Assessment of Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticle Poly(Ethylene Glycol) Coatings on Magnetic Resonance Relaxation for Early Disease Detection

Objective

Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles (SPIONs) are widely researched as contrast agents in clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). SPIONs are frequently coated with anti-biofouling substances such as poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) to prevent protein deposition and improve circulation time in vivo. However, few previous studies have comprehensively examined optimization of SPION MR properties with respect to physicochemical properties of the core SPION and the polymeric coating. The aim of this study is to determine effects of different methods of chemical attachment of a polymer, polymer chain length, and polymer coating density on the MR relaxivities of SPIONs, thereby contributing to a better understanding of the interaction of these parameters and the efficacy of the designed agent.

Results

These studies indicate that the chemical composition and, in particular, the hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity of the chemical group linking PEG chains to a SPION core may play a larger role in the resulting MR relaxivities than other variable properties such as SPION core size and PEG chain length.

Conclusions

The method of SPION fabrication and chemical composition of the coating play a significant role in the MR relaxivities of the resulting particles. These results should be considered in the fabrication of particles for clinical purposes, particularly when optimization of the MR relaxivities is desired.

Targeted Nanoparticle Binding to Hydroxyapatite in a High Serum Environment for Early Detection of Heart Disease

The impact of the protein-rich in vivo environment on targeted binding of functionalized nanoparticles has been an active field of research over the past several years. Current research aims at better understanding the nature of the protein corona and how it may be possible for targeted binding to occur even in the presence of serum. Much of the current research focuses on nanoparticles targeted to particular cell receptors or features with the aim of cellular uptake. However, similar research has not been performed on nanoparticles that are targeted to non-protein disease features, such as hydroxyapatite (HA). HA is a crystalline calcium-phosphate mineral that is present in large quantities in bone, and in smaller quantities in diseased cardiovascular tissue in cases of atherosclerosis or various stenoses. Our work aims to gain a better understanding of the behavior of PEGylated, peptide-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) in a biologically-relevant high-protein environment (50% serum). We first determined that specific binding to HA occurs at significantly higher rates than non-specific binding in the absence of serum protein. We then examined nanoparticle interactions with serum proteins, including determination of the relative quantities of protein in the hard vs. soft protein corona. Finally, we examined specific and non-specific binding of targeted SPIONs in 50% serum, and determined that targeted binding may still occur with significant (p < 0.05) selectivity. We hypothesize that this may be because the nature of the binding interactions between the peptides and the HA are, by definition, less specific than the protein-protein interactions required for nanoparticles to bind to specific cells or cell features. These results suggest that these targeted SPIONs may be further developed for use in early detection of heart diseases such as atherosclerosis and aortic stenosis.

Coordinated regulation of acid resistance in Escherichia coli

Background

Enteric Escherichia coli survives the highly acidic environment of the stomach through multiple acid resistance (AR) mechanisms. The most effective system, AR2, decarboxylates externally-derived glutamate to remove cytoplasmic protons and excrete GABA. The first described system, AR1, does not require an external amino acid. Its mechanism has not been determined. The regulation of the multiple AR systems and their coordination with broader cellular metabolism has not been fully explored.

Results

We utilized a combination of ChIP-Seq and gene expression analysis to experimentally map the regulatory interactions of four TFs: nac, ntrC, ompR, and csiR. Our data identified all previously in vivo confirmed direct interactions and revealed several others previously inferred from gene expression data. Our data demonstrate that nac and csiR directly modulate AR, and leads to a regulatory network model in which all four TFs participate in coordinating acid resistance, glutamate metabolism, and nitrogen metabolism. This model predicts a novel mechanism for AR1 by which the decarboxylation enzymes of AR2 are used with internally derived glutamate. This hypothesis makes several testable predictions that we confirmed experimentally.

Conclusions

Our data suggest that the regulatory network underlying AR is complex and deeply interconnected with the regulation of GABA and glutamate metabolism, nitrogen metabolism. These connections underlie and experimentally validated model of AR1 in which the decarboxylation enzymes of AR2 are used with internally derived glutamate.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12918-016-0376-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.