Search results for "Nanoparticles"
showing 10 items of 1286 documents
Mechanisms of nanotoxicity – biomolecule coronas protect pathological fungi against nanoparticle-based eradication
2020
Whereas nanotoxicity is intensely studied in mammalian systems, our knowledge of desired or unwanted nano-based effects for microbes is still limited. Fungal infections are global socio-economic health and agricultural problems, and current chemical antifungals may induce adverse side-effects in humans and ecosystems. Thus, nanoparticles are discussed as potential novel and sustainable antifungals via the desired nanotoxicity but often fail in practical applications. In our study, we found that nanoparticles' toxicity strongly depends on their binding to fungal spores, including the clinically relevant pathogen
Zinc oxide nanoparticles for therapeutic purposes in cancer medicine.
2020
The importance of zinc as a trace metal in the human body has long been overlooked. We now gradually discover that the impact of zinc on the health of our body might be as far-reaching as that of iron. Concurrently, nanomaterials containing zinc, in particular zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs), are becoming increasingly attractive as innovative agents for medical applications. Zinc oxide is characterized by a good biocompatibility which allows the exploitation of its antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and anti-cancer qualities in a therapeutic setting. This perspective outlines the current state of knowledge concerning the interaction of zinc oxide nanoparticles with eukaryotic cells an…
Ag+ Complexes as Potential Therapeutic Agents in Medicine and Pharmacy
2019
Silver is a non-essential element with promising antimicrobial and anticancer properties. This work is a detailed summary of the newest findings on the bioinorganic chemistry of silver, with a special focus on the applications of Ag+ complexes and nanoparticles. The coordination chemistry of silver is given a reasonable amount of attention, summarizing the most common silver binding sites and giving examples of such binding motifs in biologically important proteins. Possible applications of this metal and its complexes in medicine, particularly as antibacterial and antifungal agents and in cancer therapy, are discussed in detail. The most recent data on silver nanoparticles are also summari…
Alteration of the Mitochondrial Effects of Ceria Nanoparticles by Gold: An Approach for the Mitochondrial Modulation of Cells Based on Nanomedicine
2020
Ceria nanoparticles are cell compatible antioxidants whose activity can be enhanced by gold deposition and by surface functionalization with positive triphenylphosphonium units to selectively target the mitochondria. The antioxidant properties of these nanoparticles can serve as the basis of a new strategy for the treatment of several disorders exhibiting oxidative stress, such as cancer, diabetes or Alzheimer&rsquo
Uptake mechanism of ApoE-modified nanoparticles on brain capillary endothelial cells as a blood-brain barrier model.
2012
Background The blood-brain barrier (BBB) represents an insurmountable obstacle for most drugs thus obstructing an effective treatment of many brain diseases. One solution for overcoming this barrier is a transport by binding of these drugs to surface-modified nanoparticles. Especially apolipoprotein E (ApoE) appears to play a major role in the nanoparticle-mediated drug transport across the BBB. However, at present the underlying mechanism is incompletely understood. Methodology/Principal Findings In this study, the uptake of the ApoE-modified nanoparticles into the brain capillary endothelial cells was investigated to differentiate between active and passive uptake mechanism by flow cytome…
Temperature‐Responsive Nanoparticles Enable Specific Binding of Apolipoproteins from Human Plasma
2021
Apolipoproteins are an important class of proteins because they provide a so-called stealth effect to nanoparticles. The stealth effect on nanocarriers leads to a reduced unspecific uptake into immune cells and thereby to a prolonged blood circulation time. Herein, a novel strategy to bind apolipoproteins specifically on nanoparticles by adjusting the temperature during their incubation in human plasma is presented. This specific binding, in turn, allows a control of the stealth behavior of the nanoparticles. Nanoparticles with a well-defined poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) shell are prepared, displaying a reversible change of hydrophobicity at a temperature around 32 °C. It is shown by label-f…
Symbiosis between photoactive nanoparticles and their organic ligands.
2013
Photoactive spherical metal and semiconductor nanoparticles (NPs) are smart systems that exhibit unique properties, such as a high surface-to-volume ratio, a broad absorption spectrum and size-dependent properties. They are capped with a considerable number of ligands required to give rise to stable organic and aqueous NP colloidal solutions. In addition, the ligands can also be used to introduce functionality at the NP periphery. In this case, the NP could act as a 3D-scaffold, which would make a high local concentration of a functional moiety at the NP periphery possible, moreover, the photophysical properties of the NP could be tuned. The combined action of the organic capping and the in…
Structure Sensitivity of 2-Methyl-3-butyn-2-ol Hydrogenation on Pd: Computational and Experimental Modeling
2014
In the frame of DFT paradigms, the adsorption of 2-methyl-3-butyn-2-ol (MBY) and 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol (MBE) on a Pd-30 cluster, including both {100} and {111} faces, was studied along with the pathways involved in the hydrogenation, taking place on plane and low coordination (corner/edge) sites of given MBY/Pd-30 and MBE/Pd-30 surface configurations. The calculated energetics, further validated by gas-phase and water-assisted gas-phase MBY and MBE hydrogenation, performed on well-defined size and shape-controlled Pd nanoparticles supported on SiO2, were able to explain the origin of the structure sensitivity and the high selectivity characterizing the title reaction when occurring in aqueo…
Thermal and Chemical Stability of Thiol Bonding on Gold Nanostars
2015
The stability of thiol bonding on the surface of star-shaped gold nanoparticles was studied as a function of temperature in water and in a set of biologically relevant conditions. The stability was evaluated by monitoring the release of a model fluorescent dye, Bodipy-thiol (BDP-SH), from gold nanostars (GNSs) cocoated with poly(ethylene glycol) thiol (PEG-SH). The increase in the BDP-SH fluorescence emission, quenched when bound to the GNSs, was exploited to this purpose. A maximum 15% dye release in aqueous solution was found when the bulk temperature of gold nanostars solutions was increased to T = 42 °C, the maximum physiological temperature. This fraction reduces 3-5% for temperatures …
Fluorogenic detection of Tetryl and TNT explosives using nanoscopic-capped mesoporous hybrid materials
2013
[EN] A hybrid capped mesoporous material, which was selectively opened in the presence of Tetryl and TNT, has been synthesised and used for the fluorogenic recognition of these nitroaromatic explosives.