Surface-functionalized nanoporous silica, often referred to as self-assembled monolayers on mesoporous supports (SAMMS), has previously demonstrated the ability to serve as very effective heavy metal sorbents in a range of aquatic and environmental systems, suggesting that they may be advantageously utilized for biomedical applications such as chelation therapy. Herein we evaluate surface chemi...

BACKGROUND Solid-state micropores have been widely employed for 6 decades to recognize and size flowing unlabeled cells. However, the resistive-pulse technique presents limitations when the cells to be differentiated have overlapping dimension ranges such as B and T lymphocytes. An alternative approach would be to specifically capture cells by solid-state micropores. Here, the inner wall of 15-...

Hydroxyapatite (HA) is a material of choice for bone grafts owing to its chemical and structural similarities to the mineral phase of hard tissues. The combination of osteogenic proteins with HA materials that carry and deliver the proteins to the bone-defective areas will accelerate bone regeneration. The study investigated the treatment of HA particles with different amino acids such as serin...

Biodegradation of the graphene-based materials is an emerging issue due to their estimated widespread usage in different industries. Indeed, a few concerns have been raised about their biopersistence. Here, we propose the design of surface-functionalized graphene oxide (GO) with the capacity to degrade more effectively compared to unmodified GO using horseradish peroxidase (HRP). For this purpo...

Molecular dynamics simulations of thin films and bulk melts of model self-associating polymers have been performed in order to gain understanding of the influence of free surfaces on the morphology of these polymers. The self-associating polymers were represented by a simple bead-necklace model with attractive groups (stickers) at the chain ends (end-functionalized polymer) and in the chain int...

Knowledge of the fate and transport of functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in porous media is crucial to understand their environmental impacts. In this study, laboratory column and modeling experiments were conducted to mechanistically compare the retention and transport of two types of functionalized CNTs (i.e., single-walled nanotubes and multi-walled nanotubes) in acid-cleaned, baked, an...

This paper describes the development of an efficient transfection vehicle for nucleic acids using surface-functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with a mixed-monolayer of biological molecules—a hybrid approach that combines two previously investigated models. The objective is to improve upon previously described nanoparticles used to introduce nucleic acids to cells—oligonucleotide-functiona...

Ocular inflammations are common diseases that may lead to serious vision-threatening obstacles. Eye drops for antiinflammation therapy need to be administered multiple times daily at a high dosage due to the rapid precorneal removal and low bioavailability of drugs. To overcome these problems, a cRGD-functionalized DSPE-PEG2000 nanomicelle (DSPE-PEG2000-cRGD) encapsulated with flurbiprofen is p...

We report on the reversible detection of CaptAvidin, a tyrosine modified avidin, with single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) field-effect transistors (FETs) noncovalently functionalized with biotin moieties using 1-pyrenebutyric acid as a linker. Binding affinities at different pH values were quantified, and the sensor's response at various ionic strengths was analyzed. Furthermore, protein "fing...

We demonstrate a highly-sensitive and label-free method for characterizing cells based on cell-surface receptors. The method involves measuring a current pulse generated when an individual cell passes through an artificial pore. When the pore is functionalized with proteins, specific interactions between a cell-surface marker and the functionalized proteins retard the cell, thus leading to an i...