Herein, we for the first time report a novel activatable photoacoustic (PA) imaging nano-probe for in vivo detection of cancer-related matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). A black hole quencher 3 (BHQ3) which absorbs red light is conjugated to near-infrared (NIR)-absorbing copper sulfide (CuS) nanoparticles via a MMP-cleavable peptide linker. The obtained CuS-peptide-BHQ3 (CPQ) nano-probe exhibits...

To inhibit binding of the influenza A virus to the host cell glycocalyx, we generate multivalent peptide-polymer nanoparticles binding with nanomolar affinity to the virus via its spike protein hemagglutinin. The chosen dendritic polyglycerol scaffolds are highly biocompatible and well suited for a multivalent presentation. We could demonstrate in vitro that by increasing the size of the polyme...

Title of Document: TARGETING BIOMARKERS VIA CITP-BASED SELECTIVE PROTEOME ENRICHMENT Xueping Fang, Doctor of Philosophy, 2008 Directed By: Professor Cheng S. Lee Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Besides the complexity of protein samples, probably the greatest challenge presently facing comprehensive proteome analysis is related to the large variation of protein relative abundances (>6 o...

There are tow major methods that are widely used for protein identification by mass spectrometry: MALDI-TOF based protein fingerprinting and LC-MS/MS based peptide sequencing. In the MALDI-TOF based protein fingerprinting method, a sample is digested with certain proteolytic enzyme (usually trypsin) and one MS spectrum is acquired which generates the massed of all peptides (or MH+), and these m...

Bacitracin A (BA) is an excellent polypeptide antibiotic that is active against gram-positive bacteria without triggering multidrug resistance. However, BA is inactive against gram-negative bacteria because of its inability to cross the outer membrane of these cells, and it has strong nephrotoxicity, thus limiting its clinical applications. Nanoantibiotics can effectively localize antibiotics t...

The 33-mer gliadin peptide, LQLQPF(PQPQLPY)3PQPQPF, is a highly immunogenic peptide involved in celiac disease and probably in other immunopathologies associated with gliadin. Herein, dynamic light scattering measurements showed that 33-mer, in the micromolar concentration range, forms polydisperse nano- and micrometer range particles in aqueous media. This behaviour is reminiscent of classical...

An ultrabroad absorber based on double-ring-shaped titanium nitride (TiN) nanoresonators, which can work in high temperatures, is proposed and numerically studied. The with some optimal parameters exhibits an averaged absorption of 94.6% the range 200 - 4000 nm (from ultraviolet to mid-infrared) a band from 3518 having > 90%. We have demonstrated detail physical mechanisms ultra-broad absorptio...

Theoretical analysis and Computer simulations have proven to be cost-effective and powerful tools in scientific studies of materials, particularly at nano-scale where synthesis of nano-structures, interpretation of their observed character and exploration of new structures are not always straight forward. We present here fundamental principles of techniques used today for computational simulati...

In this article we study the electron energy states for three-dimensional (3D) semiconductor quantum rings. Our model formulation includes: (i) the effective one-band Hamiltonian approximation, (ii) the position and energy dependent quasi-particle effective mass approximation, (iii) the finite hard wall confinement potential, and (iv) the Ben Daniel-Duke boundary conditions. We solve the 3D mod...