抗原变异可使得多种致病微生物易于逃避宿主免疫应答。表达在感染红细胞表面的恶性疟原虫红细胞表面蛋白1（PfPMP1）与感染红细胞、内皮细胞、树突状细胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用，在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作用。每个单倍体基因组var基因家族编码约60种成员，通过启动转录不同的var基因变异体为抗原变异提供了分子基础。

疟原虫var基因转换速率变化导致抗原变异[英]／Paul H, Robert P, Christodoulou Z, et al//Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

In this work we briefly describe the most relevant features of WSXM, a freeware scanning probe microscopy software based on MS-Windows. The article is structured in three different sections: The introduction is a perspective on the importance of software on scanning probe microscopy. The second section is devoted to describe the general structure of the application; in this section the capabilities of WSXM to read third party files are stressed. Finally, a detailed discussion of some relevant procedures of the software is carried out.

https://nanoed.tul.cz/pluginfile.php/1608/mod_resource/content/1/view.pdf

WSXM: a software for scanning probe microscopy and a tool for nanotechnology.

Electrospinning: a fascinating fiber fabrication technique.

Silver nanoparticles (Ag-np) are being used increasingly in wound dressings, catheters, and various household products due to their antimicrobial activity. The toxicity of starch-coated silver nanoparticles was studied using normal human lung fibroblast cells (IMR-90) and human glioblastoma cells (U251). The toxicity was evaluated using changes in cell morphology, cell viability, metabolic activity, and oxidative stress. Ag-np reduced ATP content of the cell caused damage to mitochondria and increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in a dose-dependent manner. DNA damage, as measured by single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) and cytokinesis blocked micronucleus assay (CBMN), was also dose-dependent and more prominent in the cancer cells. The nanoparticle treatment caused cell cycle arrest in G2/M phase possibly due to repair of damaged DNA. Annexin-V propidium iodide (PI) staining showed no massive apoptosis or necrosis. The transmission electron microscopic (TEM) analysis indicated the presen...

Cytotoxicity and Genotoxicity of Silver Nanoparticles in Human Cells

The term photonic crystals appears because of the analogy between electron waves in crystals and the light waves in artificial periodic dielectric structures. During the recent years the investigation of one-, two-and three-dimensional periodic structures has attracted a widespread attention of the world optics community because of great potentiality of such structures in advanced applied optical fields. The interest in periodic structures has been stimulated by the fast development of semiconductor technology that now allows the fabrication of artificial structures, whose period is comparable with the wavelength of light in the visible and infrared ranges.

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/6354/16969/00781867.pdf

Photonic crystals

We describe the fabrication of a surface acoustic wave (SAW) atomizer and show its ability to generate monodisperse aerosols and particles for drug delivery applications. In particular, we demonstrate the generation of insulin liquid aerosols for pulmonary delivery and solid protein nanoparticles for transdermal and gastrointestinal delivery routes using 20 MHz SAW devices. Insulin droplets around 3 mu m were obtained, matching the optimum range for maximizing absorption in the alveolar region. A new approach is provided to explain these atomized droplet diameters by returning to fundamental physical analysis and considering viscous-capillary and inertial-capillary force balance rather than employing modifications to the Kelvin equation under the assumption of parametric forcing that has been extended to these frequencies in past investigations. In addition, we consider possible mechanisms by which the droplet ejections take place with the aid of high-speed flow visualization. Finally, we show that nanoscale protein particles (50-100 nm in diameter) were obtained through an evaporative process of the initial aerosol, the final size of which could be controlled merely by modifying the initial protein concentration. These results illustrate the feasibility of using SAW as a novel method for rapidly producing particles and droplets with a controlled and narrow size distribution

Rapid generation of protein aerosols and nanoparticles via SAW atomisation

The application of portable, easy-to-use and highly sensitive lab-on-a-chip biosensing devices for real-time diagnosis could offer significant advantages over current analytical methods. Integrated optics-based biosensors have become the most suitable technology for lab-on-chip integration due to their ability for miniaturization, their extreme sensitivity, robustness, reliability, and their potential for multiplexing and mass production at low cost. This review provides an extended overview of the state-of-the-art in integrated photonic biosensors technology including interferometers, grating couplers, microring resonators, photonic crystals and other novel nanophotonic transducers. Particular emphasis has been placed on describing their real biosensing applications and wherever possible a comparison of the sensing performances between each type of device is included. The way towards achieving operative lab-on-a-chip platform incorporating the photonic biosensors is also reviewed. Concluding remarks regarding the future prospects and potential impact of this technology are also provided.

/pdf/integrated-optical-devices-for-lab-on-a-chip-biosensing-4dvxngj3uf.pdf

Integrated optical devices for lab-on-a-chip biosensing applications

Biosensors based on microcantilevers have become a promising tool for directly detecting biomolecular interactions with great accuracy. Microcantilevers translate molecular recognition of biomolecules into nanomechanical motion that is commonly coupled to an optical or piezo-resistive read-out detector system. Biosensors based on cantilevers are a good example of how nanotechnology and biotechnology can go together. High-throughput platforms using arrays of cantilevers have been developed for simultaneous measurement and read-out of hundreds of samples. As a result, many interesting applications have been performed and the first sensor platforms are being commercialized. This review covers the basic working principles and the types of sensor format, the fabrication and the reported applications in chemical and biological analysis, trends in cantilever fabrication, examples of the commercial instrumentation available, and future developments.

Nanomechanical biosensors: a new sensing tool

The fast and progressive growth of the biotechnology and pharmaceutical fields forces the development of new and powerful sensing techniques for process optimization and detection of biomolecules at very low concentrations. During the last years, the simplest MEMS structures, i.e. microcantilevers, have become an emerging and promising technology for biosensing applications, due to their small size, fast response, high sensitivity and their compatible integration into “lab-on-a-chip” devices. This article provides an overview of some of the most interesting bio-detections carried out during the last 2–3 years with the microcantilever-based platforms, which highlight the continuous expansion of this kind of sensor in the medical diagnosis field, reaching limits of detection at the single molecule level.

/pdf/microcantilever-based-platforms-as-biosensing-tools-7rwu2roqnu.pdf

Mar Álvarez

Papers

Rapid generation of protein aerosols and nanoparticles via SAW atomisation

Integrated optical devices for lab-on-a-chip biosensing applications

Nanomechanical biosensors: a new sensing tool

Microcantilever-based platforms as biosensing tools

Development of nanomechanical biosensors for detection of the pesticide DDT.