• Macromolecular Research
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• 제14권6호
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• pp.646-653
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• 2006

Highly hydrophilic, uniform, superparamagnetic and nontoxic maltotrionic acid (MA)-coated magnetite nano-particles (MAM) were prepared and characterized by TEM, DLS, XRD and VSM. MA was used to improve the biocompatibility, monodispersity and non-specific intracellular uptake of nanoparticles. Folic acid (FA) was subsequently conjugated to the MAM to preferentially target KB cells (cancer cells) that have folate receptors expressed on their surfaces and to facilitate nanoparticles in their transit across the cell membrane. Finally, fluorescence isothiocyanate (FITC) was added to the nanoparticles to visualize the nanoparticle internalization into KB cells. After the cells were cultured in a media containing the MAM and MAM-folate conjugate (FAMAM), the results of fluorescence and confocal microscopy showed that both types of nanoparticles were internalized into the cells. Nevertheless, the amount of FAMAM uptake was higher than that of MAM. This result indicated that nanoparticles modified with MA and FA could be used to facilitate the nanoparticle uptake to specific KB cells (cancer cells) for molecular imaging.

• BMB Reports
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• 제29권2호
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• pp.175-179
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• 1996

Viral surface proteins are known to play an essential role in attachment of the virus particle to the host cell membrane. In case of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) several reports have described potential receptors on the target cell side, but no definite receptor protein has been isolated yet. As for the viral side, it has been suggested that the preS region of the envelope protein, especially the preS1 region, is involved in binding of HBV to the host cell. In this study, preS1 region was recombinantly expressed in the form of a maltose binding protein (MBP) fusion protein and used to identify and visualize the expression of putative HBV receptor(s) on the host cell. Using laser scanned confocal microscopy and by FACS analysis, MBP-preS1 proteins were shown to bind to the human hepatoma cell line HepG2 in a receptor-ligand specific manner. The binding kinetic of MBP-preS1 to its cellular receptor was shown to be temperature and time dependent. In cells permeabilized with Triton X-100 and treated with the fusion protein, a specific staining of the nuclear membrane could be observed. To determine the precise location of the receptor binding site within the preS1 region, several short overlapping peptides from this region were synthesized and used in a competition assay. In this way the receptor binding epitope in preS1 was revealed to be amino acid residues 27 to 51, which is in agreement with previous reports. These results confirm the significance of the preS1 region in virus attachment in general, and suggest an internalization pathway mediated by direct attachment of the viral particle to the target cell membrane.

• 폴리머
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• 제31권5호
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• pp.454-459
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• 2007

본 연구에서는 folic acid(FA)가 복합화된 저분자량 수용성 키토산(LMWSC) 나노입자(water soluble chitosan-folic acid nanoparticle, WSCFA)를 제조하고, 또한 DNA와 나노복합체 합성 및 특성을 분석함으로써 in vitro에서 세포내 독성을 평가하였다. WSCFA 합성을 확인하기 위하여 분광학적 분석 방법을 사용하여 분석하였으며, WSCFA 나노입자는 110 nm 이하의 입자 크기인 구형의 형태를 가지고 있음을 알 수 있었다. In vitro 세포내 독성 실험에서, WSCFA-DNA 복합체는 세포내 독성을 전혀 나타내지 않음으로 높은 세포 생존율을 보여주었다. 전기영동 실험을 통해 WSCFA의 DNA 응축능력을 확인하였고, in vitro에서의 전이효율은 형광 광도계에 의해 평가하였다.