Carbon nanotubes' surface chemistry determines their potency as vaccine nanocarriers in vitro and in vivo

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have shown marked capabilities in enhancing antigen delivery to antigen presenting cells. However, proper understanding of how altering the physical properties of CNTs may influence antigen uptake by antigen presenting cells, such as dendritic cells (DCs), has not been established yet.Wehypothesized that altering the physical properties of multi-walled CNTs (MWNTs)-antigen conjugates, e.g. length and surface charge, can affect the internalization of MWNT-antigen by DCs, hence the induced immune response potency. For this purpose, pristineMWNTs (p-MWNTs) were exposed to various chemical reactions to modify their physical properties then conjugated to ovalbumin (OVA), a model antigen. The yieldedMWNTs-OVA conjugateswere longMWNT-OVA (~386 nm), bearing net positive charge (5.8mV), or shortMWNTs-OVA (~122 nm) of increasing negative charges (−23.4, −35.8 or −39 mV). Compared to the short MWNTs-OVA bearing high negative charges, short MWNT-OVA with the lowest negative charge demonstrated better cellular uptake and OVAspecific immune response both in vitro and in vivo. However, long positively-chargedMWNT-OVA showed limited cellular uptake and OVA specific immune response in contrast to shortMWNT-OVA displaying the least negative charge. We suggest that reduction in charge negativity of MWNT-antigen conjugate enhances cellular uptake and thus the elicited immune response intensity. Nevertheless, length of MWNT-antigen conjugate might also affect the cellular uptake and immune response potency; highlighting the importance of physical properties as a consideration in designing a MWNT-based vaccine delivery system

Serum Hemojuvelin and Hepcidin Levels in Chronic Kidney Disease

&lt;i&gt;Background:&lt;/i&gt; Hemojuvelin (HJV) has recently emerged as one of a number of significant regulators of iron homeostasis and hepcidin expression. Recently, an immunoassay has been developed to measure circulating levels of soluble HJV (sHJV). The aim of this study was to measure serum hepcidin and sHJV levels in a chronic kidney disease (CKD) population. &lt;i&gt;Methods:&lt;/i&gt; A total of 93 patients participated in the study (31 hemodialysis, 31 non-dialysis, 31 transplant recipients), and were matched for age and gender. Serum samples were taken for measurement of hepcidin-25 and sHJV, along with standard hematological, biochemical and inflammatory markers, and univariate/multivariate analyses were performed. &lt;i&gt;Results:&lt;/i&gt; Serum sHJV levels were markedly elevated in the hemodialysis patients (2,619 ± 1,445 ng/ml) compared to the CKD (590 ± 344 ng/ml) and transplant recipients (870 ± 638 ng/ml) (p &lt; 0.001), normal range 370–890 ng/ml. There was a strong correlation between serum ferritin and sHJV, which remained after adjustment for potential confounders (beta 0.92, p &lt; 0.001). In the univariate analysis, sHJV levels correlated with serum hepcidin but this was not evident in the multivariate analysis. No associations were seen between sHJV and markers of inflammation or eGFR. &lt;i&gt;Conclusions:&lt;/i&gt; sHJV is elevated in hemodialysis patients compared to non-dialysis CKD patients. There was no association between sHJV and eGFR (in the non-dialysis groups), suggesting that factors other than decreased renal clearance are responsible for the high sHJV levels. The strong association between sHJV and ferritin suggests an interdependent relationship, although further studies are required to elucidate the possible mechanism(s) for this.</jats:p

Enhanced affinity capture MALDI-TOF MS: orientation of an immunoglobulin G using recombinant protein G.

The basis of a patent, this paper has opened the possibility of combined immunoselection MALDI ToF MS as a clinical chemistry tool: H. Neubert A. Kicman, R.K.Iles and Kings College Enterprise, UK and World Patent Filed 2002. Immuno-capture MALDI-TOF analysis

Synthesis of double-clickable functionalised graphene oxide for biological applications

Azide- and alkyne-double functionalised graphene oxide (Click(2) GO) was synthesised and characterised with attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Raman spectroscopy. Fourteen-percentage increase in azide content was found, after pre-treatment of GO with meta-chloroperoxybenzoic acid (mCPBA), determined with elemental analysis. No effect on A549 cell viability was found, up to 100 μg mL(–1) and 72 h of incubation, determined with the modified lactate dehydrogenase (mLDH) assay. Two sequential copper(i) catalysed azide–alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) reactions were performed to conjugate the propargyl-modified blood–brain barrier targeting peptide Angiopep-2, and a bis-azide polyethylene glycol (M (W) = 3500), to the Click(2) GO. The final conjugate was characterised with ATR-FTIR and TGA