Core-Corona Magnetic Nanospheres Functionalized with Zwitterionic Polymer Ionic Liquid for Highly Selective Isolation of Glycoprotein.

A novel zwitterionic polymer ionic liquid functionalized magnetic nanospheres, shortly as Fe3O4@PCL-PILs, is synthesized by grafting ionic liquid VimCOOHBr onto polymer ε-caprolactone (PCL) modified magnetic nanospheres via esterification and surface-initiated free radical polymerization. This established synthesis strategy offers the obtained magnetic nanospheres with well-defined core-corona structure, compact grafting layer, favorable zwitterionic and negative-charged surface, and high magnetic susceptibility. The as-prepared Fe3O4@PCL-PILs nanospheres exhibit typical "zwitterionic hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (ZIC-HILIC)" behaviors toward protein binding, and selectively adsorption of glycoprotein is achieved. The adsorption capacity of the magnetic nanospheres toward Immunoglobulin G is high up to 1136.4 mg g-1, and the captured Immunoglobulin G could be efficiently recovered by using 0.5% NH3 H2O (v/v) as stripping reagent, providing a recovery of 80.5%. Fe3O4@PCL-PILs nanospheres are then employed as sorbent for the selective isolation of Immunoglobulin G from human whole blood, obtaining high-purity Immunoglobulin G as demonstrated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis assays.

Selective isolation of hemoglobin by use of imidazolium-modified polystyrene as extractant.

Ionic liquids have attracted much attention in the analysis of a variety of species. The functional groups in ionic liquids can result in highly efficient separation and enrichment and, because of their typical lack of volatility, they are environmentally benign. We grafted imidazole cations onto the surface of chloromethyl polystyrene, denoted PS-CH2-[MIM](+)Cl(-), and this modified polymer was used to selectively extract the protein hemoglobin (Hb). The prepared extractant PS-CH2-[MIM](+)Cl(-), containing 2 mmol immobilized imidazole groups per gram polymer, was characterized by FT-IR, surface charge analysis, and elemental analysis. The adsorption efficiency was 91%. The adsorption capacity of the PS-CH2-[MIM](+)Cl(-) for Hb was 23.6 µg mg(-1), and 80% of the retained Hb could be readily recovered by use of 0.5% (m/v) aqueous sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) solution as eluate. The activity of the eluted Hb was approximately 90%. The prepared imidazole-containing solid phase polymer was used for direct adsorption of Hb without use of any other solid matrix as support of the ionic liquid. The material was used in practice to isolate Hb from human whole blood.

Carbon dots with tunable dual emissions: from the mechanism to the specific imaging of endoplasmic reticulum polarity.

Regulating the fluorescence of carbon dots (CDs) is important but highly challenging. Here, carbon dots with tunable dual emissions were facilely fabricated via modulating the polymerization and carbonization processes of o-phenylenediamine (OPD) with lysine (Lys) as the co-precursor and modulator, respectively. The self-polymerization/carbonization of the OPD molecules contributed to the blue/green emission of the OPD-derived CDs. The introduction of Lys in the CD fabrication process efficiently suppressed the carbonization of the OPD polymer chains and enhanced the self-polymerization of the OPD molecules. Meanwhile, the formed OPD-Lys co-polymer chains endowed the final CD product with a new green emission center. The dual-emissive CDs were distinctly sensitive to polarity fluctuations, providing a ratiometric fluorescence response towards solution polarity. Due to their specific distribution in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), the as-prepared dual-emissive CDs successfully distinguished the polarity variations in ER under stress, which offers a new approach for the early diagnosis of cell injury.

A magnetic polypyrrole/iron oxide core/gold shell nanocomposite for multimodal imaging and photothermal cancer therapy.

For the purpose of improving the diagnosis and enhancing the photothermal therapeutic effect for cancer under near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation, a novel magnetic therapeutic platform containing dual photothermal agents, polypyrrole (PPy) and gold nanoshell, is constructed. The nanostructure is composed of a magnetic PPy/Fe3O4-core and a gold nanoshell, which is capable of enhancing the contrast for both magnetic resonance (MR) and X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging. By attaching Raman probes onto the surface of gold shell, the nanocomposites exhibit the potential to serve as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) active substrates for optical modality identification of cancer cell. The capability of the therapeutic nanoplatform as photothermal agent is further demonstrated by effective ablation of cancer cells upon exposure to NIR laser at 808nm, which is highly promising for multimodal imaging-guided cancer treatment.

Polyethyleneimine-iron phosphate nanocomposite as a promising adsorbent for the isolation of DNA.

A polyethyleneimine (PEI)-iron phosphate (FePO4) nanocomposite is prepared by immobilization of PEI onto the surface of FePO4 nanoparticles via electrostatic interaction. The obtained PEI-FePO4 nanocomposites are spherical with a size centered in ca. 100 nm. They provide a novel adsorbent for the solid-phase extraction of DNA from complex sample matrices. At pH 4, 50 µg mL(-1) of DNA (salmon sperm DNA sodium salt) in 1.0 mL aqueous solution are quantitatively adsorbed (100%) by 2mg of the PEI-FePO4 nanocomposites, and meanwhile the coexisting albumin at a same concentration level is not retained, demonstrating the favorable selectivity of the nanocomposites to DNA against proteins. The adsorption behaviors of DNA onto the PEI-FePO4 nanocomposites fit Langmuir model, corresponding to an adsorption capacity of 61.88 mg g(-1). The adsorbed DNA could be readily recovered by using a 0.04 mol L(-1) Britton-Robinson (BR) buffer at pH 10, resulting in a recovery of 85%. The nanocomposites have been further used for the isolation of DNA from a series of real sample matrices, including synthetic λ-DNA sample, human whole blood and Escherichia coli cell lysate. The extraction efficiency and the purity of the recovered DNA are at least comparable to those achieved by using the reported sorbent materials or commercial kits. In addition, the DNAs isolated from human whole blood and E. coli cell lysate are of high quality, which have been further demonstrated by using them as templates for successful PCR amplifications.

Ionic liquid-polyvinyl chloride ionomer for highly selective isolation of basic proteins.

Hydrophilic ionic liquid-polyvinyl chloride (PVC) hybrids were prepared by immobilizing N-methylimidazole (N-mim) to PVC chains in toluene. The NmimCl-PVC hybrids were characterized by FT-IR, (1)H NMR, surface charge analysis and elemental analysis. The immobilization ratio, i.e., the percentage of chloride on PVC chain reacting with N-mim to form the hybrid, varies from 4.3% to 15.1% by increasing the N-mim/PVC molar ratio. The most distinct feature of the hybrid is its excellent selectivity for adsorbing basic proteins by effective suppression of the non-specific protein adsorption by pure PVC, and a higher immobilization ratio facilitates better selectivity. In Tris-HCl buffer, 100 microg mL(-1) of basic proteins, i.e., lysozyme (Lys), cytochrome c (cyt-c) and hemoglobin (Hb), were favorably adsorbed with efficiencies of 97%, 98% and 94% by the hybrid with an immobilization ratio of 15.1%, while the adsorption of acidic proteins, i.e., bovine albumin serum (BSA), transferring (Trf) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) were negligible. The retained Lys, cyt-c and Hb could be readily recovered by elution with phosphate buffer, carbonate buffer and SDS solution with efficiencies of 89%, 87% and 84%, respectively. Another feature of the hybrid is the significant improvement of the biocompatibility characterized by the maintenance of the activity of hemoglobin after adsorption and elution process. The practical usefulness of the hybrid was demonstrated by selective isolation of hemoglobin from human whole blood.

Functionalization of MWNTs with hyperbranched PEI for highly selective isolation of BSA.

Cationic hyperbranched BPEI was immobilized on the surface of MWNTs via electrostatic interactions between the positively charged protonated amines within the polymer and the carboxyl groups on the chemically oxidized MWNT surface. The functionalized BPEI-MWNTs were characterized by FT-IR, TGA, TEM and surface charge analysis, and it was used as a bio-sorbent for the adsorption of proteins. CD spectra showed no conformational change of BSA during the adsorption/desorption process. A dynamic adsorption capacity of 167 mg · g⁻¹ for BSA was achieved. With a sample volume of 2.0 mL, an enrichment factor of 10 was obtained along with an adsorption efficiency of 100%, a recovery of 100%, a sampling frequency of 10 h⁻¹ and a RSD of 2.6% at 25 µg · mL⁻¹ BSA.