Nano-chemistry and Bio-conjugation with perspectives on the design of Nano-Immune platforms, vaccines and new combinatorial treatments

This Mini-Review and Opinion letter, it was addressed different themes and topics implicated in the development of new treatments and vaccines applied to pathologies developed in humans such as by Virus and related pathogens. In this context, it was presented and discussed different strategies used, which were contemplated from the design of small molecules, towards higher sized chemical structures and new Nanoarchitectures. In particular, it was discussed varied studies developed for the Corona Virus treatment; which afforded to the main mechanisms of action of pharmacophores and targeted functional Nanoparticles. In this direction, it was highlighted the importance of Bioconjugation of molecules and variable Nanoarchitectures for their incorporation within cells as well as for the development of Nano-vaccines. Moreover, it was discussed about the development of combinatory treatments based on different strategies recently reported. Similarly, it was presented different studies and developments actually in progress related to the design of functional and Multifunctional Nano-platforms with potential perspectives on Lab-On particles and Nano-vaccines for precision Nanomedicine and new treatments.

Current perspective and future research directions on defecation clarification for the manufacture of raw sugar

Juice clarification is integral to the sugar-manufacturing process and determines the quality of clarified juice which is subsequently processed to produce sugar. Clarification performance is defined largely by turbidity of the clarified juice, but the presence of soluble impurities, colour and colour precursors, polysaccharides and proteins influence heat-transfer performance of evaporators and evaporating crystallizers, the crystallisation performance in evaporating crystallizers and the achievable yield and quality of sugar. The conventional defecation process is inadequate to remove these nonsucrose impurities, and the gradual worldwide transition to green-cane harvesting is introducing greater levels of impurities into the cane supply. As a result, the clarification station is now having to deal with not only the endogenous impurities (e.g. stalk impurities) but also the trash (leaves and tops) impurities. This paper reviews work that has been conducted over the years to remove these impurities and presents future research directions that should improve clarification performance. Examples of future research directions include development of multi-functional nanoparticles to significantly improve impurity removal; processing strategies to enhance precipitation of proteins and polysaccharides; and ballasting and adsorbent agents.

Mass Spectrometric Investigation of Organo-Functionalized Magnetic Nanoparticles Binding Properties toward Chalcones

Chalcones are naturally occurring compounds exhibiting multiple biological functions related to their structure. The investigation of complexes formed by chalcones, namely 2′,4′-dihydroxy-2-methoxychalcone (DH-2-MC) and 2′,4′-dihydroxy-3-methoxychalcone (DH-3-MC), with organo-functionalized Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles using mass spectrometric techniques is reported. The magnetic nanoparticles were obtained by the silanization of Fe3O4 particles with 3-aminopropyltrimethosysilane, which were subsequently reacted with 3-hydroxybenzaldehyde (3-HBA) or 2-pyridinecarboxaldehyde (2-PCA), resulting in the formation of Schiff base derivatives. The formation of their complexes with chalcones was studied using electrospray (ESI) and flowing atmosphere-pressure afterglow (FAPA) mass spectrometric (MS) ionization techniques. The functional nanoparticles which were synthesized using 3-hydroxybenzaldehyde displayed higher affinity towards examined chalcones than their counterparts obtained using 2-pyridinecarboxaldehyde, which has been proved by both ESI and FAPA techniques. For the examined chalcones, two calibration curves were obtained using the ESI-MS method, which allowed for the quantitative analysis of the performed adsorption processes. The presence of Cu(II) ions in the system significantly hindered the formation of material–chalcone complexes, which was proved by the ESI and FAPA techniques. These results indicate that both mass spectrometric techniques used in our study possess a large potential for the investigation of the binding properties of various functional nanoparticles.

Imparting multi-functionality to covalent organic framework nanoparticles by the dual-ligand assistant encapsulation strategy

The potential applications of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) can be further developed by encapsulating functional nanoparticles within the frameworks. However, the synthesis of monodispersed core@shell structured COF nanocomposites without agglomeration remains a significant challenge. Herein, we present a versatile dual-ligand assistant strategy for interfacial growth of COFs on the functional nanoparticles with abundant physicochemical properties. Regardless of the composition, geometry or surface properties of the core, the obtained core@shell structured nanocomposites with controllable shell-thickness are very uniform without agglomeration. The derived bowl-shape, yolk@shell, core@satellites@shell nanostructures can also be fabricated delicately. As a promising type of photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy (PDT), the porphyrin-based COFs were grown onto upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs). With the assistance of the near-infrared (NIR) to visible optical property of UCNPs core and the intrinsic porosity of COF shell, the core@shell nanocomposites can be applied as a nanoplatform for NIR-activated PDT with deep tissue penetration and chemotherapeutic drug delivery.