Novel Functional Biomolecular Systems: Design, Construction and Applications

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Applied Biosciences and Bioengineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 May 2022) | Viewed by 5973

Special Issue Editor

Dept. of Chemistry, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju 28644, Korea
Interests: nucleic acid chemistry; nucleic acid sensing; molecular signal amplification, nanodevice; templated reactions; fluorescence; biosensors; functional biomolecules

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Advent of new biomolecules and broadened scope of bioorthogonal chemistry have enabled chemical modification on biomolecules for additional functionalities. Beyond original roles of natural biomolecules, the functionalized biomolecules and their systems play central roles in finding the critical clues for understanding or for controlling biological phenomena in the field of biology and biotechnology. In this context, to date, a myriad of systems based on functional biomolecules have been constructed for a wide range of applications, including biosensors, drug discovery, drug release, molecular diagnosis, therapeutics, nanostructures, and nanodevices. However, despite their high utility, the scope of the functionality is limited, and designs of novel systems that show optimum performance are still demanded. Thus, development of more innovative and efficient functional biomolecular systems is important challenge to face, and is ongoing research that will never end in chemical biology and relevant fields.

Related to this, the special issue aims to provide the recent developments in the research on “Novel Functional Biomolecular Systems” to diversify and to share designing strategies for improved functional biomolecular systems. We welcome original research articles, short communications, and review papers that deal with new chemical methods for functionalization of biomolecules, novel approaches for systematic design of the biomolecular systems, or any relevant research topics, potentially bringing significant advances in functional biomolecular systems, in the fields of organic chemistry, bioorganic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, chemical biology, or biotechnology. We are looking forward to receiving valuable contributions from researchers working in these fields.

Prof. Ki Tae Kim
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • biomolecules
  • nucleic acids
  • peptides
  • proteins
  • functional biomolecules
  • chemical functionalization
  • chemical synthesis
  • bioorthogonal chemistry
  • biosensors
  • imaging
  • drug discovery
  • drug release
  • molecular diagnosis
  • molecular therapeutics
  • nanostructures
  • nanodevices
  • biotechnology

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 20592 KiB  
Article
Low Effectiveness of the Introduction of pmaxGFP into Primary Human Coronary Endothelial Cells Using Cell-Penetrating Peptides and Nuclear-Localization Sequences in Non-Covalent Interactions
by Wioletta Zielińska, Maciej Gagat, Klaudia Mikołajczyk, Marta Hałas-Wiśniewska and Alina Grzanka
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(5), 1997; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app11051997 - 24 Feb 2021
Viewed by 2966
Abstract
Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs), due to their effectiveness and low cytotoxicity, are of increasing interest in the context of the transport of macromolecules to the cells. The simplest and safest method seems to be the non-covalent binding of CPP and cargo molecules. However, it [...] Read more.
Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs), due to their effectiveness and low cytotoxicity, are of increasing interest in the context of the transport of macromolecules to the cells. The simplest and safest method seems to be the non-covalent binding of CPP and cargo molecules. However, it requires the optimization of the reaction conditions. The study aimed to determine the effectiveness and cytotoxicity of the Pep-1, KALA, and TAT proteins as well as the NLS [47–55] and NLS [47–56] sequences derived from the Simian Vacuolating 40 (SV40) T-antigen in the context of the transport of the pmaxGFP plasmid to primary human coronary artery endothelial cells. The results are presented in the form of extensive photographic documentation, which shows significant differences in the efficiency of the transfection process between electroporation and the use of CPPs. The study presents negative results in which, despite the manipulation of various parameters (incubation time, incubation temperature, culture time, charge ratio, plasmid concentration), results similar to electroporation were not obtained. Full article
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Review

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20 pages, 5338 KiB  
Review
Biosensors Based on Bivalent and Multivalent Recognition by Nucleic Acid Scaffolds
by Hokyung Kim, Hayeon Choi, Yoonji Heo, Cheoljae Kim, Min Kim and Ki Tae Kim
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(3), 1717; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app12031717 - 07 Feb 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2503
Abstract
Several biological macromolecules adopt bivalent or multivalent interactions to perform various cellular processes. In this regard, the development of molecular constructs presenting multiple ligands in a specific manner is becoming crucial for the understanding of multivalent interactions and for the detection of target [...] Read more.
Several biological macromolecules adopt bivalent or multivalent interactions to perform various cellular processes. In this regard, the development of molecular constructs presenting multiple ligands in a specific manner is becoming crucial for the understanding of multivalent interactions and for the detection of target macromolecules. Nucleic acids are attractive molecules to achieve this goal because they are capable of forming various, structurally well-defined 2D or 3D nanostructures and can bear multiple ligands on their structures with precisely controlled ligand–ligand distances. Thanks to the features of nucleic acids, researchers have proposed a wide range of bivalent and multivalent binding agents that strongly bind to target biomolecules; consequently, these findings have uncovered new biosensing strategies for biomolecule detection. To date, various bivalent and multivalent interactions of nucleic acid architectures have been applied to the design of biosensors with enhanced sensitivity and target accuracy. In this review, we describe not only basic biosensor designs but also recently designed biosensors operating through the bivalent and multivalent recognition of nucleic acid scaffolds. Based on these designs, strategies to transduce bi- or multivalent interaction signals into readable signals are discussed in detail, and the future prospects and challenges of the field of multivalence-based biosensors are explored. Full article
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