Advancements in nanosensors using plastic antibodies.

Biosensors possess recognition elements that bind to target molecules which lead to detectable signals. Incorporation of noble metal nanomaterials into biosensors allows for rapid and simple biomolecule detection. Herein, recent developments in affinity nanosensors will be discussed. These sensors often include naturally occurring recognition elements such as antibodies and DNA. As samples become more complex, new recognition elements are sought. For instance, plastic antibodies provide alternative and more environmentally stable recognition elements than traditional antibodies. Molecular imprinted polymers, a class of plastic antibodies, promote biomolecule recognition and detection. The incorporation of noble metal nanomaterials into molecular imprinted polymer biosensors for real world applications will be explored. Further improvements in the design of artificial recognition agents are envisioned to facilitate new methods for complex biological and chemical analyses.

Salt-mediated self-assembly of thioctic acid on gold nanoparticles.

Self-assembled monolayer (SAM) modification is a widely used method to improve the functionality and stability of bulk and nanoscale materials. For instance, the chemical compatibility and utility of solution-phase nanoparticles are often improved using covalently bound SAMs. Herein, solution-phase gold nanoparticles are modified with thioctic acid SAMs in the presence and absence of salt. Molecular packing density on the nanoparticle surfaces is estimated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and increases by ∼20% when molecular self-assembly occurs in the presence versus the absence of salt. We hypothesize that as the ionic strength of the solution increases, pinhole and collapsed-site defects in the SAM are more easily accessible as the electrostatic interaction energy between adjacent molecules decreases, thereby facilitating the subsequent assembly of additional thioctic acid molecules. Significantly, increased SAM packing densities increase the stability of functionalized gold nanoparticles by a factor of 2 relative to nanoparticles functionalized in the absence of salt. These results are expected to improve the reproducible functionalization of solution-phase nanomaterials for various applications.

Implications of citrate concentration during the seeded growth synthesis of gold nanoparticles.

Increasing the citrate concentration during the seeded growth synthesis of gold nanoparticles yields materials with decreased aspect ratios and increased defect densities. The stability of these nanoparticles is attributed to variations in their overall Gibb's free energy.

Oxidase, superoxide dismutase, and hydrogen peroxide reductase activities of methanobactin from types I and II methanotrophs.

Methanobactin (mb) is a copper-binding chromopeptide that appears to be involved in oxidation of methane by the membrane-associated or particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO). To examine this potential physiological role, the redox and catalytic properties of mb from three different methanotrophs were examined in the absence and presence of O(2). Metal free mb from the type II methanotroph Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b, but not from the type I methanotrophs Methylococcus capsulatus Bath or Methylomicrobium album BG8, were reduced by a variety of reductants, including NADH and duroquinol, and catalyzed the reduction of O(2) to O(2)(-). Copper-containing mb (Cu-mb) from all three methanotrophs showed several interesting properties, including reductase dependent oxidase activity, dismutation of O(2)(-) to H(2)O(2), and the reductant dependent reduction of H(2)O(2) to H(2)O. The superoxide dismutase-like and hydrogen peroxide reductase activities of Cu-mb were 4 and 1 order(s) of magnitude higher, respectively, than the observed oxidase activity. The results demonstrate that Cu-mb from all three methanotrophs are redox-active molecules and oxygen radical scavengers, with the capacity to detoxify both superoxide and hydrogen peroxide without the formation of the hydroxyl radicals associated with Fenton reactions. As previously observed with Cu-mb from Ms. trichosporium OB3b, Cu-mb from both type I methanotrophs stimulated pMMO activity. However, in contrast to previous studies using mb from Ms. trichosporium OB3b, pMMO activity was not inhibited by mb from the two type I methanotrophs at low copper to mb ratios.