scholarly journals Denatured lysozyme-coated carbon nanotubes: a versatile biohybrid material

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marialuisa Siepi ◽  
Giuliana Donadio ◽  
Principia Dardano ◽  
Luca De Stefano ◽  
Daria Maria Monti ◽  
...  

Abstract Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are among the most versatile nanomaterials, but their exploitation is hindered by limited dispersibility, especially in aqueous solvents. Here, we show that AP-LYS, a highly cationic soluble derivative of denatured hen egg lysozyme, is a very effective tool for the unbundling and solubilisation of CNTs. AP-LYS proved to mediate the complete and stable dispersion of CNTs at protein: CNT ratios ≥1: 3 (w:w) in very mild conditions (10–20 minutes sonication in ammonium acetate buffer, pH 5.0). Electrophoretic mobility and ζ-potential measurements confirmed that dispersed CNTs were coated by the protein, whereas molecular docking was used to study the interactions between AP-LYS and CNTs. AP-LYS-coated CNTs proved to be a very effective microbial cell-flocculating agent with an efficiency similar to that of chitosan, one of the best available flocculating agents, thus suggesting that this hybrid could find industrial applications in the treatment of wastewaters contaminated by microbial cells, or to remove microbial cells after fermentation processes. Moreover, we exploited the low stability of AP-LYS-coated CNT dispersions in eukaryotic cell culture media to prepare scaffolds with an extracellular matrix-like rough surface for the cultivation of eukaryotic cells.

Author(s):  
Marek Malecki ◽  
James Pawley ◽  
Hans Ris

The ultrastructure of cells suspended in physiological fluids or cell culture media can only be studied if the living processes are stopped while the cells remain in suspension. Attachment of living cells to carrier surfaces to facilitate further processing for electron microscopy produces a rapid reorganization of cell structure eradicating most traces of the structures present when the cells were in suspension. The structure of cells in suspension can be immobilized by either chemical fixation or, much faster, by rapid freezing (cryo-immobilization). The fixation speed is particularly important in studies of cell surface reorganization over time. High pressure freezing provides conditions where specimens up to 500μm thick can be frozen in milliseconds without ice crystal damage. This volume is sufficient for cells to remain in suspension until frozen. However, special procedures are needed to assure that the unattached cells are not lost during subsequent processing for LVSEM or HVEM using freeze-substitution or freeze drying. We recently developed such a procedure.


Author(s):  
E.T. O’Toole ◽  
G.P. Wray ◽  
J.R. Kremer ◽  
J.R. Mcintosh

Ultrarapid freezing and cryomicroscopy of frozen hydrated material makes it possible to visualize samples that have never been exposed to chemical fixatives, dehydration, or stains. In principle, freezing and cryoimaging methods avoid artifacts associated with chemical fixation and processing and allow one to visualize the specimen in a condition that is close to its native state. Here we describe a way to use a high voltage electron microscope (HVEM) for the cryoimaging of frozen hydrated PTK1 cells.PTK1 cells were cultured on formvar-coated, carbon stabilized gold grids. After three days in culture, the grids were removed from the culture medium and blotted in a humidity chamber at 35° C. In some instances, the grids were rinsed briefly in 0.16 M ammonium acetate buffer (pH 7.2) prior to blotting. After blotting, the grids were transferred to a plunging apparatus and plunged into liquid ethane held directly above its freezing point. The plunging apparatus consists of a vertical slide rail that guides the fall of a mounted pair of forceps that clamp the specimen. The forceps are surrounded by a plexiglass humidity chamber mounted over a dewar of liquid nitrogen containing an ethane chamber. After freezing, the samples were transferred to liquid nitrogen and viewed in a JEOL JEM 1000 equipped with a top entry cold stage designed and built by Mr. George Wray (Univ. Colorado). The samples were routinely exposed to electron doses of 1 e/Å2/sec, and viewed at a temperature of −150° C. A GATAN video system was used to enhance contrast and to estimate the correct amount of underfocus needed to obtain phase contrast at various magnifications. Low dose micrographs were taken using two second exposures of Kodak 4463 film. The state of the solid water in the specimen was determined by diffraction using a 30/μm field limiting aperture and a camera length of 1 meter.


Planta Medica ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 81 (S 01) ◽  
pp. S1-S381
Author(s):  
KB Killday ◽  
AS Freund ◽  
C Fischer ◽  
KL Colson

1992 ◽  
Vol 68 (05) ◽  
pp. 539-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Lenich ◽  
Ralph Pannell ◽  
Jack Henkin ◽  
Victor Gurewich

SummaryWe previously found that human pro-UK expressed in Escherichia coli is more active in fibrinolysis than recombinant human pro-UK obtained from mammalian cell culture media. To determine whether this difference is related to the lack of glycosylation of the E. coli product, we compared the activity of E. coli-derived pro-UK [(-)pro-UK] with that of a glycosylated pro-UK [(+)pro-UK] and of a mutant of pro-UK missing the glycosylation site at Asn-302 [(-) (302) pro-UK]. The latter two pro-UKs were obtained by expression of the human gene in a mammalian cell. The nonglycosylated pro-UKs were activated by plasmin more efficiently (≈2-fold) and were more active in clot lysis (1.5-fold) than the (+)pro-UK. Similarly, the nonglycosylated two-chain derivatives (UKs) were more active against plasminogen and were more rapidly inactivated by plasma inhibitors than the (+)UK.These findings indicate that glycosylation at Asn-302 influences the activity of pro-UK/UK and could be the major factor responsible for the enhanced activity of E. coli-derived pro-UK.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingjing Zhang ◽  
Luong T. H. Nguyen ◽  
Richard Hickey ◽  
Nicole Walters ◽  
Xinyu Wang ◽  
...  

AbstractExtracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from tumor cells have the potential to provide a much-needed source of non-invasive molecular biomarkers for liquid biopsies. However, current methods for EV isolation have limited specificity towards tumor-derived EVs that limit their clinical use. Here, we present an approach called immunomagnetic sequential ultrafiltration (iSUF) that consists of sequential stages of purification and enrichment of EVs in approximately 2 h. In iSUF, EVs present in different volumes of biofluids (0.5–100 mL) can be significantly enriched (up to 1000 times), with up to 99% removal of contaminating proteins (e.g., albumin). The EV recovery rate by iSUF for cell culture media (CCM), serum, and urine corresponded to 98.0% ± 3.6%, 96.0% ± 2.0% and 94.0% ± 1.9%, respectively (p > 0.05). The final step of iSUF enables the separation of tumor-specific EVs by incorporating immunomagnetic beads to target EV subpopulations. Serum from a cohort of clinical samples from metastatic breast cancer (BC) patients and healthy donors were processed by the iSUF platform and the isolated EVs from patients showed significantly higher expression levels of BC biomarkers (i.e., HER2, CD24, and miR21).


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