Southwest University

About: Southwest University is a education organization based out in Chongqing, China. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Gene & Population. The organization has 29772 authors who have published 27755 publications receiving 409441 citations. The organization is also known as: Southwest University in Chongqing & SWU.

Oriented immobilization of proteins on solid supports for use in biosensors and biochips: a review

Abstract: Immobilization of proteins on a solid support is critical with respect to the fabrication and performance of biosensors and biochips. Protein attachment with a preferable orientation can effectively avoid its denaturation and keeps its active sites fully exposed to solution, thus maximally preserving the bioaffinity or bioactivity. This review (with 140 refs.) summarises the recent advances in oriented immobilization of proteins with a particular focus on antibodies and enzymes. Following an introduction that describes reasons for oriented immobilization on (nano)surfaces, we summarize (a) methods for (bio)chemical affinity-mediated oriented immobilization (with sections on immunoglobulin G (IgG)-binding protein as the capture ligand, DNA-directed immobilization, aptamer- and peptide-mediated immobilization, affinity ligand and fusion tag-mediated immobilization, material-binding peptide-assisted immobilization); (b) methods for covalent oriented immobilization (with sections on immobilization via cysteine residues or cysteine tags, via carbohydrate moieties; via enzyme fusion or enzymatic catalysis, and via nucleotide binding sites of antibodies); (c) methods based on molecular imprinting techniques; (d) methods for characterization of oriented immobilized proteins; and then make conclusions and give perspectives.

Honeycomb‐Like Spherical Cathode Host Constructed from Hollow Metallic and Polar Co9S8 Tubules for Advanced Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Abstract: The practical application of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries remains remote because of rapid capacity fade caused by the low conductivity of sulfur, dissolution of intermediate lithium polysulfides, severe volumetric expansion, and slow redox kinetics of polysulfide intermediates. Here, to address these obstacles, a new sulfiphilic and highly conductive honeycomb-like spherical cathode host constructed from hollow metallic and polar Co9S8 tubes is designed. Co9S8 can effectively bind polar polysulfides for prolonged cycle life, due to the strong chemisorptive capability for immobilizing the polysulfide species. The hollow structure, as the sulfur host, can further prevent polysulfide dissolution and offer sufficient space to accommodate the necessary volume expansion. Well-aligned tubular arrays provide a conduit for rapid conduction of electrons and Li-ions. More importantly, the experimental results and theoretical calculations show that Co9S8 plays an important catalytic role in improving the electrochemical reaction kinetics. When used as cathode materials for Li–S batteries, the S@Co9S8 composite cathode exhibits high capacity and an exceptional stable cycling life demonstrated by tests of 600 cycles at 1 C with a very low capacity decay rate of only ≈0.026% per cycle.

Betaine in Inflammation: Mechanistic Aspects and Applications.

Abstract: Betaine is known as trimethylglycine (TMG) and is widely distributed in animals, plants and microorganisms. Betaine is known to function physiologically as an important osmoprotectant and methyl group donor. Accumulating evidence has shown that betaine has anti-inflammatory functions in numerous diseases. Mechanistically, betaine ameliorates sulfur amino acid (SAA) metabolism against oxidative stress, inhibits nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activity and NLRP3 inflammasome activation, regulates energy metabolism, and mitigates endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and apoptosis. Consequently, betaine has beneficial actions in several human diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

Magnetic core-shell Fe3O4@Ag nanoparticles coated carbon paste interface for studies of carcinoembryonic antigen in clinical immunoassay.

Abstract: This study demonstrates a novel approach toward development of advanced immunosensors based on chemically functionalized core−shell Fe3O4@Ag magnetic nanoparticles, and the preparation, characterization, and measurement of relevant properties of the immunosensor useful for the detection of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in clinical immunoassay. The immunosensor based on the combination of a magnetic nanocore and an Ag metallic shell shows good adsorption properties for the attachment of the CEA antibody selective to CEA. The core−shell nanostructure presents good magnetic properties to facilitate and modulate the way it was integrated into a carbon paste. Under optimal conditions, the resulting composite presents good electrochemical response for the detection of CEA, and allows detection of CEA at a concentration as low as 0.5 ng·mL-1. Importantly, the proposed methodology could be extended to the detection of other antigens or biocompounds.