Anticancer, antimicrobial and photocatalytic activities of a new pyrazole containing thiosemicarbazone ligand and its Co(III) and Ni(II) complexes: Synthesis, spectroscopic characterization and X-ray crystallography.

A new pyrazole based thiosemicarbazone ligand, 5-methyl-3-formylpyrazole-N(4)-isopropylthiosemicarbazone, (HMPzNHPri) (compound I), and its cobalt(III) and nickel(II) complexes, [Co(MPzNHPri)2]Cl (compound II) and [Ni(HMPzNHPri)2]Br2 (compound III), respectively, have been synthesized and characterized through various physico-chemical and spectroscopic studies. Both the reported Co(III) and Ni(II) complexes are cationic in nature and behave as 1:1 and 1:2 electrolytes in MeOH, respectively. Electronic spectral features of the complexes have classified them as distorted octahedral ones. IR spectral data (4000-450 cm-1) have suggested a monoprotic tridentate (NNS) function of compound I coordinating to the Co(III) ion via the pyrazolyl (tertiary) ring nitrogen, azomethine nitrogen and thiolato sulphur atom; while for compound III, compound I has been found to act as neutral NNS tridentate one, coordinating to Ni(II) via the pyrazolyl iminic nitrogen, azomethine nitrogen and thioketo sulphur. Structural features of all the compounds are confirmed by the single crystal X-ray data. All the compounds reported here have been found to exhibit significant photocatalytic activity towards degradation of Methylene Blue (MB) under UV radiation. Anticancer activity of all the three compounds against cancer cell lines (HeLa and A549) and a normal cell line (HEK293) have been investigated. Compound II has been found to be more efficient against the human cervical cancer cell (HeLa) and the lung cancer cell (A549) than compounds I and III. The ligand and both the complexes display potential activities against both gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis MTCC 7193) and gram-negative bacteria (E. coli MTCC 1610).

In silico prediction of heme binding in proteins.

The process of heme binding to a protein is prevalent in almost all forms of life to control many important biological properties, such as O2-binding, electron transfer, gas sensing or to build catalytic power. In these cases, heme typically binds tightly (irreversibly) to a protein in a discrete heme binding pocket, with one or two heme ligands provided most commonly to the heme iron by His, Cys or Tyr residues. Heme binding can also be used as a regulatory mechanism, for example in transcriptional regulation or ion channel control. When used as a regulator, heme binds more weakly, with different heme ligations and without the need for a discrete heme pocket. This makes the characterization of heme regulatory proteins difficult, and new approaches are needed to predict and understand the heme-protein interactions. We apply a modified version of the ProFunc bioinformatics tool to identify heme-binding sites in a test set of heme-dependent regulatory proteins taken from the Protein Data Bank and AlphaFold models. The potential heme binding sites identified can be easily visualized in PyMol and, if necessary, optimized with RosettaDOCK. We demonstrate that the methodology can be used to identify heme-binding sites in proteins, including in cases where there is no crystal structure available, but the methodology is more accurate when the quality of the structural information is high. The ProFunc tool, with the modification used in this work, is publicly available at https://www.ebi.ac.uk/thornton-srv/databases/profunc and can be readily adopted for the examination of new heme binding targets.

Precise and rapid point-of-care quantification of albumin levels in unspiked blood using organic field-effect transistors.

Nanowire-based field-effect transistors (FETs) are widely used to detect biomolecules precisely. However, the fabrication of such devices involves complex integration procedures of nanowires into the device and most are not easily scalable. In this work, we report a straightforward fabrication approach that utilizes the grain boundaries of the semiconducting film of organic FETs to fabricate biosensors for the detection of human serum albumin (HSA) with an enhanced sensitivity and detection range. We used trichromophoric pentapeptide (TPyAlaDo-Leu-ArTAA-Leu-TPyAlaDo, TPP) as a receptor molecule to precisely estimate the concentration of HSA protein in human blood. Bi-layer semiconductors (pentacene and TPP) were used to fabricate the OFET, where the pentacene molecule acted as a conducting channel and TPP acted as a receptor molecule. This approach of engineering the diffusion of receptor molecules into the grain boundaries is crucial in developing OFET-based HSA protein sensors, which cover a considerable detection range from 1 pM to 1 mM in a single device. The point-of-care detection in unspiked blood samples was confirmed at 4.2 g dL-1, which is similar to 4.1 g dL-1 measured using a pathological procedure.

Non-invasive, ultrasensitive detection of glucose in saliva using metal oxide transistors.

Transistor-based biosensors represent an emerging technology for inexpensive point-of-care testing (POCT) applications. However, the limited sensitivity of the current transistor technologies hinders their practical deployment. In this study, we developed tri-channel In2O3/ZnO heterojunction thin-film transistors (TFTs) featuring the surface-immobilized enzyme glucose oxidase to detect glucose in various biofluids. This unusual channel design facilitates strong coupling between the electrons transported along the buried In2O3/ZnO heterointerface and the electrostatic perturbations caused by the interactions between glucose and surface-immobilized glucose oxidase. The enzyme selectively binds to glucose, causing a change in charge density on the channel surface. By exploring this effect, the solid-state biosensing TFT (BioTFT) can selectively detect glucose in artificial and real saliva over a wide range of concentrations from 500 nM to 20 mM with limits of detection of ∼365 pM (artificial saliva) and ∼416 nM (real saliva) in less than 60 s. The specificity of the sensor towards glucose has been demonstrated against various interfering species in artificial saliva, further highlighting its unique capabilities. Moreover, the BioTFTs exhibited good operating stability upon storage for up to two weeks, with relative standard deviation (RSD) values ranging from 2.36% to 6.39% for 500 nM glucose concentration. Our BioTFTs are easy to manufacture with reliable operation, making them ideal for non-invasive POCT applications.

Biodegradable Poly(trehalose) Nanoparticle for Preventing Amyloid Beta Aggregation and Related Neurotoxicity.

Trehalose is a disaccharide that is capable of inhibiting protein aggregation and activating cellular autophagy. It has been shown that a polymer or nanoparticle form, terminated with multiple trehalose units, can significantly enhance the anti-amyloidogenic performance and is suitable for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we report a trehalose-conjugated polycarbonate-co-lactide polymer and formulation of its nanoparticles having multiple numbers of trehalose exposed on the surface. The resultant poly(trehalose) nanoparticle inhibits the aggregation of amyloid beta peptides and disintegrates matured amyloid fibrils into smaller fragments. Moreover, the poly(trehalose) nanoparticle lowers extracellular amyloid ß oligomer-driven cellular stress and enhances cell viability. The presence of biodegradable polycarbonate components in the poly(trehalose) nanoparticle would enhance their application potential as an anti-amyloidogenic material.

Surface Modification of Hetero-phase Nanoparticles for Low-Cost Solution-Processable High-k Dielectric Polymer Nanocomposites.

The surface modification of nanoparticles (NPs) is crucial for fabricating polymer nanocomposites (NCs) with high dielectric permittivity. Here, we systematically studied the effect of surface functionalization of TiO2 and BaTiO3 NPs to enhance the dielectric permittivity of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) NCs by 23 and 74%, respectively, measured at a frequency of 1 kHz. To further increase the dielectric permittivity of PVDF/NPs-based NCs, we developed a new hetero-phase filler-based approach that is cost-effective and easy to implement. At a 1:3 mixing ratio of TiO2:BaTiO3 NPs, the dielectric constant of the ensuing NC is found to be 50.2, which is comparable with the functionalized BaTiO3-based NC. The highest dielectric constant value of 76.1 measured at 1 kHz was achieved using the (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES)-modified hetero-phase-based PVDF composite at a volume concentration of 5%. This work is an important step toward inexpensive and easy-to-process high-k nanocomposite dielectrics.

A Sustainable Approach for Graphene Oxide-supported Metal N-Heterocyclic Carbenes Catalysts.

Sustainable noble metal-N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHC's) are a topic of arising concern in both the chemical industry and the academic community due to a growing consciousness of environmental pollution and scarcity. Recovering and reusing homogeneous catalysts from the reaction mixture requires a tremendous amount of capital investment in the chemical manufacturing industry. Heterogeneous catalysts are proved to have better functional groups tolerance; however, catalysts support largely influences the active catalyst sites to affect catalyst efficiency and selectivity. Thus the, choice of catalyst supports plays an almost decisive role in this emerging area of catalysis research. Graphene oxide (GO)/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) support has a potential growth in heterogeneous catalysis owing to their commercial availability, considerably larger surface area, inert towards chemical transformations, and easy surface functionalization to attached metal complexes via covalent and non-covalent aromatic π-conjugates. To take advantage of two independently well-established research areas of noble metal-N-heterocyclic carbenes and GO/rGO support via covalent or non-covalent interactions approach would offer novel heterogeneous complexes with improved catalytic efficiency without sacrificing product selectivity. This unique concept of marrying metal-N-heterocyclic carbenes with GO/rGO support has potential growth in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, however, limited examples are reported in the literature. In this perspective, a comprehensive summary of metal-NHC synthesis on GO/rGO support and synthetic strategies to graft M-NHC onto GO/rGO surface, catalytic efficiency, for the catalytic transformation are critically reviewed. Furthermore, a plausible mechanism for non-covalent grafting methodology is summarized to direct readers to give a better understanding of M-NHC@rGO complexes. This would also allow the designing of engineered catalysts for unexplored catalytic applications.

Diffusion-Induced Ingress of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 into the Charge Conducting Path of a Pentacene Channel for Efficient Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in Saliva Samples.

Rapid and accurate identification of a pathogen is crucial for disease control and prevention of the epidemic of emerging infectious like SARS-CoV-2. However, no foolproof gold standard assay exists to date. Nucleic acid-based molecular diagnostic tests have been established for identifying COVID-19. However, viral RNAs are highly unstable in handling with poor laboratory procedures, leading to a false negative that accelerates the spread of the disease. Detection of the spike protein (S1) of the SARS-CoV-2 virus through a proper receptor, commonly used in antigen-based rapid testing kits, also suffers from false-negative predictions due to decreasing viral titers in clinical specimens. Organic field-effect transistor (OFET)-based sensors can be highly sensitive upon properly integrating receptors in the conducting channel. This work demonstrates how angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) molecules can be used as receptor molecules of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the OFET platform. Integration of ACE2 molecules into pentacene grain boundaries has been studied through the statistical analysis of rough surfaces in terms of lateral correlation length and interface width. The uniform coating of ACE2 molecules has been confirmed through growth studies to achieve better ingress of the receptors into the conducting channel at the semiconductor/dielectric interface of OFETs. We have observed less than a minute detection time with 94% sensitivity, which is the highest reported value. The sensor works with a saliva sample, requiring no sample preparation or virus transfer medium. A prototype module developed for remote monitoring confirms the suitability for point-of-care (POC) application at large-scale testing in more crowded areas like airports, railway stations, shopping malls, etc.

Inventorization and Consensus Analysis of Ethnoveterinary Medicinal Knowledge Among the Local People in Eastern India: Perception, Cultural Significance, and Resilience.

Livestock is the main backbone of the rural economy of an agriculture-based country like India. To mitigate the economic loss due to livestock's poor performance and illness, folk phytotherapy for livestock healthcare is still actively practiced in India. Literature survey revealed that the laterite region of eastern India, characterized by its cultural, ethnic, and biological diversities, as well as topographical uniqueness, lacks comprehensive information on ethnoveterinary medicinal knowledge. The objective of the present study includes documentation of traditional knowledge of ethnoveterinary medicine (EVM) from the northern laterite region in eastern India. Ethnoveterinary medicinal data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire, free listing, and focus group discussions. The factor for informants' consensus (Fic), fidelity level (FL), and cultural value (CV) index have been employed for quantitative analyses. Jaccard index (JI) was used to check the knowledge similarity. Altogether, 1,234 citations were made by 132 participants. In total, 232 recorded ethnomedicinal species are used for preparing 306 remedies to treat 79 health disorders of livestock. Recorded species are distributed in 92 families, and Fabaceae is identified as the most medicinally diversified. Uses of 24 angiospermic taxa, one pteridophyte, and two fungal species were exclusively new to the existing inventory of Indian traditional ethnoveterinary medicine. In 20 disease categories, the informant consensus (Fic) value ranges from 0.4 to 0.83. According to the FL value and use-mention factor, 23 EVM plants have been identified as the most important species in the respective disease categories. Value of CV index highlighted nine species as culturally most significant (CV ≥ 0.0025 and frequency of citation ≥20) in the laterite region of eastern India. A large extent of recorded data are quite worthy for the Indian folk veterinary medicinal repository. A handful of new data reported here and statistically justified culturally most significant species will provide the golden opportunity for bioprospecting research.

Silver Nanodot Decorated Dendritic Copper Foam As a Hydrophobic and Mechano-Chemo Bactericidal Surface.

The present work investigates the time-dependent antibacterial activity of the silver nanodot decorated dendritic copper foam nanostructures against Escherichia coli (Gram-negative) and Bacillus subtilis (Gram-positive) bacteria. An advanced antibacterial and antifouling surface is fabricated utilizing the collective antibacterial properties of silver nanodots, chitosan, and dendritic copper foam nanostructures. The porous network of the Ag nanodot decorated Cu foam is made up of nanodendrites, which reduce the wettability of the surface. Hence, the surface exhibits hydrophobic nature and inhibits the growth of bacterial flora along with the elimination of dead bacterial cells. The fabricated surface exhibits a water contact angle (WCA) of 158.7 ± 0.17°. Specifically, we tested the fabricated material against both the Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial models. The antibacterial activity of the fabricated surface is evident from the growth inhibition percentage of bacterial strains of Escherichia coli (72.30 ± 0.60%) and Bacillus subtilis (48.30 ± 1.71%). The micrographs obtained from scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) of the treated cells show the damaged cellular structures of the bacteria, which is strong evidence of successful antibacterial action. The antibacterial effect can be attributed to the synergistic mechano-chemo mode of action involving mechanical disruption of the bacterial cell wall by the nanoprotrusions present on the Cu dendrites along with the chemical interaction of the Ag nanodots with vital intracellular components.

Interface engineering of moisture-induced ionic albumen dielectric layers through self-crosslinking of cysteine amino acids for low voltage, high-performance organic field-effect transistors.

The interface roughness between the semiconducting and dielectric layers of organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) plays a crucial role in the charge transport mechanism through the device. Here we report the interface engineering of a moisture induced ionic albumen material through systematic control of the temperature-dependent self-crosslinking of cysteine amino acids in the dielectric layer. The evolution of the surface morphologies of albumen and pentacene semiconducting films has been studied to achieve a smooth interface for enhanced charge transport. A structural transition of pentacene films from crystalline dendrite to amorphous was induced by the higher surface roughness of the albumen film. The devices showed a high transconductance of 11.68 µS at a lower threshold voltage of -0.9 V.

Predicting Accurate Lead Structures for Screening Molecular Libraries: A Quantum Crystallographic Approach.

Optimization of lead structures is crucial for drug discovery. However, the accuracy of such a prediction using the traditional molecular docking approach remains a major concern. Our study demonstrates that the employment of quantum crystallographic approach-counterpoise corrected kernel energy method (KEM-CP) can improve the accuracy by and large. We select human aldose reductase at 0.66 Å, cyclin dependent kinase 2 at 2.0 Å and estrogen receptor ß at 2.7 Å resolutions with active site environment ranging from highly hydrophilic to moderate to highly hydrophobic and several of their known ligands. Overall, the use of KEM-CP alongside the GoldScore resulted superior prediction than the GoldScore alone. Unlike GoldScore, the KEM-CP approach is neither environment-specific nor structural resolution dependent, which highlights its versatility. Further, the ranking of the ligands based on the KEM-CP results correlated well with that of the experimental IC50 values. This computationally inexpensive yet simple approach is expected to ease the process of virtual screening of potent ligands, and it would advance the drug discovery research.

Small-Molecule-Functionalized Hyperbranched Polyglycerol Dendrimers for Inhibiting Protein Aggregation.

Amyloid protein aggregation is responsible for a variety of neurodegenerative diseases, and antiamyloidogenic small molecules are identified for inhibiting such protein aggregation at extra-/intracellular space. We show that the nanoparticle form of small molecules offers better antiamyloidogenic performance via enhanced bioavailability and multivalent binding with protein. Here, we report hyperbranched polyglycerol dendrimers terminated with antiamyloidogenic small molecules such as gallate, tyrosine, and trehalose and their potential in inhibiting lysozyme/huntingtin protein aggregation under intra-/extracellular space. The synthesized functional dendrimers are ∼5 nm in size having an average molecular weight of ∼2000 Da, and they are highly biocompatible in nature. We found that functional dendrimers are efficient in micromolar doses with respect to molecular forms that are effective at millimolar concentration. It is observed that the trehalose-terminated dendrimer is more effective in inhibiting protein aggregation, whereas the gallate-terminated dendrimer is more effective in disintegrating mature protein fibrils. This approach can be used to design functional dendrimers as potential nanodrugs for the treatment of various neurodegenerative diseases.

Low Operating Voltage Organic Field-Effect Transistors with Gelatin as a Moisture-Induced Ionic Dielectric Layer: The Issues of High Carrier Mobility.

We have developed low-voltage (<2 V) flexible organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) with high carrier mobility using gelatin as a moisture-induced ionic gate dielectric system. Ionic concentration in the gelatin layer depends on the relative humidity condition during the measurement. The capacitance of the dielectric layer used for the calculation of field-effect carrier mobility for the OFETs crucially depends on the frequency at which the capacitance was measured. The results of frequency-dependent gate capacitance together with the anomalous bias-stress effect have been used to determine the exact frequency at which the carrier mobility should be calculated. The observed carrier mobility of the devices is 0.33 cm2/Vs with the capacitance measured at frequency 20 mHz. It can be overestimated to 14 cm2/Vs with the capacitance measured at 100 kHz. The devices can be used as highly sensitive humidity sensors. About three orders of magnitude variation in device current have been observed on the changes in relative humidity (RH) levels from 10 to 80%. The devices show a fast response with a response and recovery times of ∼100 and ∼110 ms, respectively. The devices are flexible up to a 5 mm bending radius.

Trehalose-Conjugated, Catechin-Loaded Polylactide Nanoparticles for Improved Neuroprotection against Intracellular Polyglutamine Aggregates.

Intracellular/extracellular protein aggregation is linked to a variety of neurodegenerative diseases. Current research focuses on identifying antiamyloidogenic small molecules to inhibit such protein aggregation and associated cytotoxicity. We have recently demonstrated that transforming these antiamyloidogenic small molecules into nanoparticle forms can greatly improve their performance, and biocompatible/biodegradable formulation of such nanoparticles is critical for therapeutic applications. Here, we report polylactide (PL)-based biodegradable nanoparticles for improved neuroprotection against polyglutamine (polyQ) aggregation that is responsible for Huntington's disease. PL is terminated with an antiamyloidogenic trehalose molecule or the neurotransmitter dopamine, and the resultant nanoparticle is loaded with the antiamyloidogenic catechin molecule. The self-assembled nanoparticle is ∼200 nm in size and enters into the neuronal cell, inhibits polyQ aggregation, lowers oxidative stress, and enhances cell proliferation against polyQ aggregates. This biodegradable polymer can be used in nanoformulation of other reported antiamyloidogenic molecules for testing various animal models of neurodegenerative diseases.

Defect-Engineered MoS2 Nanostructures for Reactive Oxygen Species Generation in the Dark: Antipollutant and Antifungal Performances.

Meticulous surface engineering of layered structures toward new functionalities is a demanding challenge to the scientific community. Here, we introduce defects on varied MoS2 surfaces by suitable doping of nitrogen atoms in a sulfur-rich reaction environment, resulting in stable and scalable phase conversion. The experimental characterizations along with the theoretical calculations within the framework of density functional theory establish the impact of nitrogen doping on stabilization of defects and reconstruction of the 2H to 1T phase. The as-synthesized MoS2 samples exhibit excellent dye removal capacity in the dark, facilitated by a synergistic effect of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and adsorption. Positron annihilation spectroscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance studies substantiate the role of defects and associated sulfur vacancies toward ROS generation in the dark. Further, on the basis of its ample ROS generation in the dark and in the light, the commendable antimicrobial activity of the prepared MoS2 samples against fungal pathogen Alternaria alternata has been demonstrated. Thus, the present study opens up a futuristic avenue to develop newer functional materials through defect engineering by suitable dopants toward superior performances in environment issues.

Organic Field-Effect Transistor-Based Ultrafast, Flexible, Physiological-Temperature Sensors with Hexagonal Barium Titanate Nanocrystals in Amorphous Matrix as Sensing Material.

Organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) with hexagonal barium titanate nanocrystals (h-BTNCs) in amorphous matrix as one of the bilayer dielectric systems have been fabricated on a highly flexible 10 µm thick poly(ethylene terephthalate) substrate. The device current and mobility remain constant up to a bending radius of 4 mm, which makes the substrate suitable for wearable e-skin applications. h-BTNC films are found to be highly temperature-sensitive, and the OFETs designed based on this material showed ultraprecision measurement (∼4.3 mK), low power (∼1 µW at 1.2 V operating voltage), and ultrafast response (∼24 ms) in sensing temperature over a range of 20-45 °C continuously. The sensors are highly stable around body temperature and work at various extreme conditions, such as under water and in solutions of different pH values and various salt concentrations. These properties make this sensor unique and highly suitable for various healthcare and other applications, wherein a small variation of temperature around this temperature range is required to be measured at an ultrahigh speed.

P-type ß-MoO2 nanostructures on n-Si by hydrogenation process: synthesis and application towards self-biased UV-visible photodetection.

We report on the synthesis and UV-vis photodetection application of p-type MoO2 nanostructures (NSs) on Si substrate. ß-MoO2 NSs have been synthesized from previously grown α-MoO3 structures/n-type Si via a hydrogenation process at 450 °C. After hydrogenation, the α-MoO3 structures were completely converted into ß-MoO2 NSs without the presence of sub-oxidized phases of molybdenum oxide. The as-grown NSs exhibited very good p-type electrical conductivity of ≈2.02 × 103 S-cm-1 with hole mobility of ≈7.8 ± 1.3 cm2-V-1-Sec-1. To explore optoelectronic properties of p-type ß-MoO2 NSs, we have fabricated a p-MoO2/n-Si heterojunction photodetector device with Au as the top and Al as the bottom contacts. The device exhibits peak photoresponsivity of ≈0.155 A W-1 with maximum detectivity ≈1.28 × 1011 cm-Hz1/2-W-1 and 44% external quantum efficiency around ≈436 nm, following the highest photoresponse (I ph/I d ≈ 6.4 × 102) and good response speed (rise time ∼29 ms and decay time ∼38 ms) at -1.5 V. Importantly, this device also shows good self-powered high-speed (rise time ∼47 ms and decay time ∼70 ms) photodetection performance with peak responsivity and detectivity of ≈45 mA W-1 and ≈4.05 × 1010 cm-Hz1/2-W-1, respectively. This broadband UV-visible light detection feature can be attributed to the coordinated effects of MoO2 band-edge absorption, interfacial defects and self absorption in Si. The photodetection behavior of the device has been understood by proposed energy-band diagrams with the help of an experimentally derived work function, band gap and valence band maximum position of MoO2 NSs.

Antiamyloidogenic Chemical/Biochemical-Based Designed Nanoparticle as Artificial Chaperone for Efficient Inhibition of Protein Aggregation.

Protein aggregation is linked to variety of neurodegenerative disorders and other diseases. Current research involves understanding the mechanism of protein aggregation, inhibiting protein aggregation under intra/extracellular space, lowering toxicity arising due to soluble oligomers, and augmenting the clearance of protein aggregates from the brain. Toward this direction, different types of antiamyloidogenic small molecules, macromolecules, and nanomaterials are identified that can inhibit protein aggregation, and extensive progress has been made for their effective utilization. Here, we summarize our effort in designing a nanoparticle form of antiamyloidogenic molecules with enhanced performance under in vitro and in vivo conditions. We found that the nanoparticle form of antiamyloidogenic molecules can perform up to 100,000-times better than the respective molecular form due to the combined effect of enhanced bioavailability at intra/extracellular space and multivalent binding property with aggregating protein. This work demonstrates that further research should be directed toward designing nanoparticle forms of antiamyloidogenic molecules for their effective performance.

Trehalose-Functionalized Gold Nanoparticle for Inhibiting Intracellular Protein Aggregation.

Trehalose is a well-known antiamyloidogenic molecule that inhibits protein aggregation under the intracellular/extracellular condition, and recent work shows that the nanoparticle form of trehalose can further enhance this performance. Here we have designed a trehalose-functionalized Au nanoparticle that can inhibit the aggregation of a polyglutamine-containing mutant protein inside the neuronal cell. Designed nanoparticles have a 20-30 nm Au core with about 350 ± 50 trehalose molecules per particle on the surface on average. They enter the cell, inhibit mutant protein aggregation, and enhance the cell survival against toxic protein aggregates. This work extends the application potential of trehalose for the understanding and treatment of different diseases involving protein aggregation.