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In this article, we describe the synthesis of imprinted chiral silica nanotubes based on the use of a chiral N-stearoyl l-serine (C18Ser) anionic surfactant as the chiral template. The resulting chiral silica nanotube structures were characterized by electronic microscopy (transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM)) and nitrogen isotherms that proved the formation of well-ordered silica nanotubes. A C18Ser surfactant template was used for the preparation of the silica nanotubes, due to its effective molecular organization within the silica network. After chemical extraction of the chiral template, the enantioselectivity feature of the silica nanotubes was confirmed by selective adsorption of the enantiomers using circular dichroism (CD) and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) measurements. Although these measurements show a relatively low chiral selectivity of the silica nanotubes (ca. 6% enantiomeric excess), the system described here offers new approaches for the application of chiral porous materials in chirality.

Self-assembly is an important auto-organization process used in designing structural biomaterials which have potential capabilities in healing tissues after traumatic injuries. Notwithstanding, various materials with healing ability after injuries are available, substantial need still exists for developing new material to endorse the healing ability. To address this issue, we have developed a hierarchical 3-dimensional (3D) self-assembled zinc phosphate (Zn3(PO4)2) in presence of cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV). Zn3(PO4)2 nanoparticles are self-assembled into nanosheets with a high degree of isotropy and then self-organized into 3D structure having functionality that enhanced surface interactions with biological entities. The self-assembly structure has been formed through the auto organization of the nanoparticles of size ~50 nm in the influences of CPMV. The cellular response of self-assembled Zn3(PO4)2 and cell-particle adhesion behavior have been investigated through in vitro studies using modeled osteoblast-like MG63 cells. Self-assembled Zn3(PO4)2 resulted up to 310% cell proliferation with the MG63 cells within 7 days of incubation. A 15% higher in proliferation was obtained compared to the commercially available hydroxyapatite (HAp). Immunofluorescent analysis of MG63 cells after co-culturing with self-assembled Zn3(PO4)2 confirmed the healthy cytoskeleton organization and dense proliferation of MG63 cells. Further, Zn3(PO4)2 exhibited ~28% of cell-cycle progression in S phase, which is higher in value compared to the commercially available HAp. Overall, these results demonstrates the multiple functions of hierarchical self-assembled Zn3(PO4)2 to the regeneration of bone tissues without defects and with increasing the cellular network formation, and directed us for its use in bone tissue engineering.

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