Xueyan Zou

Ferroferric oxide/L-cysteine magnetic nanospheres for capturing histidine-tagged proteins

Ferroferric oxide/l-cysteine (Fe3O4/Cys) nanospheres (NSs) have been successfully synthesized via a facile solvothermal route. Fe3O4/Cys NSs possessed high thiol group density and saturation magnetization (Ms) of 84.6 emu g-1. The prepared magnetic NSs are biocompatible and manipulatable by an external magnetic force. After chelating Ni2+ ions, Fe3O4/Cys-Ni2+ NSs were used to enrich and purify histidine-tagged (His-tagged) proteins directly from the mixture of lysed cells without pretreatment. It has been found that Fe3O4/Cys-Ni2+ NSs present negligible nonspecific protein adsorption and high protein binding activity with the saturation capacity being 53.2 μg mg-1 and they are especially suitable for rapid purification of His-tagged proteins.

Fabrication of autofluorescent porous silica nanoparticles for redox-responsive drug release

Porous silica nanoparticles were prepared by emulsion-condensation route. The silica nanoparticles with diameter of 50nm have both accessible center-radial large pore channels (19.9nm) and small pore size of 3.5nm. The hierarchical porous structure endows them large pore volume for loading drugs and sustained release property. The silica nanoparticles were further modified with glucose-oxidized glutathione. The formulated Schiff base and disulfide bonds render the silica nanoparticles auto-fluorescent and redox-responsive properties. The cleavage of disulfide bonds caused by reactive thiols facilitates aminomethylbenzoic acid (AMA) release. The release of drug leads to the loss of fluorescence, which would be used to monitor the drug delivery and carrier distribution.

Fabrication of silver nanoparticles embedded into polyvinyl alcohol (Ag/PVA) composite nanofibrous films through electrospinning for antibacterial and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activities

Silver nanoparticle-embedded polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibers were prepared through electrospinning technique, using as antimicrobial agents and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates. Ag nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized in liquid phase, followed by evenly dispersing in PVA solution. After electrospinning of the mixed solution at room temperature, the PVA embedded with Ag NPs (Ag/PVA) composite nanofibers were obtained. The morphologies and structures of the as-synthesized Ag nanoparticles and Ag/PVA fibers were characterized by the techniques of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy (UV-vis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Ag NPs have an average diameter of 13.8nm, were found to be uniformly dispersed in PVA nanofibers. The Ag/PVA nanofibers provided robust antibacterial activities against both Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) microorganisms. Its also found that Ag/PVA nanofibers make a significant contribution to the high sensitivity of SERS to 4-mercaptophenol (4-MPh) molecules.

Fabrication of SnO2/porous silica/polyethyleneimine nanoparticles for pH-responsive drug delivery.

To create novel nanocarriers for achieving excellent drug delivery performance, pH-responsive fluorescent porous silica (PS) nanocarriers were developed by encapsulating SnO2 nanoparticles and coating polyethyleneimine (PEI) layer. SnO2/porous silica (SnO2/PS) nanoparticles have an average diameter of 80nm and center-radial large pore channels. The large channels endow them high surface area with a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) area of 939m(2)g(-1). Aspirin was used as test drug to evaluate the releasing behavior of SnO2/porous silica/polyethyleneimine (SnO2/PS/PEI) nanoparticles. Results indicated that aspirin can be successfully incorporated into the SnO2/PS/PEI nanoparticles and the SnO2/PS/PEI nanoparticles displayed excellent pH-responsive release. The release rate in pH7.4 buffer is higher than that in pH5.5 buffer, which attributed to the PEI structure change in varied pH buffer. In addition, the SnO2/PS/PEI nanoparticles presented novel drug-dependent fluorescence, which could be used to trace the drug release.

Biofunctionalization of silica microspheres for protein separation.

Mercapto-silica (SiO2-SH) microspheres were prepared via direct hydrolysis of 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPS) in a basic aqueous solution. The content of surface thiol group (SH) of SiO2-SH microspheres was measured by Ellmans reagent method and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and the content of surface thiol group of SiO2-SH microspheres is strongly dependent on the reaction conditions. The thermal stability of SiO2-SH microspheres was evaluated by thermogravimetric (TG) analysis, which tended to reduce with the increase of content of surface thiol groups. SiO2-SH microspheres can be easily modified with reduced glutathione (GSH) to generate SiO2-GSH microspheres for the affinity separation of Glutathione S-transferase (GST). Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) was performed to examine the validity of the separation procedure. The results showed that SiO2-GSH microspheres were efficient in GST affinity separation from mixed proteins.

Iminodiacetic acid functionalized porous hydroxyapatite nanoparticles for capturing histidine-tagged proteins

A simple strategy has been developed to synthesize hydroxyapatite (HAP) nanoparticles (NPs) in a simulated body fluid (SBF). The HAP NPs have an average diameter of 50nm and present porous structure. By taking advantage of surface hydroxyl groups, the HAP NPs are further modified with iminodiacetic acid (IDA), followed by chelating Ni(2+) ions. The HAP/IDA-Ni(2+) NPs as novel adsorbent can capture directly histidine-tagged (His-tagged) proteins from the mixture of lysed cells without sample pretreatment. Results indicated that the HAP/IDA-Ni(2+) NPs present negligible nonspecific adsorption and high protein binding ability, and their specificity and affinity toward His-tagged proteins can remain after 5 times of recycling. The HAP/IDA-Ni(2+) NPs are especially suitable for purification of His-tagged proteins with low molecule weight.

Synthesis of petal-like ferric oxide/cysteine architectures and their application in affinity separation of proteins

Petal-like ferric oxide/cysteine (FeOOH/Cys) architectures were prepared through a solvothermal route, which possessed high thiol group density. These thiol groups as binding sites can chelate Ni(2+) ions, which can be further used to enrich and separate his-tagged proteins directly from the mixture of lysed cells without sample pretreatment. These results show that the FeOOH/Cys architectures with immobilized Ni(2+) ions present negligible nonspecific protein adsorption and high protein adsorption capacity, with the saturation capacity being 88mg/g, which are especially suitable for purification of his-tagged proteins.