Chips from Chips: Application to the Study of Antibody Responses to Methylated Proteins

Recent Developments in Artificial Super-Wettable Surfaces Based on Bioinspired Polymeric Materials for Biomedical Applications

Inspired by nature, significant research efforts have been made to discover the diverse range of biomaterials for various biomedical applications such as drug development, disease diagnosis, biomedical testing, therapy, etc. Polymers as bioinspired materials with extreme wettable properties, such as superhydrophilic and superhydrophobic surfaces, have received considerable interest in the past due to their multiple applications in anti-fogging, anti-icing, self-cleaning, oil-water separation, biosensing, and effective transportation of water. Apart from the numerous technological applications for extreme wetting and self-cleaning products, recently, super-wettable surfaces based on polymeric materials have also emerged as excellent candidates in studying biological processes. In this review, we systematically illustrate the designing and processing of artificial, super-wettable surfaces by using different polymeric materials for a variety of biomedical applications including tissue engineering, drug/gene delivery, molecular recognition, and diagnosis. Special attention has been paid to applications concerning the identification, control, and analysis of exceedingly small molecular amounts and applications permitting high cell and biomaterial cell screening. Current outlook and future prospects are also provided.

Recent progress in beetle-inspired superhydrophilic-superhydrophobic micropatterned water-collection materials

Biological creatures with unique surface wettability have long served as a source of inspiration for scientists and engineers. More specifically, certain beetle species in the Namib Desert have evolved to collect water from fog on their backs by way of wettability patterns, which attracted an ongoing interest in biomimetic studies. Bioinspired materials exhibiting extreme wetting properties, such as superhydrophilic and superhydrophobic surfaces, have attracted considerable attention because of their potential use in various applications. Combining these two extreme states of superhydrophilicity and superhydrophobicity on the same surface in precise two-dimensional micropatterns opens exciting new functionalities and possibilities for a wide variety of applications. In this review we briefly describe the water-harvesting mechanisms of a genus of Namib Desert beetle, Stenocarpa, consisting of the theory of wetting and transporting. Then we describe the methods for fabricating superhydrophilic-superhydrophobic patterns and highlight some of the newer and emerging applications of these patterned substrates that are currently being explored. Finally, we provide conclusions and outlook concerning the future development of bioinspired surfaces of patterned wettability.

Natural T Cell Epitope Containing Methyl Lysines on Mycobacterial Heparin-Binding Hemagglutinin

T cell epitopes are mostly nonmodified peptides, although posttranslationally modified peptide epitopes have been described, but they originated from viral or self-proteins. In this study, we provide evidence of a bacterial methylated T cell peptide epitope. The mycobacterial heparin-binding hemagglutinin (HBHA) is a protein Ag with a complex C-terminal methylation pattern and is recognized by T cells from humans latently infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis By comparing native HBHA with recombinant HBHA produced in Mycobacterium smegmatis (rHBHA-Ms), we could link antigenic differences to differences in the methylation profile. Peptide scan analyses led to the discovery of a peptide containing methyl lysines recognized by a mAb that binds to native HBHA ∼100-fold better than to rHBHA-Ms This peptide was also recognized by T cells from latently infected humans, as evidenced by IFN-γ release upon peptide stimulation. The nonmethylated peptide did not induce IFN-γ, arguing that the methyl lysines are part of the T cell epitope.

Bio-Inspired Extreme Wetting Surfaces for Biomedical Applications

Biological creatures with unique surface wettability have long served as a source of inspiration for scientists and engineers. More specifically, materials exhibiting extreme wetting properties, such as superhydrophilic and superhydrophobic surfaces, have attracted considerable attention because of their potential use in various applications, such as self-cleaning fabrics, anti-fog windows, anti-corrosive coatings, drag-reduction systems, and efficient water transportation. In particular, the engineering of surface wettability by manipulating chemical properties and structure opens emerging biomedical applications ranging from high-throughput cell culture platforms to biomedical devices. This review describes design and fabrication methods for artificial extreme wetting surfaces. Next, we introduce some of the newer and emerging biomedical applications using extreme wetting surfaces. Current challenges and future prospects of the surfaces for potential biomedical applications are also addressed.

Kdm2a/b Lysine Demethylases Regulate Canonical Wnt Signaling by Modulating the Stability of Nuclear β-Catenin

In the absence of Wnt activation, cytosolic β-catenin is degraded through GSK3/CK1-mediated phosphorylation at the N terminus. Here, we show that, upon Wnt activation, the stability of nuclear β-catenin is regulated via methylation/demethylation. The protein lysine demethylases Kdm2a and Kdm2b regulate the turnover of non-phosphorylated β-catenin specifically within the nucleus via direct interaction with the fourth and fifth armadillo repeats. The lysine residues within this region are required for the methylation of non-phosphorylated β-catenin, which is demethylated by Kdm2a/b and subsequently ubiquitylated. During Xenopus embryogenesis, kdm2a/b genes are transcribed during early embryogenesis and are required for the specification of the body axis. Kdm2a/b knockdown in Xenopus embryos leads to increases in non-phosphorylated and methylated β-catenin, concurrent with the upregulation of β-catenin target genes. This mechanism is required for controlling the output of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway to maintain normal cellular functions.

Substrate porosity induces phenotypic alterations in retinal cells cultured on silicon nanowires

Limitations of silicon nanowire arrays produced using chemical etching for drug delivery.

The antimicrobial effect of silicon nanowires decorated with silver and copper nanoparticles

The paper reports on the preparation and antibacterial activity of silicon nanowire (SiNW) substrates coated with Ag or Cu nanoparticles (NPs) against Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria. The substrates are easily prepared using the metal-assisted chemical etching of crystalline silicon in hydrofluoric acid/silver nitrate (HF/AgNO3) aqueous solution. Decoration of the SiNWs with metal NPs is achieved by simple immersion in HF aqueous solutions containing silver or copper salts. The SiNWs coated with Ag NPs are biocompatible with human lung adenocarcinoma epithelial cell line A549 while possessing strong antibacterial properties to E. coli. In contrast, the SiNWs decorated with Cu NPs showed higher cytotoxicity and slightly lower antibacterial activity. Moreover, it was also observed that leakage of sugars and proteins from the cell wall of E. coli in interaction with SiNWs decorated with Ag NPs is higher compared to SiNWs modified with Cu NPs.

Laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometric analysis of surfactants on functionalized carbon nanotubes

RATIONALE

Recently, unmodified and carboxylated carbon nanotubes have been used as assisting surfaces laser desorption/ionization (LDI) in mass spectrometry. The functionalization of carbon nanotubes with organic compounds should lead to a gamut of other promising LDI-assisting surfaces.

METHODS

Carboxylated carbon nanotubes were functionalized with sinapinic acid either covalently or by creating an ionic macro-complex. Polyether-based surfactants were used as analytes to examine the properties of these new matrices. Mass spectrometric analysis was conducted on a LDI-quadrupole time-of-flight (QTOF) mass spectrometer. Carbon nanotube surfaces were deposited from suspension using the dried-droplet method.

RESULTS

The functionalization of the carbon nanotubes was confirmed with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The usefulness of each material was examined with two poly(ethylene glycol) hexadecyl ether amphiphiles (Brij® 52 and Brij® 56) and a poly(ethylene glycol) monomethyl ether as analytes. Generally, the mass spectra obtained with carbon nanotubes covalently functionalized with sinapinic acid as a matrix had peaks with higher intensities than those obtained with carbon nanotubes functionalized by ionic macro-complex formation.

CONCLUSIONS

The presented new materials based on functionalized carbon nanotubes are effective in the LDI mass analysis of polyether amphiphiles and poly(ethylene glycol) monomethyl ether. This type of assisting surfaces can be highly modified by appropriate functionalization procedures.

Deciphering enzyme function using peptide arrays

Enzymes are key molecules in signal-transduction pathways. However, only a small fraction of more than 500 human kinases, 300 human proteases and 200 human phosphatases is characterised so far. Peptide microarray based technologies for extremely efficient profiling of enzyme substrate specificity emerged in the last years. This technology reduces set-up time for HTS assays and allows the identification of downstream targets. Moreover, peptide microarrays enable optimisation of enzyme substrates. Focus of this review is on assay principles for measuring activities of kinases, phosphatases or proteases and on substrate identification/optimisation for kinases. Additionally, several examples for reliable identification of substrates for lysine methyl-transferases, histone deacetylases and SUMO-transferases are given. Finally, use of high-density peptide microarrays for the simultaneous profiling of kinase activities in complex biological samples like cell lysates or lysates of complete organisms is described. All published examples of peptide arrays used for enzyme profiling are summarised comprehensively.

Diamond nanowires for highly sensitive matrix-free mass spectrometry analysis of small molecules

This paper reports on the use of boron-doped diamond nanowires (BDD NWs) as an inorganic substrate for matrix-free laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (LDI-MS) analysis of small molecules. The diamond nanowires are prepared by reactive ion etching (RIE) with oxygen plasma of highly boron-doped (the boron level is 10(19) B cm(-3)) or undoped nanocrystalline diamond substrates. The resulting diamond nanowires are coated with a thin silicon oxide layer that confers a superhydrophilic character to the surface. To minimize droplet spreading, the nanowires were chemically functionalized with octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) and then UV/ozone treated to reach a final water contact angle of 120°. The sub-bandgap absorption under UV laser irradiation and the heat confinement inside the nanowires allowed desorption/ionization, most likely via a thermal mechanism, and mass spectrometry analysis of small molecules. A detection limit of 200 zeptomole for verapamil was demonstrated.

Guided transport of water droplets on superhydrophobic-hydrophilic patterned Si nanowires

We present a facile method to fabricate hydrophilic patterns in superhydrophobic Si nanowire (NW) arrays for guiding water droplets. The superhydrophobic Si NW arrays were obtained by simple dip-coating of dodecyltrichlorosilane (DTS). The water contact angles (CAs) of DTS-coated Si NW arrays drastically increased and saturated at the superhydrophobic regime (water CA ≥ 150°) as the lengths of NWs increased. The demonstrated superhydrophobic surfaces show an extreme water repellent property and small CA hysteresis of less than 7°, which enable the water droplets to easily roll off. The wettability of the DTS-coated Si NW arrays can be converted from superhydrophobic to hydrophilic via UV-enhanced photodecomposition of the DTS, and such wettability conversion was reproducible on the same surfaces by repeating the DTS coating and photodecomposition processes. The resulting water guiding tracks were successfully demonstrated via selective patterning of the hydrophilic region on superhydrophobic Si NW arrays, which could enable water droplets to move along defined trajectories.

Silicon nanowire arrays-induced graphene oxide reduction under UV irradiation

This paper reports on efficient UV irradiation-induced reduction of exfoliated graphene oxide. Direct illumination of an aqueous solution of graphene oxide at λ = 312 nm for 6 h resulted in the formation of graphene nanosheets dispersible in water. X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and electrochemical measurements (cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy) suggest a restoration of the sp(2) carbon network. The results were compared with graphene nanosheets prepared by photochemical irradiation of a GO aqueous solution in the presence of hydrogenated silicon nanowire (SiNW) arrays or silicon nanowire arrays decorated with silver (SiNW/Ag NPs) or copper nanoparticles (SiNW/Cu NPs). Graphene nanosheets obtained by illumination of the GO aqueous solution at 312 nm for 6 h in the presence of SiNW/Cu NPs exhibited superior electrochemical charge transfer characteristics. This is mainly due to the higher amount of sp(2)-hybridized carbon in these graphene sheets found by XPS analysis. The high level of extended conjugated carbon network was also evident by the water insoluble nature of the resulting graphene nanosheets, which precipitated upon photochemical reduction.

High sensitive matrix-free mass spectrometry analysis of peptides using silicon nanowires-based digital microfluidic device

We present for the first time an electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD) microfluidic system coupled to a surface-assisted laser desorption-ionization (SALDI) silicon nanowire-based interface for mass spectrometry (MS) analysis of small biomolecules. Here, the transfer of analytes has been achieved on specific locations on the SALDI interface followed by their subsequent mass spectrometry analysis without the use of an organic matrix. To achieve this purpose, a device comprising a digital microfluidic system and a patterned superhydrophobic/superhydrophilic silicon nanowire interface was developed. The digital microfluidic system serves for the displacement of the droplets containing analytes, via an electrowetting actuation, inside the superhydrophilic patterns. The nanostructured silicon interface acts as an inorganic target for matrix-free laser desorption-ionization mass spectrometry analysis of the dried analytes. The proposed device can be easily used to realize several basic operations of a Lab-on-Chip such as analyte displacement and rinsing prior to MS analysis. We have demonstrated that the analysis of low molecular weight compounds (700 m/z) can be achieved with a very high sensitivity (down to 10 fmol μL(-1)).