A critical factor for controlling serum albumin binding is surface hydrophobicity, which in turn decreases the cellular uptake of gold nanoparticles. Hydrophobic nanoparticles bind albumin more tightly, inhibiting particle uptake, with a direct correlation observed between uptake and surface hydrophobicity.
A water-in-oil microemulsion made up of a cetyltrimethylammonium bromide/n-butanol/isooctane/M II and Al III nitrate aqueous solution (M II = Mg or Ni or Zn) has been mixed with a microemulsion of the same composition but containing an ammonia solution instead of a metal nitrate solution. Collisions between the reverse micelles containing an M II and Al III solution and those containing an NH 3 solution form short-lived dimers that act as reaction vessels and control the nucleation and growth of MgAl, NiAl or ZnAl hydrotalcitelike compounds (HTlcs). The double water-in-oil microemulsion technique yields colloidal dispersions of nanoparticles whose size and shape were examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The colloidal particles were between 50 and 100 nm depending on the composition of the microemulsions (water-tosurfactant and oil-to-water molar ratios). The separation of the nanoparticles from the reaction medium produces a gel
Potassium channels and aquaporins expressed by astrocytes are key players in the maintenance of cerebral homeostasis and in brain pathophysiologies. One major challenge in the study of astrocyte membrane channels in vitro, is that their expression pattern does not resemble the one observed in vivo. Nanostructured interfaces represent a significant resource to control the cellular behaviour and functionalities at micro and nanoscale as well as to generate novel and more reliable models to study astrocytes in vitro. However, the potential of nanotechnologies in the manipulation of astrocytes ion channels and aquaporins has never been previously reported. Hydrotalcite-like compounds (HTlc) are layered materials with increasing potential as biocompatible nanoscale interface. Here, we evaluate the effect of the interaction of HTlc nanoparticles films with primary rat neocortical astrocytes. We show that HTlc films are biocompatible and do not promote gliotic reaction, while favouring astrocytes differentiation by induction of F-actin fibre alignment and vinculin polarization. Western Blot, Immunofluorescence and patch-clamp revealed that differentiation was accompanied by molecular and functional up-regulation of both inward rectifying potassium channel Kir 4.1 and aquaporin 4, AQP4. The reported results pave the way to engineering novel in vitro models to study astrocytes in a in vivo like condition.
Nanosized Layered Double Hydroxides (LDH) were prepared in confined environment through the microemulsion method in the presence of different lanthanide cations (Ln(III) = Eu(III), Yb(III), Tb(III), and Nd(III)). To investigate the effects of lanthanide insertion in the sheets of LDH materials, several samples were prepared upon progressively increasing the content of Ln ions and properly reducing the Al(III) amount; the samples were characterized in terms of metal content, structure, morphology, thermal behavior, and spectroscopic properties. The data revealed that Ln(III) content in the LDH samples depends on the ionic radius of the lanthanide cations and on its concentration in the starting microemulsion. X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) indicated that Eu(III) can be inserted into the LDH structure in average atomic percentages lower than 2.7%, leading to the formation of a low symmetry phase, as confirmed by steady state luminescence spectra; while Yb(III) can be incorporated into the layer structure up to about 10% forming a pure layered phase containing the lanthanide in the sheet. The incorporation of Yb(III) and Eu(III) into the LDH sheets is also supported by FT-IR measurements. Coupled thermogravimetrical (TG) and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) studies indicated that water molecules are essential in the coordination sphere of incorporated Ln cations; this observation accounts for the lower thermal stability of Ln-doped LDH compared to the undoped ones. Furthermore, Eu-luminescence measurements indicates that the lanthanide inclusion does not compromise its luminescence although the spectral position and brightness can be tuned by the loading.
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