Sharif Digital Repository

The performance of a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) used as a sensor/detector relies on the performance and quality of the film coated onto the quartz crystal sensor. This study focuses on the sensor coating preparation for the detection of glycine. Cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs), natural polymers, were coated on a quartz crystal (QC) surface by a spin-coating method. The prepared CNF-coated QC was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), cyclic voltammetry (CV), Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry-attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR), Raman spectroscopy, and water contact angle (WCA). The stable and fully covered QCs without further... 

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder represented by the ingestion of the gluten protein usually found in wheat, barley and rye. To date, ELISA has been the most accurate method for determining the presence of anti-gliadin, which is cumbersome, expensive (compared to a suspension microarray technique), and requires extensive sample preparation. In this study, in order to establish a more accurate assay to identify gliadin at lower concentrations, optical nano biosensors using an indirect immunoassay method for gliadin detection was designed and fabricated. For this, polycaprolactone (PCL) nano- to micro-beads were fabricated as a platform for the gliadin antigen which were optimized and... 

Environmental pollutions with heavy metals pose serious health and ecological risks. Sabzevar in the northeast of Iran has natural chromic mines and then chromium-polluted soils and groundwater. In the present work, the metal-tolerant bacterial strain KR2 was identified as Shewanella sp. following 16S rDNA gene sequence analysis. Bioremediation ability of isolated bacterial from agricultural soils that irrigated by groundwater, Shewanella sp., was evaluated for uptaking of chromium with varying Cr(VI) concentrations from 50 to 500 ppm in aerobic conditions (pH 7.0, 37 °C). The Shewanella sp. strain KR2 showed an obvious heavy metal tolerant in the wide range of heavy metals including: Cr6+,... 

Histidine rich protein II derived peptide (HRP II 169-182) was investigated by molecular dynamics, MD, simulation and 17O electric field gradient, EFG, tensor calculations. MD simulation was performed in water at 300 K with α-helix initial structure. It was found that peptide loses its initial α-helix structure rapidly and is converted to random coil and bent secondary structures. To understand how peptide structure affects EFG tensors, initial structure and final conformations resulting from MD simulations were used to calculate 17O EFG tensors of backbone carbonyl oxygens. Calculations were performed using B3LYP method and 6-31 + G* basis set. Calculated 17O EFG tensors were used to... 

The current article discusses some unprecedented information about the improvement in forward osmosis (FO) performance of polyethersulfone/polyamide (PES/PA) membranes, mainly focused on water flux and selectivity along with resistance to fouling phenomenon; which itself is brought in by the introduction of pre-modified zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 MOF nanoparticles. An investigation has been conducted on ZIF-8 nanoparticles surface with hydrophilicity feature to evaluate their potential for utilization in active polyamide layer of FO membranes for the first time, free from any decrease in water flux value (when hydrophobic ZIF-8 is exploited solely) and selectivity (when mSiO2 with... 

This study aimed to investigate the effects of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens LFB112 on the growth performance, carcass traits, immune response, and serum biochemical parameters of broiler chickens. A total of 396 1 day old, mixed-sex commercial Ross 308 broilers with similar body weights were allotted into six treatment groups. The assigned groups were the CON group (basal diet with no supplement), AB (antibiotics) group (basal diet + 150 mg of aureomycin/kg), C+M group (basal diet + 5 × 108 CFU/kg B. amyloliquefaciens LFB112 powder with vegetative cells + metabolites), C group (basal diet + 5 × 108 CFU/kg B. amyloliquefaciens LFB112 vegetative cell powder with removed metabolites), M group... 

This study aimed to investigate the effects of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens LFB112 on the growth performance, carcass traits, immune response, and serum biochemical parameters of broiler chickens. A total of 396 1 day old, mixed-sex commercial Ross 308 broilers with similar body weights were allotted into six treatment groups. The assigned groups were the CON group (basal diet with no supplement), AB (antibiotics) group (basal diet + 150 mg of aureomycin/kg), C+M group (basal diet + 5 × 108 CFU/kg B. amyloliquefaciens LFB112 powder with vegetative cells + metabolites), C group (basal diet + 5 × 108 CFU/kg B. amyloliquefaciens LFB112 vegetative cell powder with removed metabolites), M group... 

Catalysts as the dynamo of chemical reactions along with solvents play paramount roles in organic transformations in long-lasting modes. Thus, developing effective and biobased catalysts in nontoxic solvents is highly in demand. In this report, carbon quantum dots (CQDs) functionalized with-lysine (Lys-CQDs) were generated from entirely nature-derived materials; they were demonstrated to be a promising catalyst for C-N bond formation in choline chloride urea (ChCl/U), a natural deep eutectic solvent (NADES). Among a number of synthesized CQDs, Lys-CQD turned out to be a powerful catalyst in the model reaction with aniline to afford phenyl urea. This type of transformation is important... 

As the delay time and hence nuclei formation play a crucial role in the pathophysiology of sickle cell disease, MD simulation and molecular mechanics-Poisson-Boltzmann surface area (MM-PBSA) calculations have been performed on three systems of hemoglobin; namely dimer of hemoglobin with valine (Hb S), tryptophan (Hbβ6W), and phenylalanine (Hbβ6F) at β6 position. The structural changes due to these aromatic substitutions are investigated. It is shown that β subunits have significant impact on the differences between a dimer and other crystal structures. Transition from a dimer to polymer for Hb S system affects the donor molecule more than that of the acceptor. In the case of donor and... 

Sulfur mustard (SM) is a vesication chemical warfare agent for which there is currently no antidote. Despite years of research, there is no common consensus about the pathophysiological basis of chronic pulmonary disease caused by this chemical warfare agent. In this study, we combined chemometric techniques with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to explore the metabolic profile of sera from SM-exposed patients. A total of 29 serum samples obtained from 17 SM-injured patients, and 12 healthy controls were analyzed by Random Forest. Increased concentrations of seven amino acids, glycerol, dimethylamine, ketone bodies, lactate, acetate, citrulline and creatine together with the... 

Objective(s): Hepatitis B virus infection causes chronic disease such as cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The metabolomics investigations have been demonstrated to be related to pathophysiologic mechanisms in many disorders such as hepatitis B infection. The aim of this study was to investigate the saliva metabolic profile of patients with chronic hepatitis B infection and to identify underlying mechanisms as well as potential biomarkers associated with the disease. Materials and Methods: Saliva from 16 healthy subjects and 20 patients with chronic hepatitis B virus were analyzed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Then, multivariate statistical analysis was performed to identify... 

Background: Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is considered one of the most severe glomerular diseases and around 80% of cases are resistant to steroid treatment. Since a large proportion of steroid-resistant (SR) FSGS patients progress to end-stage renal disease, other therapeutic strategies may benefit this population. However, identification of non-invasive biomarkers to predict this high-risk population is needed. Objective: We aimed to identify the biomarker candidates to distinguish SR from steroid-sensitive (SS) patients using metabolomics approach and to identify the possible molecular mechanism of resistance. Methods: Urine was collected from biopsy-proven FSGS patients... 

Formation of the amyloid beta (Aβ) peptide aggregations represents an indispensable role in appearing and progression of Alzheimer disease. β-sheet breaker peptides can be designed and modified with different amino acids in order to improve biological properties and binding affinity to the amyloid beta peptide. In the present study, three peptide sequences were designed based on the hopeful results of LIAIMA peptide and molecular docking studies were carried out onto the monomer and fibril structure of amyloid beta peptide using AutoDock Vina software. According to the obtained interactions and binding energy from docking, the best-designed peptide (D-GABA-FPLIAIMA) was chosen and... 

Therapeutic fragmented antibodies show a poor pharmacokinetic profile that leads to frequent high-dose administration. In the current study, for the first time, a novel proline, alanine, serine (PAS) repeat sequence called PAS#208 was designed to extend the plasma half-life of a nanosized anti-vascular endothelial growth factor-A single-domain antibody. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, circular dichroism, dynamic light scattering, and electrophoretic light scattering were used to assess the physicochemical properties of the newly designed PAS sequence. The effect of PAS#208 on the biologic activity of a single-domain antibody was studied using an in vitro proliferation assay. The... 

In this study, the effectiveness of PASylation in enhancing the potency and plasma half-life of pharmaceutical proteins has been accredited as an alternative technique to the conventional methods such as PEGylation. Proline, alanine, and serine (PAS) chain has shown some advantages including biodegradability improvement and plasma half-life enhancement while lacking immunogenicity or toxicity. Although some experimental studies have been performed to find the mechanism behind PASylation, the detailed mechanism of PAS effects on the pharmaceutical proteins has remained obscure, especially at the molecular level. In this study, the interaction of interferon α-2a (IFN) and PAS chain is... 

A novel colorimetric nanosensor is reported for the selective and sensitive determination of cysteine using magnetic-sulfur, nitrogen graphene quantum dots (Fe3O4/S, N-GQDs), and gold nanoparticles (Au NPs). Thus, S, N-GQDs was firstly immobilized on Fe3O4 nanoparticles through its magnetization in the presence of Fe3+ in the alkali solution. The prepared Fe3O4/S, N-GQDs were dispersed in cysteine solution resulting in its quick adsorption on the surface of the Fe3O4/S, N-GQDs through hydrogen bonding interaction. Then, Au NPs solution was added to this mixture that after a short time, the color of Au NPs changed from red to blue, the intensity of surface plasmon resonance peak of Au NPs at... 

A novel colorimetric nanosensor is reported for the selective and sensitive determination of cysteine using magnetic-sulfur, nitrogen graphene quantum dots (Fe3O4/S, N-GQDs), and gold nanoparticles (Au NPs). Thus, S, N-GQDs was firstly immobilized on Fe3O4 nanoparticles through its magnetization in the presence of Fe3+ in the alkali solution. The prepared Fe3O4/S, N-GQDs were dispersed in cysteine solution resulting in its quick adsorption on the surface of the Fe3O4/S, N-GQDs through hydrogen bonding interaction. Then, Au NPs solution was added to this mixture that after a short time, the color of Au NPs changed from red to blue, the intensity of surface plasmon resonance peak of Au NPs at... 

The cellular microenvironment can be engineered through the utilization of various nano-patterns and matrix-loaded bioactive molecules. In this study, a multilayer system of electrospun scaffold containing chitosan nanoparticles was introduced to overcome the common problems of instability and burst release of proteins from nanofibrous scaffolds. Bovine serum albumin (BSA)-loaded chitosan nanoparticles was fabricated based on ionic gelation interaction between chitosan and sodium tripolyphosphate. Suspension electrospinning was employed to fabricate poly-e{open}-caprolacton (PCL) containing protein-loaded chitosan nanoparticles with a core-shell structure. To obtain the desired scaffold... 

Developments of sensitive, rapid, and cheap systems for identification of a wide range of biomolecules have been recognized as a critical need in the biology field. Here, we introduce a simple colorimetric sensor array for detection of biological thiols, based on aggregation of three types of surface engineered gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). The low-molecular-weight biological thiols show high affinity to the surface of AuNPs; this causes replacement of AuNPs' shells with thiol containing target molecules leading to the aggregation of the AuNPs through intermolecular electrostatic interaction or hydrogen-bonding. As a result of the predetermined aggregation, color and UV-vis spectra of AuNPs... 

A novel sulfoxide containing bis(ether amine) monomer, 2,2'-sulfoxide- bis[4-methyl(2-trifluoromethyl)4-aminophenoxy) phenyl ether] (M2), was synthesized from the halogen displacement of 2-chloro-5-nitrobenzotrifluoride with dibenzosulfoxide (DH) in the presence of potassium carbonate, followed by catalytic reduction of bis(ether nitro) intermediate with Zinc/Ammonium chloride. A series of organic-soluble poly(ether amide)s (PA1-7) bearing sulfoxide and electronwithdrawing trifiuoromethyl group were synthesized from bis(ether amine) with various aromatic diacids (1-7) via a direct polycondensation with triphenyl phosphite and pyridine. The resulting polymers had inherent viscosities ranging...