scholarly journals DNA-Guided Assembly for Fibril Proteins

Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 404
Author(s):  
Alexandru Amărioarei ◽  
Frankie Spencer ◽  
Gefry Barad ◽  
Ana-Maria Gheorghe ◽  
Corina Iţcuş ◽  
...  

Current advances in computational modelling and simulation have led to the inclusion of computer scientists as partners in the process of engineering of new nanomaterials and nanodevices. This trend is now, more than ever, visible in the field of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-based nanotechnology, as DNA’s intrinsic principle of self-assembly has been proven to be highly algorithmic and programmable. As a raw material, DNA is a rather unremarkable fabric. However, as a way to achieve patterns, dynamic behavior, or nano-shape reconstruction, DNA has been proven to be one of the most functional nanomaterials. It would thus be of great potential to pair up DNA’s highly functional assembly characteristics with the mechanic properties of other well-known bio-nanomaterials, such as graphene, cellulos, or fibroin. In the current study, we perform projections regarding the structural properties of a fibril mesh (or filter) for which assembly would be guided by the controlled aggregation of DNA scaffold subunits. The formation of such a 2D fibril mesh structure is ensured by the mechanistic assembly properties borrowed from the DNA assembly apparatus. For generating inexpensive pre-experimental assessments regarding the efficiency of various assembly strategies, we introduced in this study a computational model for the simulation of fibril mesh assembly dynamical systems. Our approach was based on providing solutions towards two main circumstances. First, we created a functional computational model that is restrictive enough to be able to numerically simulate the controlled aggregation of up to 1000s of elementary fibril elements yet rich enough to provide actionable insides on the structural characteristics for the generated assembly. Second, we used the provided numerical model in order to generate projections regarding effective ways of manipulating one of the the key structural properties of such generated filters, namely the average size of the openings (gaps) within these meshes, also known as the filter’s aperture. This work is a continuation of Amarioarei et al., 2018, where a preliminary version of this research was discussed.

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (19) ◽  
pp. 5995
Author(s):  
Hallysson Douglas Andrade de Araújo ◽  
Hianna Arely Milca Fagundes Silva ◽  
José Guedes da Silva Júnior ◽  
Mônica Camelo Pessoa de Azevedo Albuquerque ◽  
Luana Cassandra Breitenbach Barroso Coelho ◽  
...  

Usnic acid is the best-studied lichen metabolite, presenting several biological activities, such as antibacterial, immunostimulating, antiviral, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, and antiparasitic agents; despite these relevant properties, it is a hydrophobic and toxic molecule. In this context, scientific research has driven the development of innovative alternatives, considering usnic acid as a source of raw material in obtaining new molecules, allowing structural modifications (syntheses) from it. The purpose is to optimize biological activities and toxicity, with less concentration and/or response time. This work presents a literature review with an analogy of the hydrophobic molecule of usnic acid with its hydrophilic derivative of potassium usnate, emphasizing the elucidation and structural characteristics, biological activities, and toxicological aspects of both molecules, and the advantages of using the promising derivative hydrophilic in different in vitro and in vivo assays when compared to usnic acid.


Langmuir ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 2015-2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ron Orbach ◽  
Iris Mironi-Harpaz ◽  
Lihi Adler-Abramovich ◽  
Estelle Mossou ◽  
Edward P. Mitchell ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (31) ◽  
pp. 6739-6752
Author(s):  
Kaiqi Long ◽  
Yuwei Liu ◽  
Yafei Li ◽  
Weiping Wang

This review introduces trigonal building blocks and summarizes their structural characteristics, self-assembly ability and biomedical applications.


Molecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (8) ◽  
pp. 1447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Volpi

The industrial production of chondroitin sulfate (CS) uses animal tissue sources as raw material derived from different terrestrial or marine species of animals. CS possesses a heterogeneous structure and physical-chemical profile in different species and tissues, responsible for the various and more specialized functions of these macromolecules. Moreover, mixes of different animal tissues and sources are possible, producing a CS final product having varied characteristics and not well identified profile, influencing oral absorption and activity. Finally, different extraction and purification processes may introduce further modifications of the CS structural characteristics and properties and may lead to extracts having a variable grade of purity, limited biological effects, presence of contaminants causing problems of safety and reproducibility along with not surely identified origin. These aspects pose a serious problem for the final consumers of the pharmaceutical or nutraceutical products mainly related to the traceability of CS and to the declaration of the real origin of the active ingredient and its content. In this review, specific, sensitive and validated analytical quality controls such as electrophoresis, eHPLC (enzymatic HPLC) and HPSEC (high-performance size-exclusion chromatography) able to assure CS quality and origin are illustrated and discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1391 ◽  
pp. 012007
Author(s):  
E. Baker ◽  
M. O. Withers ◽  
E. Aldrich ◽  
I. Shaffrey ◽  
J. Pusztay ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 9179-9187
Author(s):  
Marcela Martínez-Castaño ◽  
Diana Paola Mejía Díaz ◽  
José Contreras-Calderón ◽  
Cecilia Gallardo Cabrera

The sustainable development of agro-industry requires the efficient use of all raw matters, which implies physicochemical and functional studies of by-products for finding their potential usage in industrial processes. The objective of the present study was to assess some physicochemical and functional properties of fIour obtained from the bean pod. Two types of drying methods were tested: convection and vacuum. The fIours tended to yellow color according to b* parameter values (convection drying: 17.54; vacuum drying: 18.35), with a slight red hue. They also showed high water-holding (convection drying: 8.30 g g-1; vacuum drying: 7.56 g g-1) and oil holding capacity (convection drying: 2.53 g g-1; vacuum drying: 2.56 g g-1), polyphenols content (convection drying: 26.62 mg GAE g-1 DW; vacuum drying: 3.77 mg GAE g-1 DW) and antioxidant capacity (convection drying: 33.42 µmol Trolox g-1; vacuum drying: 5.27 µmol Trolox g-1). The results were similar for the two types of drying methods, except for the antioxidant capacity. Since convection drying is more economical and available than vacuum drying, only the fIour obtained by convection method was analyzed on compositional and structural characteristics. This fIour showed to be a good source of dietary fiber (66.93%), being the insoluble fiber the predominant fraction (59.97%). Moreover, a high content of ash (6.65%) and low lipid content (0.58%) were also found. The IR spectrum showed signs corroborating the presence of dietary fiber, which also was evidenced morphologically. Overall, the results obtained indicated that the bean pod fIour obtained by convection drying has potential use as a raw material for the food industry.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marius Gheorghe Miricioiu ◽  
Violeta-Carolina Niculescu

In order to meet the increasing energy demand and to decrease the dependency on coal, environmentally friendly methods for fly ash utilization are required. In this respect, the priority is to identify the fly ash properties and to consider its potential as raw material in the obtaining of high-value materials. The physico-chemical and structural characteristics of the fly ash coming from various worldwide power plants are briefly presented. The fly ash was sampled from power plants where the combustion of lignite and hard coal in pulverized-fuel boilers (PC) and circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boilers was applied. The fly ash has high silica content. Due to this, the fly ash can be considered a potential raw material for the synthesis of nanoporous materials, such as zeolites or mesoporous silica. The samples with the highest content of SiO2 can be used to obtain mesoporous silica materials, such as MCM-41 or SBA-15. The resulting mesoporous silica can be used for removing/capture of CO2 from emissions or for wastewater treatment. The synthesis of various porous materials using wastes would allow a high level of recycling for a sustainable society with low environmental impact.


1993 ◽  
Vol 328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis Garnier ◽  
A. Yassar ◽  
R. Hajlaoui ◽  
G. Horowitz ◽  
F. Deloffre

ABSTRACTConjugated oligomers form a fascinating class of molecular semiconductors, which open the perspective of control of electronic and structural properties through the variation of their chemical structure. For analysing the correlation between charge transport and structural properties, sexithiophene, 6T, was substituted by hexyl groups, both on the terminal α positions (α,ωDH6T) and as pendant groups in β position (β,β′DH6T). Structural characterizations by X-ray diffraction show that vacuum evaporated thin films of 6T and α,ωDH6T consist of layered structure in a monoclinic arrangement, with all-planar Molecules standing on the substrate, and that a much longer range ordering is observed when passing from 6T to α,ωDH6T, evidencing a large increase of molecular organization at the mesoscopic level. Electrical characterizations also indicate a significant enhancement of anisotropy of conductivity, with a ratio of 120 in favor of the conductivity along the stacking axis for α,ωDH6T. The charge carrier mobility, measured on field-effect transistors fabricated from these conjugated oligomers, also shows a large increase by a factor of 25 when passing from 6T to α,ωDH6T, and reaches a value close to 10-1cm2V-1s-1. In contrast, ββ′DH6T presents very low conductivity and mobility. These observations are attributed to the self-assembly properties brought by alkyl groups in α,ω position, and confirm the large potential of molecular engineering of organic semiconductors.


2010 ◽  
Vol 434-435 ◽  
pp. 579-581
Author(s):  
Zhi Xian Zhang ◽  
Fan Xiao ◽  
Fei Gao

The TiO2 nanopowder was prepared with TiOSO4 as raw material at low temperature by hydrolysis method, and microspheres coated polyethylene and TiO2 were then fabricated on titanium by layer-by-layer self-assembly technology. Using ultraviolet irradiation of titanium coating in distilled water for some time, titanium with enhanced bioactivity was achieved when immersed in simulated body fluid (SBF). The morphology, size and crystal shape before and after ultraviolet irradiation were characterized by scanning electron microcopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). UV irradiation of titanium results in the conversion of Ti4+ to Ti3+ and the generation of oxygen vacancies, which could react with the absorbed water to form basic Ti–OH groups. Compared with the coating non-UV irradiation, the UV-irradiated coatings do not present any obvious differences in morphology, surface roughness, grain size and phase component; however, they have more abundant basic Ti–OH groups thus the water contact angle decreases greatly so the surface become much more hydrophilic.


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