Nanotechnology Commons^™

Size, Shape, And Sequence-Dependent Immunogenicity Of Rna Nanoparticles, Sijin Guo, Hui Li, Mengshi Ma, Jian Fu, Yizhou Dong, Peixuan Guo

Center for Research on Environmental Disease Faculty Publications

RNA molecules have emerged as promising therapeutics. Like all other drugs, the safety profile and immune response are important criteria for drug evaluation. However, the literature on RNA immunogenicity has been controversial. Here, we used the approach of RNA nanotechnology to demonstrate that the immune response of RNA nanoparticles is size, shape, and sequence dependent. RNA triangle, square, pentagon, and tetrahedron with same shape but different sizes, or same size but different shapes were used as models to investigate the immune response. The levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines induced by these RNA nanoarchitectures were assessed in macrophage-like cells and animals. It …

Effects Of Carboxylated Nanodiamonds On Macrophages During And After Differentiation, Maisoun E. Bani Hani

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Nanodiamonds (ND) are a carbon-based nanomaterial that are increasingly being proposed for developing novel imaging techniques, as carriers of biomolecules and therapeutic drugs, as coatings for implants, and for other biomedical applications. The exceptional chemical, mechanical, and optical properties of ND make this material suitable in a wide range of fields. The application of ND in the biomedical field is attractive but requires more in-depth investigation into the safety of ND and its interactions with different cells and systems. The effects of ND on the immune system are not fully understood or investigated and there are several controverting reports regarding …

Delayed Hypersensitivity To Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Field In Electroporated Cells, Sarah D. Jensen, Vera A. Khorokhorina, Claudia Muratori, Andrei G. Pakhomov, Olga N. Pakhomova

Bioelectrics Publications

We demonstrate that conditioning of mammalian cells by electroporation with nanosecond pulsed electric field (nsPEF) facilitates their response to the next nsPEF treatment. The experiments were designed to unambiguously separate the electroporation-induced sensitization and desensitization effects. Electroporation was achieved by bursts of 300-ns, 9 kV/cm pulses (50 Hz, n = 3–100) and quantified by propidium dye uptake within 11 min after the nsPEF exposure. We observed either sensitization to nsPEF or no change (when the conditioning was either too weak or too intense, or when the wait time after conditioning was too short). Within studied limits, conditioning never caused desensitization. …

Multifunctional Nanosystems For Targeting And Treating Cancer Cells, Vijayalakshmi Dantuluri

Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, breast cancer is one of the most frequently occurring and deadly cancers. Though various therapies have seen success, they have numerous negative side effects. The incorporation of nanomaterials with anticancer drugs could help avoid these side effects and enhance the drugs’ effects. Nanomaterials have many properties, such as size, shape, structure, morphology, and surface features, that can be precisely tuned by altering their chemical composition. In this work, we explored the use of graphene and gold nanorods to enhance drug localization in and destruction of cancer cells by targeted delivery of the drugs doxorubicin (Dox) and …

Development Of C5ar-Targeted Nanoparticles For Delivery Of Vaccines, Shailendra Bharadwaj Tallapaka Venkata Sesha

Theses & Dissertations

Since the early attempts of Benjamin Jesty at inducing immunity against smallpox and the pioneering work of Edward Jenner, vaccination has been, and continues to remain, the principal method of protection from diseases. However, most of the successful vaccines have been against pathogens that do not have major mechanisms to evade the immune system. So far, many life-threatening diseases like hepatitis C, HIV infection, malaria etc., have been resistant to existing vaccination strategies. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop new vaccination strategies that can generate long-lived protective immunity against such pathogens.

The purpose of this thesis is to …

Three-Dimensional Microfluidic Tumor Vascular Model For Investigating Breast Cancer Metastasis, Anastasiia Vasiukhina, Brian H. Jun, Luis Solorio, Pavlos P. Vlachos

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Metastasis is one of the primary reasons for the high mortality rates in female patients diagnosed with breast cancer. It involves the migration of cancer cells into the circulatory system allowing for the dissemination of cancer cells in distal tissues. Understanding the major processes that occur in cells and tissues during metastasis can help improve currently existing therapeutic methods. In order to understand such mechanisms, developing physiologically relevant tissue models is crucial. Advancements in microfluidics have led to the fabrication of 3D culture models with shear stress gradients and flow control that can recapitulate aspects of the tumor microenvironment in …

Development Of Self-Assembling Nanoparticles For Drug Delivery Applications, Young Chan Kim, Craig Sweet, Helen Margaret Flynn, David H. Thompson

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Bladder cancer is the ninth most common cancer in the world, and occurs in nearly four percent of all men. Although many cases are diagnosed as early stage cancer and the tumor can be removed by surgery, reoccurrence rates are high making treatment difficult and thus one of the most expensive cancers. To address this problem, drugs are injected intravesically after tumor removal to kill any residual cancer that may cause reoccurrence. While this was a significant improvement over surgery alone, high toxicity along with short residence times in the bladder limited its effectiveness. To combat these shortcomings, we will …

Nietzsche’S Posthuman Imperative: On The Human, All Too Human Dream Of Transhumanism, Babette Babich

Articles and Chapters in Academic Book Collections

No abstract provided.

Plasmonic Gold Nanoparticle For Detection Of Fungi And Human Cutaneous Fungal Infections, Tobiloba Sojinrin, Kangze Liu, Joao Conde, Hugh Byrne, James Curtin, Daxiang Cui, Furong Tian

Articles

Fungi, which are common in the environment, can cause a multitude of diseases. Warm, humid conditions allow fungi to grow and infect humans via the respiratory, digestive and reproductive tracts, genital area and other bodily interfaces. Fungi can be detected directly by microscopy, using the potassium hydroxide (KOH) test, which is the gold standard and most popular method for fungal screening. However, this test requires trained personnel operating specialist equipment, including a fluorescent microscope and culture facilities. As most acutely infected patients seek medical attention within the first few days of symptoms, the optimal diagnostic test would be rapid and …

Influence Of Silver Nanoparticle Surface Charge On Cytotoxic Efficacy Against Cancer Cells, Elliot Christian Frey

Materials Engineering

Silver and silver-based products are known to cause cytotoxic effects to both microbes and eukaryotic cells. Because of this property, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are being studied for their potential in targeted tumor treatments. Previous studies with microbes suggest that AgNPs with cationic capping agents possess enhanced cytotoxicity by virtue of Coulombic attraction between the nanoparticle and the negatively-charged cell wall. Since animal cells possess similar negatively-charged plasma membranes, this research hypothesized that human cells would be more susceptible to positively-charged AgNPs than to negatively-charged AgNPs. To investigate this theory, cancerous cervical cells (HeLa) and healthy fibroblast cells (3T3) were subjected …

One-Pot Syntheses And Characterizations Of “Click-Able” Polyester Polymers For Potential Biomedical Applications, James F. Beach Ii

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

In this study, a synthetic polyester polymer was designed using polyethylene glycol, sorbitol, glutaric acid and 4-pentynoic acid as monomers. The synthesis was carried out using standard melt polymerization technique and catalyzed by Novozyme-435, an enzyme suitable for polyesterification of biocompatible compounds. The progress of the reaction was monitored with respect to time and vacuum exposure, with samples being subjected to standard characterization protocols. Polymers with high molecular weight and water solubility were chosen for further modification into folate-functionalized polymeric nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery to cancer cells. This was achieved by employing a solvent diffusion method, wherein the polymer …

Inhibiting Infectivity Of The Spindle Shaped Virus Using Silver Nanoparticles, Diana S. Demchenko

Student Research Symposium

Exploring the inhibiting factors of silver nanoparticles could change the way we approach drug-resistant viruses. In previous research, silver nanoparticles have shown to physically block viruses, such as HIV-1, from infecting its host by theoretically binding to surface receptors on the virus. Since there is little research done in this area, we have decided to combine silver nanoparticles with a virus that thrives within an extreme environment: the Spindle Shaped virus. By combining these two factors, we could reveal the biological and chemical properties that block the virus from infecting its host, Sulfolobus. Currently, we have collected data that shows …

Synthesis Of A Nanoscale Gold-Coated, Thermoresponsive Molecular Release System., Ryan C. Weegens

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

The work presented here was performed in conjunction with an experimental group in order to prove the concept that an alternating magnetic field (AMF) could be used to induce an intramolecular cyclization to effect payload release. The system studied here consisted of a fluorophore tethered to gold-coated iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄ NPs) via an organic linker consisting of 2 key elements: a carbonate (electrophile) and an amine (nucleophile). Connected to the carbonate was the fluorophore, anthracene, which was attached to the organic linker system by means of an oxime ether linkage. This thesis work served as the …

Nucleic Acid Combinations: A New Frontier For Cancer Treatment, K. C. Remant Bahadur, Bindu Thapa, Juliana Valencia-Serna, Hamidreza Montazeri Aliabadi, Hasan Uludağ

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

The emerging molecular understanding of cancer cell behavior is leading to increasing possibilities to control unchecked cell growth and metastasis. On the other hand, development of multifunctional drug carriers at the ‘nano’-scale is providing exciting new therapeutic strategies in clinical management of cancer beyond the conventional cytotoxic drugs. A new frontier in this regard is the combinational use of complementary agents based on nucleic acids to overcome the limitations of conventional therapy. The existence of tightly-integrated cross-talk through multiple signaling and effector pathways has been appreciated for some time, and the plasticity of such a network to overcome one-dimensional intervention …

Poster Session, Zarah Rahman, Jose E. Garcia Carbajal, Megan Farrell, Martha Brown, Minh Luong, Madaline Ngo, Teresa Dao, Sanchit Jain, Angela Atkins

Collin College Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Student Research Conference

Posters Presented:

Zarah Rahman & Jose E. Garcia, "The Future that Flows Through Your Veins"

Meagan Farrell & Martha Brown, "Reproductive System: Know the Risks Not the Myths"

Abstract: This project will be focused on the male and female reproductive system. There are many myths on this subject that, without being informed, can lead to false misconceptions on the subject. Through an informative video, important facts will be discussed and covered while myths are corrected. This includes problems that occur when trying to achieve pregnancy and health risks that may affect fertility in both males and females. Tips and information …

Biokinetics Of Nanomaterials: The Role Of Biopersistence, Peter Laux, Christian Riebeling, Andy M. Booth, Joseph D. Brain, Josephine Brunner, Cristina Cerrillo, Otto Creutzenberg, Irina Estrela-Lopis, Thomas Gebel, Gunnar Johanson, Harald Jungnickel, Heiko Kock, Jutta Tentschert, Ahmed Tlili, Andreas Schäffer, Adriënne J. A. M. Sips, Robert A. Yokel, Andreas Luch

Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Nanotechnology risk management strategies and environmental regulations continue to rely on hazard and exposure assessment protocols developed for bulk materials, including larger size particles, while commercial application of nanomaterials (NMs) increases. In order to support and corroborate risk assessment of NMs for workers, consumers, and the environment it is crucial to establish the impact of biopersistence of NMs at realistic doses. In the future, such data will allow a more refined categorization of NMs. Despite many experiments on NM characterization and numerous in vitro and in vivo studies, several questions remain unanswered including the influence of biopersistence on the toxicity …

Chitosan Nanoparticle Modifications For Improved Gene Delivery In An Oral Dna Vaccine Application, Austin Helmink

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Vaccines represent one of the most significant medical innovations of the 20^th century, resulting in the eradication or near eradication of a handful of deadly diseases. However, many infectious diseases remain resistant to effective vaccination, largely due to a lack full immune activation by traditional protein-based vaccines. A promising alternative vaccination strategy is the emerging development of DNA vaccines, which rely upon the delivery of exogenous genetic material to host cells encoding for a viral or bacterial antigen in order to induce a robust immune response by closely mimicking live infection. The delivery of genetic material requires a carrier …

Structural Mrsa Resistance Through Carbon-Infiltrated Carbon Nanotube Coating Of External Fixator Pins, Jaclyn Larsen, Stephanie Morco, Brian Jensen, Anton Bowden

Biomedical Engineering Western Regional Conference

No abstract provided.

Engineering Fret Biosensors For Microrna Presence/Absence Analysis, Nicholas E. Larkey, Sean M. Burrows

Biomedical Engineering Western Regional Conference

No abstract provided.

Making Marble Powder Waste Profitable By Using Nano-Tio2 Surface Modification For Air Quality Improvement Applications, Yaxiong Ji, Xing Rong, Hong Zhong, Yuanhao Wang, Shifeng Wang, Lin Lu

Faculty of Science & Technology (THEi)

We report a brand new recycling route of waste marble powder, by means of surface modification with homemade nano-TiO2 particles to produce low cost coating materials for the application in air quality improvement. The as-prepared nano-TiO2 in anatase phase exhibits excellent photocatalytic characteristic, reflected by the high degradation rate of over 95% of methylene blue within 6 hours of UV irradiation. The prepared coating consisting of nano-TiO2 clad marble powder was tested by monitoring the decomposition rate of formaldehyde gas. A high degradation efficiency of about 95% within 9 hours of illumination is achieved, demonstrating a promising potential for removing …