Understanding the interaction of biological molecules with materials is essential in view of the novel potential applications arising when these two are combined. To this end, we investigate the interaction of DNA with diamondoids, a broad family of tiny hydrogen-terminated diamond clusters with high technological potential. We model this interaction through quantum-mechanical computer simulati...

RNA interference technology has become a powerful laboratory tool to study gene function. Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) have provided unprecedented opportunities for the development of new therapeutics in human diseases. Unfortunately, siRNA duplexes are not optimal drug-like molecules. The problems for their effective application are fundamentally delivery, stability and off-target effects. ...

1 Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstraße 1, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany 2 Danubia Nanotech s.r.o., Ilkovičova 3, 84104 Bratislava, Slovakia 3 Electron Microscopy Group of Materials Science, University of Ulm, Albert Einstein Allee 11, 89069 Ulm, Germany 4 The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand 5 Sc...

Chemical modification provides solutions to many of the challenges facing siRNA therapeutics. This review examines the various siRNA modifications available, including every aspect of the RNA structure and siRNA duplex architecture. The applications of chemically modified siRNA are then examined, with a focus on specificity (elimination of immune effects and hybridization-dependent off-target e...

Commercially available 1,2-PB was transformed into a well-defined reactive intermediate by quantitative bromination. The brominated polymer was used as a polyfunctional macroinitiator for the cationic ring-opening polymerization of 2-ethyl-2-oxazoline to yield a water-soluble brush polymer. Nucleophilic substitution of bromide by 1-methyl imidazole resulted in the formation of polyelectrolyte c...

In nucleic acid nanotechnology, designed RNA molecules are widely explored because of their usability originating from RNA's structural and functional diversity. Herein, a method to design and prepare RNA nanostructures by employing DNA origami strategy was developed. A single-stranded RNA scaffold and staple RNA strands were used for the formation of RNA nanostructures. After the annealing of ...

Monoterpenes, including limonene and its in vivo rat plasma metabolites, have been shown to be inhibitors of protein isoprenylation of small G proteins, including p21 ras. In addition, dietary limonene has been shown to be capable of preventing the development and causing the regression of chemically induced mammary carcinomas, many of which contain activated ras oncogenes. On the basis of thes...

Edible and/or biodegradable films usually have limited water vapor barriers, making it difficult to use them. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of a chemical reticulation treatment with formaldehyde and glyoxal on the mechanical properties, water vapor permeability, solubility and color parameters of gelatin-based films. Formaldehyde and glyoxal were added to the filmo...