The refractive index (RI) is a fundamental parameter of materials that can be used to distinguish and sort materials of different nature. Although the RI of a virus is required for many optics-based biosensing applications, RIs of animal viruses have never been measured. Here we have developed a technique that can measure the RI of individual viruses in aqueous media with high precision. This t...

Plate-like BaTiO3 particles with a size of about 200 nm in thickness and 3 μm in width were prepared by using a novel solvothermal soft chemical process in ethanol and water-ethanol mixed solvents. A layered titanate of H1.07Ti1.73O4 with a lepidocrocite-like structure and plate-like nanoparticle morphology was used as the precursor, and solvothermally treated in the Ba(OH)2 solution to prepare...

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDC) represent a highly specialized immune cell subset that produces large quantities of the anti-viral cytokines type I interferons (IFN-alpha and IFN-beta) upon viral infection. PDC employ a member of the family of toll-like receptors, TLR9, to detect CpG motifs (unmethylated CG dinucleotides in certain base context) present in viral DNA. A certain group of CpG m...

Silica nanoparticles linked through ionic liquid-like molecules are synthesized by two routes. The first approach utilized a bis(trialkoxysilyl)-substituted imidazolium iodide to link the silica nanoparticles. In the second approach, the silica nanoparticles were first modified by 3-chloropropyltrimethoxysilane and N-(3-trimethoxysilylpropyl)imidazole and then coupled through nucleophilic subst...

Silver nanoparticles were synthesized by an enzyme-induced growth process on solid substrates. In order to customize the enzymatically grown nanoparticles (EGNP) for analytical applications in biomolecular research, a detailed study was carried out concerning the time evolution of the formation of the silver nanoparticles, their morphology, and their chemical composition. Therefore, silver-nano...

N-trimethyl chitosan (TMC) nanoparticles have been shown to increase the immunogenicity of subunit antigens after nasal and intradermal administration. This work describes a second generation of TMC nanoparticles containing ovalbumin as a model antigen (TMC/OVA nanoparticles) and an immunopotentiator (TMC/OVA/immunopotentiator nanoparticles). The selection of immunopotentiators included Toll-li...

To override the diffusion-limited adsorption step of viral infection, we magnetically synchronized cell attachment. Human immunodeficiency virus type 1-based lentivirus preparations were rendered magnetically reactive by association with magnetite nanoparticles, 50 nm in diameter. Application of a magnetic field resulted in immediate redistribution of the viral inoculum to the cell-associated s...

This study attempted to develop chitosan-based nanoparticles with increased stability and antibacterial activity. The chitosan/protamine hybrid nanoparticles were formed based on an ionic gelation method by mixing chitosan with protamine and subsequently cross-linking the mixtures with sodium tripolyphosphate (TPP). The effects of protamine on the chemical structures, physical properties, and a...