Review
Chemistry, Physical
Chinmaya Panda, Sachin Kumar, Sharad Gupta, Lalit M. Pandey
Summary: This review discusses the importance of protein aggregation in proteinopathies and the development of therapeutic protein pharmaceuticals, as well as the renewed interest in assessing and modeling the aggregation kinetics. Quantitative analysis of aggregation involves the depletion of monomers followed by the formation of subvisible particles. Kinetic and thermodynamic studies are crucial in understanding the aggregation process. Insulin, despite its medical marvel in diabetes treatment, faces challenges of aggregation due to physicochemical stresses during formulation, storage, delivery, and transport. The review also explores the structural heterogeneity and modifications of intermediates during insulin fibrillation, and different model equations for fitting the kinetic data of insulin fibrillation are discussed. It aims to shed light on the conditions inducing structural changes in insulin during the lag phase of fibrillation and inspire scientists to develop strategies to block the initiation of the aggregation cascade to ensure stable and globally accessible insulin for efficient diabetes management.
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yan Chen, Yusheng Shi, Zhanming Gao, Lei Wang, Yutian Tang, Jinxuan Liu, Chun Liu
Summary: In this study, Ir-III complexes 1 and 2 with unique self-assembly pathways were designed to form crystalline assemblies in aqueous systems. Kinetic and thermodynamic control methods were used to synthesize block and random co-assemblies of 1 and 2. By adjusting the water content, an unprecedented pathway-switching approach was realized to synthesize different co-assemblies. These co-assembly strategies pave the way for the synthesis of crystalline co-assemblies of small molecules and the construction of organic heterostructures.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2023)
Article
Biophysics
Leigh J. Manley, Milo M. Lin
Summary: Using the Ras family proteins as a model system, this study demonstrates that networks of kinetic correlations are needed, in addition to standard thermodynamic measures, to predict mutant and ligand-dependent allosteric regulation in enzymes.
BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Dor Zaguri, Manuela R. Zimmermann, Georg Meisl, Aviad Levin, Sigal Rencus-Lazar, Tuomas P. J. Knowles, Ehud Gazit
Summary: The study found that the aggregation propensity of three phenylalanine-containing molecules increases significantly with size, with triphenylalanine being the most aggregation-prone species under experimental conditions. In the context of classical nucleation theory, this increase in aggregation propensity is attributed to the larger free energy decrease upon aggregation of larger peptides, and not to the presence/absence of a peptide bond per se. This work provides insights into the aggregation processes of chemically simple systems and suggests that both backbone-containing peptides and backbone-lacking amino acids assemble through a similar mechanism, supporting the classification of amino acids in the continuum of amyloid-forming building blocks.
Article
Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary
Tanu Biswas
Summary: The article discusses the significant history of philosophical racism, emphasizing its impact on the philosophical poverty of racists themselves. The author proposes the further development of ontological simultaneity and mutual causation, two philosophical keystones, through engagement with non-Western contributions. The article concludes by highlighting the potential of childhood studies to address the intersections of racism and adultism and contribute to inseparable fields like the philosophy of education.
CHILDHOOD-A GLOBAL JOURNAL OF CHILD RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Miroslawa Czerniawska, Joanna Szydlo
Summary: The research investigates the relationships between personal traits (such as empathy, agreeableness, directiveness, and Machiavellism) and the value system, revealing a certain degree of correlation between the two.
PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH AND BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Education & Educational Research
Eman Naama, Shiri Lavy
Summary: The sense of meaning and self-efficacy of teachers contribute to teacher caring, which in turn affects job satisfaction and burnout levels.
TEACHING AND TEACHER EDUCATION
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Chongtao Liu, Kuo Fu, Shuyuan Zheng, Longfei Yao, Weiqiang Zhou, Guofeng Liu
Summary: The circular dichroism (CD) inversion of chiral supramolecular polymer (SP) based aggregates, especially for the ones assembled from metal-organic supramolecular polymer (MOSP), has been achieved by rationally designing and preparing a set of nanoaggregates coassembled from para-pyridine imine-linked cholesterol conjugate (pPMPCC) and various metal salts. The supramolecular chirality inversion (SMCI) of these MOSP-based nanoaggregates is modulated by various metal ions and their content, as well as external stimuli like solvent effects, temperature, and ultrasound.
ADVANCED OPTICAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Fiza Ur Rehman, Arshad Farid, Shefaat Ullah Shah, Muhammad Junaid Dar, Asim Ur Rehman, Naveed Ahmed, Sheikh Abdur Rashid, Irfan Shaukat, Muddaser Shah, Ghadeer M. Albadrani, Mohamed Kamel, Ahmed E. Altyar, Mohamed M. Abdel-Daim, Kifayat Ullah Shah
Summary: This research identifies thermodynamically and kinetically stable lipidic self-emulsifying formulations through simple energy dynamics and clarifies ambiguities in the literature. The study demonstrates that most claimed energetically stable systems are actually unstable and proposes measuring simple energy dynamics to distinguish between stable and unstable lipidic systems. The research also shows a three-fold increase in bioavailability of a model drug using the developed self-emulsifying drug delivery system.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Xu Zhang, Hanhan Han, Binxiao Fu, Naiyin Wang, Yuhuai Liu, Chih-Chung Yang
Summary: The study on the growth process of hexagonal InP NSs reveals that the evolution of NS morphology is influenced by the combined effect of thermodynamic and kinetic mechanisms, which interact with each other throughout the process. The concept of Uniform Diffusion effect for sidewall growth with different orientations is proposed, providing a kinetic explanation for shape transformation. Additionally, a general time-dependent growth model of self-catalyzed NSs in arbitrary shape is obtained under the restriction of the thermodynamic approach.
CRYSTAL GROWTH & DESIGN
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Organic
Vicente Marti-Centelles
Summary: This article introduces the importance of macrocyclic and cage structures in the field of supramolecular chemistry, as well as their synthesis design and synthetic routes. The kinetic and thermodynamic aspects are analyzed for their influence on the success of the reactions.
TETRAHEDRON LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Biology
Tobias Goeppel, Joachim H. Rosenberger, Bernhard Altaner, Ulrich Gerland
Summary: The RNA world hypothesis explains the emergence of living systems on Earth by proposing that RNA molecules acted as carriers of information and catalysts for replication. This study analyzes the dynamics in sequence space to understand the transition from a pre-RNA to an RNA world. The researchers investigate the self-assembly of polymers through templated ligation, taking into account the thermodynamic and kinetic effects of sequence context. They also explore the role of kinetic stalling and symmetry breaking in the selection of self-enhancing sequences.
Article
Neurosciences
Michael S. A. Graziano
Summary: In the attention schema theory, having a self-model that depicts consciousness helps in controlling the brain's attention process, leading to the intuitive belief of consciousness.
COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Mobin Safarzadeh Khosrowshahi, Hossein Mashhadimoslem, Hosein Banna Motejadded Emrooz, Ahad Ghaemi, Mahsa Sadat Hosseini
Summary: Due to its rich porous structure and stable chemical characteristics, hierarchically biomass-derived porous carbon is considered to be the most effective material for CO2 capture. A green self-activating synthesis system (SASS) was introduced for the synthesis of porous carbons, using circulating gases released during the pyrolysis treatment as activating agents. The optimal porous carbon was synthesized at 700°C, providing a high surface area and micropore volume. The synthesized porous carbons showed great potential as adsorbents for CO2 uptake.
DIAMOND AND RELATED MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Shehab Shousha, Sarah Khalil, Mostafa Youssef
Summary: This paper comprehensively studies the defect chemistry and cation diffusion in alpha-Fe2O3, with a model showing good agreement with experimental results. Fe ions prefer diffusion along the 111 direction through a specific mechanism, indicating that cation diffusion in hematite is mainly controlled by migration.
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2021)
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Ian W. Hamley
Summary: Lamellar structures are common in soft materials and exhibit characteristic scattering patterns. Diffuse scattering can provide information about the fluctuations and elastic properties of lamellae, as well as insights into the nature of correlated structures.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Lucas R. de Mello, Vinicius Carrascosa, Eduardo Rebelato, Maria A. Juliano, Ian W. Hamley, Valeria Castelletto, Sandra V. Vassiliades, Wendel A. Alves, Clovis R. Nakaie, Emerson R. da Silva
Summary: Peptide-based hydrogels are promising biomaterials that can mimic the 3D microenvironment of the extracellular matrix. This study demonstrates that a synthetic decapeptide can form highly stable hydrogel matrices that retain a high water content and induce morphogenesis in interacting cells.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Elisabetta Rosa, Lucas de Mello, Valeria Castelletto, Mark L. Dallas, Antonella Accardo, Jani Seitsonen, Ian W. Hamley
Summary: This study investigates the conformation and self-assembly behavior of four lipopeptides, and examines their potential applications in tissue engineering based on cytocompatibility assessments. The results show that all four lipopeptides can self-assemble into nanostructures at specific concentrations. Furthermore, these lipopeptides demonstrate promising prospects in tissue engineering.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Nada Aljuaid, Jani Seitsonen, Janne Ruokolainen, Francesca Greco, Ian W. Hamley
Summary: This study found that analogues of benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxamide can self-assemble into micelles or nanotapes in aqueous solution, depending on the architecture of alkyl and PEG chains. The compounds exhibit selective cytotoxicity to breast cancer cells, showing strong stability in acidic tumor conditions and cell culture media.
Review
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Ian W. Hamley
Summary: This review focuses on the self-assembly, structural and functional properties of peptide conjugates containing bulky terminal aromatic substituents, with a particular emphasis on bioactivity. The driving force for self-assembly comes from pi-stacking and hydrophobic interactions, as well as hydrogen bonding, electrostatics, and other forces between short peptides. The balance of these interactions leads to a propensity for self-assembly, even for single amino acid conjugates. The resulting molecules often form hydrogels built from beta-sheet fibrils, with applications in biomaterials, drug delivery, catalysis, and optoelectronics.
ACS APPLIED BIO MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Valeria Castelletto, Jani Seitsonen, Ian W. W. Hamley
Summary: This study investigates the self-assembly behavior of two monodisperse lipid A derivatives based on bacterial LPS structures in water and compares them to native Escherichia coli LPS using small-angle X-ray scattering and cryogenic transmission electron microscopy. The critical aggregation concentration and conformation are characterized using fluorescence probe experiments and circular dichroism spectroscopy, respectively. The E. coli LPS forms wormlike micelles, while the synthetic analogues self-assemble into nanosheets or vesicles depending on the number of lipid chains and saccharide head groups. These findings can be rationalized based on the surfactant packing parameter.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Biswanath Hansda, Jhilam Majumder, Biplab Mondal, Akash Chatterjee, Subhadeep Das, Sourav Kumar, Ratan Gachhui, Valeria Castelletto, Ian W. Hamley, Prosenjit Sen, Arindam Banerjee
Summary: A histidine-based amphiphilic peptide (P) was discovered to form an injectable transparent hydrogel with inherent antibacterial property in phosphate buffer solution. The peptide self-assembles into a nanofibrillar network structure and exhibits efficient antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The hydrogel can also encapsulate and selectively release drugs, making it a potential antibacterial and drug delivering agent.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Valeria Castelletto, Lucas de Mello, Emerson Rodrigo da Silva, Jani Seitsonen, Ian W. Hamley
Summary: Considerable interest has been shown in peptides with the Fmoc protecting group, as it can promote self-assembly and has applications in cell culture biomaterials. New amino acid analogues with the Smoc protecting group have been developed for water-based peptide synthesis. Self-assembly of Smoc-Ala, Smoc-Phe, and Smoc-Arg occurs above the critical aggregation concentration (CAC) and forms nanosheet, nanoribbon, or nanotube structures. Smoc-amino acids show excellent biocompatibility and are taken up by fibroblast cells without cytotoxicity.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Barbara Gimenez-Hernandez, Eva Falomir, Beatriu Escuder
Summary: Combining polymers and low molecular weight compounds can produce new supramolecular materials. The addition of hyaluronic acid to the materials reduces polymorphism and improves mechanical properties of the low molecular weight network, resulting in reproducible hydrogels. These materials have potential for biomedical applications.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Samrat Das Adhikari, Andres F. Gualdron Reyes, Subir Paul, Jeevan Torres, Beatriu Escuder, Ivan Mora-Sero, Sofia Masi
Summary: Perovskite nanocrystals (PeNCs) synthesized by colloidal solution methods have unique optical features, such as a tuneable band gap and narrower photoluminescence emission compared to their bulk counterpart. However, their stability needs to be improved for application in optoelectronic devices. This can be achieved by stabilizing the PeNC phases and passivating the surface using alternative methods, such as combining them with organic or inorganic materials. This perspective discusses the challenges, opportunities, and potential applications of core/shell PeNCs, as well as the synthesis steps and optical properties.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Thiago C. Lourenco, Lucas R. de Mello, Marcelo Y. Icimoto, Renata N. Bicev, Ian W. Hamley, Valeria Castelletto, Clovis R. Nakaie, Emerson R. da Silva
Summary: This study presents a strategy for fabricating highly ordered 1D nanostructures of Bradykinin (BK) using DNA fragments as a template for self-assembly. The nanoscale structure of BK-DNA complexes was revealed, showing the formation of ordered nanofibrils. The complexes retained the native bioactivity of BK and could induce a limited uptake of nucleotides by HEK-293t cells, which has not been previously reported.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Elisabetta Rosa, Carlo Diaferia, Lucas De Mello, Jani Seitsonen, Ian W. Hamley, Antonella Accardo
Summary: Short and ultra-short peptides are now being used as building blocks for self-assembled materials, with peptide aggregation being influenced by the amino acids in the sequence as well as their ability to interact with each other. By modifying peptides with polymeric moieties, alkyl chains, or other organic molecules, further structural and functional properties can be achieved. In this study, we synthesized and investigated the aggregation behavior of peptide amphiphiles (PAs) containing cationic tetra- or hexa-peptides derivatized with an alkyl chain. These PAs were able to form highly ordered nanostructures and biocompatible hydrogels, showing potential for tissue engineering and diagnostic applications.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Jinghua Liu, Jingqing Li, Binyuan Liu, Ian W. Hamley, Shichun Jiang
Summary: The Mpemba effect and its inverse can be explained by nonequilibrium thermodynamics. While changes of state in polymers are generally non-equilibrium processes, the Mpemba effect is rarely seen in their crystallization. Polybutene-1 (PB-1) has the lowest critical cooling rate among polyolefins and tends to maintain its original structure and properties in the melt. Experimental observations confirm the presence of the Mpemba effect in both the crystallization of PB-1 in form II and form I obtained at low melting temperatures.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Biswanath Hansda, Biplab Mondal, Soumyajit Hazra, Krishna Sundar Das, Valeria Castelletto, Ian W. Hamley, Arindam Banerjee
Summary: Peptide-based multicomponent hydrogels offer tunable mechanical properties and physical characteristics, demonstrating good cell compatibility and sustained drug release capabilities, and have the potential to serve as scaffold materials for tissue engineering.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Brigitte A. K. Kriebisch, Christine M. E. Kriebisch, Alexander M. Bergmann, Caren Wanzke, Marta Tena-Solsona, Job Boekhoven
Summary: The article discusses how dynamic, molecular self-assembly is used to create adaptive cellular structures and explores synthetic analogs of assemblies regulated by chemically fueled reaction cycles. A challenge in the research is to control the interplay between rapid disassembly of building blocks and kinetic trapping.
