+-activated K+ channel inhibitors tetraethylammonium chloride and iberiotoxin. The HO substrate heme-l-lysinate also produced tetraethylammonium-inhibitable, dose-dependent dilation from 5 × 10−8 to 5 × 10−7 M (maximal). The HO inhibitor chromium mesoporphyrin blocked dilation of pial arterioles in response to heme-l-lysinate. In addition to inhibiting dilation to heme-l-lysinate, chromium mesoporphyrin also blocked pial arteriolar dilations in response to hypoxia but did not alter responses to hypercapnia or isoproterenol. We conclude that CO dilates pial arterioles via activation of Ca2+-activated K+ channels and that endogenous HO-2 potentially can produce sufficient CO to produce the dilation.

IntroductionHeme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) and HO-2 metabolize heme to biliverdin, free iron, and carbon monoxide (CO) (1, 2). HO-2 is constitutively expressed in most tissues, whereas HO-1 is inducible (1). Products of heme metabolism by HO possess biological activities that influence vascular function. Biliverdin and its metabolic product bilirubin are antioxidants (3). Free iron facilitates production of reactive oxygen species (3). CO stimulates soluble guanylate cyclase (4, 5) and calcium-activated potassium (K Ca ) channels (6) in vascular smooth muscle and inhibits expression of endothelin-1 and PDGF in endothelial cells (7).Arterial vessels express HO-1 and/or HO-2 (8-10). Interventions that alter the expression or activity of vascular HO bring about changes of vascular tone and/or reactivity. For example, inhibitors of HO produce constriction of pressurized rat gracilis muscle arterioles (10). On the other hand, heme elicits HO-dependent dilation of rat gracilis muscle arterioles (11), and conditions that induce vascular HO-1 reduce the responsiveness of the rat tail artery and aorta to constrictor agents (9, 12, 13). It would appear, then, that one or more products of heme metabolism by HO contribute to vasodilatory mechanisms (2, 9).The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that the reactivity of small arterial vessels to constrictor agonists is tonically inhibited by CO of vascular origin, via a mechanism that involves upregulation of K Ca channel activity in vascular smooth muscle. We conducted experiments in rat renal interlobar arteries (a) to quantify the generation of CO and determine whether it is HO-dependent, (b) to examine the effect of interventions that decrease the activity or expression of HO on vascular smooth muscle reactivity to constrictor agonists, and (c) to determine the involvement of K Ca channels in the action of CO on the reactivity of vascular smooth muscle to constrictor agonists. MethodsAnimals. All animal protocols were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of New York Medical College. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (250-300 g; Charles River, Wilmington, Massachusetts, USA) were anesthetized (pentobarbital sodium, 60 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) and the kidneys were removed and placed on a dish filled with ice-cold Krebs' buffer (composition in mmol/l: 118.5 NaCl, 4.7 KCl, 2.5 CaCl 2 , 1.2 KH 2 PO 4 , 1.2 MgSO 4 , 25.0 NaHCO 3 , and 11.1 dextrose). The kidneys were sectioned sagittally and the interlobar arteries were dissected out for use in studies on vascular contractility, recording of K + currents in vascular smooth muscle cells, and assessment of HO expression and CO production.Vascular contractility studies. Renal interlobar arteries with an internal diameter averaging 240 ± 4 µm were cut into ring segments 2 mm in length. Freshly prepared rings or rings pretreated as described below were mounted on 25 µm stainless steel wires in the chambers of a multivessel myograph (J.P. Trading, Aarhus, Rat renal interlobar arteries express heme oxygenase 2 (HO...

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To provide rapid and accurate detection of DNA markers in a straightforward, inexpensive, and multiplex format, an alternative surface-enhanced Raman scattering based probe was designed and fabricated to covalently attach both DNA probing sequence and nonfluorescent Raman tags to the surface of gold nanoparticles (DNA-AuP-RTag). The intensity of Raman signal of the probes could be controlled through the surface coverage of the nonfluorescent Raman tags (RTags). Detection sensitivity of these probes could be optimized by fine-tuning the amount of DNA molecules and RTags on the probes. Long-term stability of the DNA-AuP-RTag probes was found to be good (over 3 months). Excellent multiplexing capability of the DNA-AuP-RTag scheme was demonstrated by simultaneous identification of up to eight probes in a mixture. Detection of hybridization of single-stranded DNA to its complementary targets was successfully accomplished with a long-term goal to use nonfluorescent RTags in a Raman-based DNA microarray platform.

A chemical procedure to replace the cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) cap on gold nanorods (GNRs) fabricated through seed-mediated growth with organothiol compounds [3-animo-5-mercapto-1,2,4-triazole (AMTAZ) and 11-mercaptoundecaonic acid (MUDA)] was developed to reduce the cytotoxity of GNRs and facilitate further biofunctionalization. Compared to phosphatidylcholine (PC) modification, our procedure yields stable GNRs that are biocompatible and suitable for whole-cell studies. The PC-, AMTAZ-, and MUDA-activated GNRs all showed low cytotoxicity. By choosing different organothiols, net positive or negative charges could be created on the nanorod surface, for different applications. Gold nanorod molecular probes (GNrMPs) were fabricated by subsequent attachment of antibodies to the activated GNRs and were used to visualize and detect cell surface biomarkers in normal and transformed human breast epithelial cells, demonstrating the potential of developing novel biosensors using gold nanorods. The sensitivity of GNrMPs made from organothiol-activated GNRs is considerably higher than that of CTAB/PC-activated GNRs, demonstrating that the protocol reported here is favored in developing molecular probes using GNRs.

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Gold nanorod molecular probes (GNrMPs) were designed and fabricated for multiplex identification of cell surface markers in HBECs. Cells were probed directly using dark field microscopy integrated with a spectral imager for simultaneous detection of up to three surface markers. The immunophenotype composition of these cell lines indicative of their metastasis potential was assessed using the GNrMPs. The technique has the potential to become an important tool for diagnosis and prognosis of breast and other cancers.