Seeing through Macromolecules: T2-Filtered NMR for the Purity Assay of Functionalized Nanosystems and the Screening of Biofluids
摘要:
For samples whose NMR spectra are dominated by the broad signals of macromolecules or functionalized nanoparticles, transverse relaxation (T-2) spectral editing tends itself to a precise identification and determination of small molecules such as metabolites or contaminants. In order to retain the most sensitivity, we propose a method for efficiently removing the interference of spin-spin couplings that typically lead to signal losses in standard pulse schemes designed for T-2. editing.
The self-assembly of a monolayer of ligands on the surface of noble-metal nanoparticles dictates the fundamental nanoparticle's behavior and its functionality. In this combined computational-experimental study, we analyze the structure, organization, and dynamics of functionalized coating thiols in monolayer-protected gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). We explain how functionalized coating thiols self-organize through a delicate and somehow counterintuitive balance of interactions within the monolayer itself and with the solvent. We further describe how the nature and plasticity of these interactions modulate nanoparticle-based chemosensing. Importantly, we found that self-organization of coating thiols can induce the formation of binding pockets in AuNPs. These transient cavities can accommodate small molecules, mimicking protein-ligand recognition, which could explain the selectivity and sensitivity observed for different organic analytes in NMR chemosensing experiments. Thus, our findings advocate for the rational design of tailored coating groups to form specific recognition binding sites on monolayer-protected AuNPs.
Molecular‐Dynamics‐Simulation‐Directed Rational Design of Nanoreceptors with Targeted Affinity
作者:Xiaohuan Sun、Laura Riccardi、Federico De Biasi、Federico Rastrelli、Marco De Vivo、Fabrizio Mancin
DOI:10.1002/anie.201902316
日期:2019.6.3
the possibility of rationally designing nanoparticle receptors with targetedaffinity and selectivity for specific small molecules. We used atomistic molecular‐dynamics (MD) simulations to gradually mutate and optimize the chemical structure of the molecules forming the coating monolayer of gold nanoparticles (1.7 nm gold‐core size). The MD‐directeddesign resulted in nanoreceptors with a 10‐fold improvement