A new approach to immobilize zwitterionic molecules rapidly and highly efficiently on a gold surface applies aniline-based electrodeposition. The zwitterion-functionalized antifouling surface enables a decrease of the adsorption of non-specific proteins by 95% from fetal bovine serum (FBS, 10%).
Glycosyltransferase 1 from Bacillus cereus (BcGT1) catalyzes the transfer of a glucosyl moiety from uridine diphosphate glucose (UDP-glucose) to various acceptors; it was expressed and characterized. The specificity of acceptors was found to be broad: more than 20 compounds classified into O-, S-, and N-linkage glucosides can be prepared with BcGT1 catalysis. Based on this work, we conclude that the corresponding acceptors of these compounds must possess the following features: (1) the acceptors must contain at least one aromatic or fused-aromatic or heteroaromatic ring; (2) the reactive hydroxyl or sulfhydryl or amino group can attach either on the aromatic ring or on its aliphatic side chain; and (3) the acceptors can be a primary, secondary, or even a tertiary amine. Four representative acceptors-fluorescein methyl ester, 17-β-estradiol, 7-mercapto-4-methylcoumarin, and 6-benzylaminopurine-were chosen as a candidate acceptor for O-, S-, and N-glucosidation, respectively. These enzymatic products were purified and the structures were confirmed with mass and NMR spectra. As all isolated glucosides are β-anomers, BcGT1 is confirmed to be an inverting enzyme. This study not only demonstrates the substrate promiscuity of BcGT1 but also showed the great application prospect of this enzyme in bioconversion of valuable bioactive molecules.
Surface functionalization has attracted
considerable interest from
researchers because of its capability for facilitating the interface
communication between an energy transducer and a biological system.
We report newly synthesized N-(4-aminobenzoyl)-N′-(4-maleimidobenzoyl)-1,2-ethylenediamine (AME)
to promote the modification of the surface with thiolated DNA and
3-((4-aminophenyl)dimethylammonio)propane-1-sulfonate (APSB) for the
facile formation of a bifunctional interface forming an antifouling
surface. Through the formation of diazonium ion, electrochemically
reductive deposition of the two arylamines can fabricate simultaneously
and effectively a bifunctional surface on a gold electrode and install
a DNA probe to form a sensor; the sensor was applied to detect three
genetic fragments of the New Delhi Metallo-β-Lactamase (NDM)-coding
gene. Effects of the diazotization and the conditions of electrochemical
deposition upon the sensing signals were investigated in connection
with enumerating the accessible maleimide groups and assessing the
diffusion resistance of the electroactive indicator. The detection
limit given by the diazonium-constructed system was improved to attain
the level of 54 pM, an advance over a conventional self-assembled
monolayer.
Tattooing has been utilized by the medical community for precisely demarcating anatomic landmarks. This practice is especially important for identifying biopsy sites of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) due to the long interval (i.e., up to 3 months) between the initial diagnostic biopsy and surgical treatment. Commercially available tattoo pigments possess several issues, which include causing poor cosmesis, being mistaken for a melanocytic lesion, requiring additional removal procedures when no longer desired, and potentially inducing inflammatory responses. The ideal tattoo pigment for labeling of skin biopsy sites for NMSC requires (i) invisibility under ambient light, (ii) fluorescence under a selective light source, (iii) a finite intradermal retention time (ca. 3 months), and (iv) biocompatibility. Herein, we introduce cross-linked fluorescent supra-molecular nanoparticles (c-FSNPs) as a “finite tattoo” pigment, with optimized photophysical properties and intradermal retention time to achieve successful in vivo finite tattooing. Fluorescent supramolecular nanoparticles encapsulate a fluorescent conjugated polymer, poly[5-methoxy-2-(3-sulfopropoxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MPS-PPV), into a core via a supramolecular synthetic approach. FSNPs which possess fluorescent properties superior to those of the free MPS-PPV are obtained through a combinatorial screening process. Covalent cross-linking of FSNPs results in micrometer-sized c-FSNPs, which exhibit a size-dependent intradermal retention. The 1456 nm sized c-FSNPs display an ideal intradermal retention time (ca. 3 months) for NMSC lesion labeling, as observed in an in vivo tattoo study. In addition, the c-FSNPs induce undetectable inflammatory responses after tattooing. We believe that the c-FSNPs can serve as a “finite tattoo” pigment to label potential malignant NMSC lesions.
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