Linhai Zhuo

A New Nanobiosensor for Glucose with High Sensitivity and Selectivity in Serum Based on Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) between CdTe Quantum Dots and Au Nanoparticles

A novel assembled nanobiosensor QDs-ConA-beta-CDs-AuNPs was designed for the direct determination of glucose in serum with high sensitivity and selectivity. The sensing approach is based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between CdTe quantum dots (QDs) as an energy donor and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as an energy acceptor. The specific combination of concanavalin A (ConA)-conjugated QDs and thiolated beta-cyclodextrins (beta-SH-CDs)-modified AuNPs assembles a hyperefficient FRET nanobiosensor. In the presence of glucose, the AuNPs-beta-CDs segment of the nanobiosensor is displaced by glucose which competes with beta-CDs on the binding sites of ConA, resulting in the fluorescence recovery of the quenched QDs. Experimental results show that the increase in fluorescence intensity is proportional to the concentration of glucose within the range of 0.10-50 muM under the optimized experimental conditions. In addition, the nanobiosensor has high sensitivity with a detection limit as low as 50 nM, and has excellent selectivity for glucose over other sugars and most biological species present in serum. The nanobiosensor was applied directly to determine glucose in normal adult human serum, and the recovery and precision of the method were satisfactory. The unique combination of high sensitivity and good selectivity of this biosensor indicates its potential for the clinical determination of glucose directly and simply in serum, and provides the possibility to detect low levels of glucose in single cells or bacterial cultures. Moreover, the designed nanobiosensor achieves direct detection in biological samples, suggesting the use of nanobiotechnology-based assembled sensors for direct analytical applications in vivo or in vitro.

Sol–solvothermal synthesis and microwave evolution of La(OH)3 nanorods to La2O3 nanorods

Solvothermal synthesis of La(OH)3 sol and microwave radiation drying of La(OH)3 nanorods were employed for the first time to synthesize La2O3 nanorods with diameters around 10 nm and lengths up to 200 nm. The resulting products were characterized with XRD, TEM and HRTEM. Microwave radiation drying was found to be more effective to maintain the morphologies of nanorods than conventional drying.

A Highly Selective, Cell‐Permeable Fluorescent Nanoprobe for Ratiometric Detection and Imaging of Peroxynitrite in Living Cells

Peroxynitrite (ONOO(-)) is a highly reactive species implicated in the pathology of numerous diseases and there is currently great interest in developing fluorescent probes that can selectively detect ONOO(-) in living cells. Herein, a polymeric micelle-based and cell-penetrating peptide-coated fluorescent nanoprobe that incorporates ONOO(-) indicator dye and reference dye for the ratiometric detection and imaging of ONOO(-) has been developed. The nanoprobe effectively avoids the influences from enzymatic reaction and high-concentration ·OH and ClO(-). The improved ONOO(-) selectivity of the nanoprobe is achieved by a delicate complementarity of properties between the nanomatrix and the embedded molecular probe (BzSe-Cy). This nanoprobe also has other attractive properties, such as good water solubility, photostability, biocompatibility, and near-infrared excitation and emission. Fluorescence imaging experiments by confocal microscopy show that this nanoprobe is capable of visualizing ONOO(-) produced in living cells and it exhibits very low toxicity and good membrane permeability. We anticipate that this technique will be a potential tool for the precise pathological understanding and diagnosis of ONOO(-)-related human diseases.

The fabrication of La(OH)3 nanospheres by a controllable-hydrothermal method with citric acid as a protective agent

La(OH)3 nanospheres have been synthesized with La(NO3)3 and KOH as the starting materials and citric acid as a protective agent through a facile controllable hydrothermal method. The obtained products were analysed with x-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The formation mechanism of the La(OH)3 nanospheres was investigated in detail.

A tumor mRNA-dependent gold nanoparticle–molecular beacon carrier for controlled drug release and intracellular imaging

We demonstrate a tumor mRNA-dependent drug carrier for controlled release of doxorubicin (Dox) and intracellular imaging based on gold nanoparticle-molecular beacon. Fluorescent Dox is released effectively and induces apoptosis in breast cancer cells but not in normal cells. Significantly, the release of Dox is correlated positively with the quantities of tumor mRNA, which is according to various stages of tumor progression, and so can decrease effectively side effects of Dox.

Microcrystalline sodium tungsten bronze nanowire bundles as efficient visible light-responsive photocatalysts

Microcrystalline sodium tungsten bronze nanowire bundles were obtained via a facile hydrothermal synthesis, and were applied in water purification as visible-light-driven photocatalysts for the first time.

A highly selective and sensitive nanoprobe for detection and imaging of the superoxide anion radical in living cells

A novel fluorescent nanoprobe with high sensitivity and selectivity for detection and imaging of the superoxide anion radical O(2)(·-) in living cells was designed and synthesized by a simple self-assembly method based on 2-chloro-1,3-dibenzothiazoline-cyclohexene (DBZTC) and Ag@SiO(2) core-shell nanoparticles.

A surfactant-free route to single-crystalline CeO2 nanowires

A surfactant-free route was successfully established to synthesize CeO2 single-crystalline nanowires using H2O2 as oxidizer and template agent.

Progress of Application of Nanomaterials in Polymerase Chain Reaction

Abstract Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is one of the most important technologies of modern molecular biology; there are still many problems in PCR that cannot be overcome. It is significant to study the ways of optimizing the PCR amplification. Owing to several limitations in conventional ways, PCR amplification still turns out not so satisfactory. With the development of nanotechnology, the advantages of nanomaterials have attracted more attention. The superficial and dimensional properties of nanomaterials have special effects on the structure and function of biological macromolecules such as proteins and nucleic acids. Therefore, it possesses very important academic and applied meanings to study the ways and technologies of optimizing PCR based on nanomaterials. In this review, the recent researches of nanomaterials based on PCR, with 41 references, are summarized, particularly the developing trends and prospects in the future.