Attenuation of the early events of α-synuclein aggregation: a fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and laser scanning microscopy study in the presence of surface-coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles.

The aggregation of α-synuclein (A-syn) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Although the early events of aggregation and not the matured amyloid fibrils are believed to be responsible for the toxicity, it has been difficult to probe the formation of early oligomers experimentally. We studied the effect of Fe3O4 nanoparticle (NP) in the early stage of aggregation of A-syn using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) and laser scanning microscopy. The binding between the monomeric protein and NPs was also studied using FCS at single-molecule resolution. Our data showed that the addition of bare Fe3O4 NPs accelerated the rate of early aggregation, and it did not bind the monomeric A-syn. In contrast, L-lysine (Lys)-coated Fe3O4 NPs showed strong binding with the monomeric A-syn, inhibiting the early events of aggregation. Lys-coated Fe3O4 NPs showed significantly less cell toxicity compared with bare Fe3O4 NPs and can be explored as a possible strategy to develop therapeutic application against PD. To the best of our knowledge, this report is the first example of using a small molecule to attenuate the early (and arguably the most relevant in terms of PD pathogenesis) events of A-syn aggregation.

Fluorescence sensing of caffeine in aqueous solution with carbazole-based probe and imaging application in live cells.

The host-guest interaction of caffeine in aqueous solutions has been achieved by using carbazole based imino-phenol receptors with oxopurines influences their fluorescence properties and can be exploited for 'turn-ON' fluorescence sensing of caffeine. This new fluorescent probe with high sensitivity and selectivity for detection and first time imaging of caffeine in living cells was developed in aqueous media.

A facile synthesis of PEG-coated magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles and their prevention of the reduction of cytochrome c.

We report here a facile and green synthetic approach to prepare magnetite (Fe(3)O(4)) nanoparticles (NPs) with magnetic core and polyethylene glycol (PEG) surface coating. The interaction of the bare and PEG-coated Fe(3)O(4) NPs with cytochrome c (cyt c, an important protein with direct role in the electron transfer chain) is also reported in this study. With ultrasonication as the only peptization method and water as the synthesis medium, this method is easy, fast, and environmentally benign. The PEG coated NPs are highly water dispersible and stable. The bare NPs have considerable magnetism at room temperature; surface modification by PEG has resulted in softening the magnetization. This approach can very well be applicable to prepare biocompatible, surface-modified soft magnetic materials, which may offer enormous utility in the field of biomedical research. Detailed characterizations including XRD, FTIR, TG/DTA, TEM, and VSM of the PEG-coated Fe(3)O(4) NPs were carried out in order to ensure the future applicability of this method. Although the interaction of bare NPs with cyt c shows reduction of the protein, efficient surface modification by PEG prevents its reduction.

Ag-TiO2 nanoparticle codoped SiO2 films on ZrO2 barrier-coated glass substrates with antibacterial activity in ambient condition.

Anatase TiO2 and Ag nanoparticles (NPs) codoped SiO2 films were prepared by the sol-gel method. Proportionate amounts of 3-(glycidoxypropyl)trimethoxysilane (GLYMO), tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) and 3-(methacryloxypropyl)trimethoxysilane (MEMO) derived inorganic-organic silica sol, commercially available dispersed anatase TiO2 NPs, and AgNO3 were used to prepare the sols. The films were prepared on ZrO2 (cubic) precoated soda-lime glass substrates by a single-dipping technique and heat-treated at 450 °C in air and H2/Ar atmosphere to obtain hard, relatively porous, and transparent coatings of thickness>600 nm. The ZrO2 barrier layer was previously applied on soda-lime glass to restrict the diffusion of Ag into the substrate. The Ag-TiO2 NPs incorporated SiO2 films were intense yellow in color and found to be fairly stable at ambient condition for several days under fluorescent light. These films show a considerable growth inhibition on contact with the gram negative bacteria E. coli.