PURPOSE To develop an imaging technology for protease activities in patients that could help in prognosis prediction and in design of personalized, protease-based inhibitors and prodrugs for targeted therapy. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Polyethylene glycol (PEG) was covalently attached to the N-terminus of a hydrophilic peptide substrate (GPLGVR) for matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) to increase hydroph...

Cells can sense mechanical force in regulating focal adhesion assembly. One vivid example is the force-induced recruitment of vinculin to reinforce initial contacts between a cell and the extracellular matrix. Crystal structures of the unbound proteins and bound complex between the vinculin head subdomain (Vh1) and the talin vinculin binding site 1 (VBS1) indicate that vinculin undergoes a conf...

Hydrophobic ions can generate considerable interference to ion detection in a complex analyte with membrane-based ion-selective sensors, due the hydrophobic interaction. In this paper, we demonstrate that from interaction sensors be significantly reduced by incorporating hydrophilic polyethylene glycol (PEG) into membrane. The sensor is silicon nanowire field-effect transistor (SiNWFET) its sur...

We present an innovative methodology for the sustained delivery of hydrophobic drugs using composite hydrogels, prepared by embedding oil-in-water microemulsions in hydrophilic hydrogels. The hydrophobic nature of the microemulsion core enhances the solubilization of hydrophobic drugs, while the crosslinked matrix could be readily used as a solid controlled delivery vehicle. A microemulsion was...

This communication describes the use of polyelectrolyte multilayer as a preformed matrix in electrochemical deposition to adjust the morphology of gold clusters, and only the surface covered with dendritic gold clusters shows a super-hydrophobic property, with the contact angle above 150 degrees and the tilt angle less than 1.5 degrees , after the surface further chemisorbed with a self-assembl...

The potential storage and delivery function of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) for cell signaling molecules was explored by binding hydrophobic compounds to the recombinant five-stranded coiled-coil domain of COMP. Complex formation with benzene, cyclohexane, vitamin D3 and elaidic acid was demonstrated through increases in denaturation temperatures of 2-10 degreesC. For all-trans re...

Micellar nanoparticles were designed to be responsive to matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and reactive oxygen species (ROS), each of which is upregulated in the pathology of inflammatory diseases. The amphiphilic polymer-based nanoparticle system consists of a hydrophilic shell responsible for particle morphology change and aggregation, together with a hydrophobic block designed to release carg...

These are the type of controlled drug delivery systems, which release the drug in continuous manner by both dissolution controlled as well as diffusion controlled mechanisms. To control the release of the drugs, which are having different solubility properties, the drug is dispersed in swellable hydrophilic substances, an insoluble matrix of rigid non swellable hydrophobic materials or plastic ...