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Advances in Molecular Recognition Materials
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Advances in Molecular Recognition Materials

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Analytical Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2020) | Viewed by 20964

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. José Manuel Herrero-Martínez

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Valencia, Burjassot, Spain
Interests: porous materials; nanomaterials; molecular recognition sorbents; sample treatment; solid-phase extraction; capillary electromigration techniques; capillary/nano liquid chromatography; food analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Molecular recognition is one of the most relevant chemical processes found in biological systems, and includes the well-known examples of receptor–ligand, antigen–antibody, and sugar–lectin interactions, among many others. These processes can also be replicated, in vitro, for performing studies centered on biochemical protocols, as well as other applications related to the development of specific or highly selective media for extraction, sensors, catalysis, drug delivery, etc. In this sense, the design of supports or materials with appropriate functional structures plays an important role in advanced molecular recognition systems. For example, molecular recognition involving polymers and related materials has proven to be one of the most efficient and versatile approaches for incorporating specific molecular recognition sites into polymers for the development of artificial polymeric receptors. Thus, the resultant molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have found use in a wide range of applications encompassing the fields of separation processes (chromatography and solid-phase extraction), immunoassays, antibody mimics, sensors, catalysis, drug development, and even cell imaging. In addition, other approaches based on the use of supramolecular polymers, host–guest chemistry, or the incorporation of aptamers have recently been adopted to enable environments and materials appropriate for promoting molecular recognition and enhanced affinity. These novel smart materials have a vast number of application areas, including (bio)analytical chemistry, drug delivery, and medical science.

The present Special Issue “Advances in Molecular Recognition Materials” aims to collect and disseminate some of the most significant and recent advancements in molecular recognition materials. The scope is broad, and studies using different techniques or approaches (such as those based on molecular imprinting, aptamers, immune-based sorbents, host–guest chemistry, supramolecular chemistry, etc.) in various applications (including molecular sensing, separation, extraction, catalysis, drug delivery, cell recognition, etc.) are of particular interest to this Special Issue. In addition to the submission of original research articles, reviews and perspective articles regarding promising future directions are also welcome. In covering this promising topic, we hope to represent researchers from all different areas including, but not limited to, polymer chemistry, organic chemistry, analytical chemistry, material chemistry, biochemistry, and biotechnology.

Prof. Dr. José Manuel Herrero-Martínez
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • molecular imprinting
  • immunosorbents
  • aptamers
  • host-guest chemistry
  • nanostructured materials
  • extraction
  • separation
  • sensors
  • drug delivery
  • cell recognition

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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9 pages, 1329 KiB  
Article
Competitive Protein Binding Assay of Naproxen by Human Serum Albumin Functionalized Silicon Dioxide Nanoparticles
by Qian-Long Wang, Jing Xie, Jian Liang, Geng-Ting Dong, Li-Sheng Ding, Pei Luo and Lin-Sen Qing
Molecules 2019, 24(14), 2593; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24142593 - 17 Jul 2019
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4369
Abstract
We have developed a new competitive protein binding assay (CPBA) based on human serum albumin functionalized silicon dioxide nanoparticles (nano-SiO2-HSA) that can be used for naproxen determination in urine. Compared with a conventional multi-well reaction plate, nano-SiO2 with a high [...] Read more.
We have developed a new competitive protein binding assay (CPBA) based on human serum albumin functionalized silicon dioxide nanoparticles (nano-SiO2-HSA) that can be used for naproxen determination in urine. Compared with a conventional multi-well reaction plate, nano-SiO2 with a high surface-area-to-volume ratio could be introduced as a stationary phase, markedly improving the analytical performance. Nano-SiO2-HSA and horseradish peroxidase-labeled-naproxen (HRP-naproxen) were prepared for the present CPBA method. In this study, a direct competitive binding to nano-SiO2-HSAwas performed between the free naproxen in the sample and HRP-naproxen. Thus, the catalytic color reactions were investigated on an HRP/3,3′5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB)/H2O2 system by the HRP-naproxen/nano-SiO2-HSA composite for quantitative measurement via an ultraviolet spectrophotometer. A series of validation experiments indicated that our proposed methods can be applied satisfactorily to the determination of naproxen in urine samples. As a proof of principle, the newly developed nano-CPBA method for the quantification of naproxen in urine can be expected to have the advantages of low costs, fast speed, high accuracy, and relatively simple instrument requirements. Our method could be capable of expanding the analytical applications of nanomaterials and of determining other small-molecule compounds from various biological samples. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Molecular Recognition Materials)
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12 pages, 1758 KiB  
Article
One-step Preparation of a VHH-based Immunoadsorbent for the Extracorporeal Removal of β2-microglobulin
by Lijun Zhang, Berlin Zang, Chundong Huang, Jun Ren and Lingyun Jia
Molecules 2019, 24(11), 2119; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24112119 - 04 Jun 2019
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2805
Abstract
Dialysis-related amyloidosis (DRA), which has been widely recognized to be associated with the accumulation of β2-microglobulin (β2-m) in blood, is one of the most common complications in patients receiving long-term dialysis treatment. The most significant side-effect of existing hemodialysis sorbents for the removal [...] Read more.
Dialysis-related amyloidosis (DRA), which has been widely recognized to be associated with the accumulation of β2-microglobulin (β2-m) in blood, is one of the most common complications in patients receiving long-term dialysis treatment. The most significant side-effect of existing hemodialysis sorbents for the removal of β2-m from blood is the loss of vital proteins due to non-specific adsorptions. Although the traditional antibodies have the capability to specifically remove β2-m from blood, high cost limits their applications in clinics. Single domain antibodies derived from the Camelidae species serve as a superior choice in the preparation of immunoadsorbents due to their small size, high stability, amenability, simplicity of expression in microbes, and high affinity to recognize and interact with β2-m. In this study, we modified the anti-β2-m VHH by the formylglycine-generating enzyme (FGE), and then directly immobilized the aldehyde-modified VHH to the amino-activated beads. Notably, the fabrication is cost- and time-effective, since all the preparation steps were performed in the crude cell extract without rigorous purification. The accordingly prepared immunoadsorbent with VHHs as ligands exhibited the high capacity of β2-m (0.75 mg/mL). In conclusion, the VHH antibodies were successfully used as affinity ligands in the preparation of novel immunoadsorbents by the site-specific immobilization, and effectively adsorbed β2-m from blood, therefore opening a new avenue for efficient hemodialysis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Molecular Recognition Materials)
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11 pages, 1530 KiB  
Article
Oriented Immobilization and Quantitative Analysis Simultaneously Realized in Sandwich Immunoassay via His-Tagged Nanobody
by Li Xu, Hanyu Cao, Chundong Huang and Lingyun Jia
Molecules 2019, 24(10), 1890; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24101890 - 16 May 2019
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3350
Abstract
Despite the advantages of the nanobody, the unique structure limits its use in sandwich immunoassay. In this study, a facile protocol of sandwich immunoassay using the nanobody was established. In brief, β amyloid and SH2, an anti-β amyloid nanobody, were used as capture [...] Read more.
Despite the advantages of the nanobody, the unique structure limits its use in sandwich immunoassay. In this study, a facile protocol of sandwich immunoassay using the nanobody was established. In brief, β amyloid and SH2, an anti-β amyloid nanobody, were used as capture antibody and antigen, respectively. The SH2 fused with His-tag was first purified and absorbed on Co2+-NTA functional matrix and then immobilized through H2O2 oxidation of Co2+ to Co3+ under the optimized conditions. Then, 150 mM imidazole and 20 mM EDTA were introduced to remove the unbound SH2. The immobilized SH2 showed highly-sensitive detection of β amyloid. It is interesting that the quantification of the sandwich immunoassay was carried out by determining the His-tag of the detection nanobody, without interference from the His-tag of the capture nanobody. The immobilized SH2 detached exhibited outstanding stability during 30 days of storage. Taken together, His6-tag facilitated both the oriented immobilization of capture antibody and quantitative assay of detection antibody in sandwich immunoassay. We propose a facile and efficient sandwich immunoassay method that opens new avenue to the study of His-tagged protein interactions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Molecular Recognition Materials)
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Review

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22 pages, 3186 KiB  
Review
Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Micro- and Nano-Particles: A Review
by Beatriz Fresco-Cala, Alex D. Batista and Soledad Cárdenas
Molecules 2020, 25(20), 4740; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25204740 - 15 Oct 2020
Cited by 60 | Viewed by 5260
Abstract
In recent years, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have become an excellent solution to the selective and sensitive determination of target molecules in complex matrices where other similar and relative structural compounds could coexist. Although MIPs show the inherent properties of the polymers, including [...] Read more.
In recent years, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have become an excellent solution to the selective and sensitive determination of target molecules in complex matrices where other similar and relative structural compounds could coexist. Although MIPs show the inherent properties of the polymers, including stability, robustness, and easy/cheap synthesis, some of their characteristics can be enhanced, or new functionalities can be obtained when nanoparticles are incorporated in their polymeric structure. The great variety of nanoparticles available significantly increase the possibility of finding the adequate design of nanostructured MIP for each analytical problem. Moreover, different structures (i.e., monolithic solids or MIPs micro/nanoparticles) can be produced depending on the used synthesis approach. This review aims to summarize and describe the most recent and innovative strategies since 2015, based on the combination of MIPs with nanoparticles. The role of the nanoparticles in the polymerization, as well as in the imprinting and adsorption efficiency, is also discussed through the review. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Molecular Recognition Materials)
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21 pages, 2633 KiB  
Review
Recent Advances in Affinity MOF-Based Sorbents with Sample Preparation Purposes
by Héctor Martínez Pérez-Cejuela, José Manuel Herrero-Martínez and Ernesto F. Simó-Alfonso
Molecules 2020, 25(18), 4216; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25184216 - 14 Sep 2020
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 4709
Abstract
This review summarizes the recent advances concerning metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) modified with several biomolecules (e.g., amino acids, nucleobases, proteins, antibodies, aptamers, etc.) as ligands to prepare affinity-based sorbents for application in the sample preparation field. The preparation and incorporation strategies of these MOF-based [...] Read more.
This review summarizes the recent advances concerning metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) modified with several biomolecules (e.g., amino acids, nucleobases, proteins, antibodies, aptamers, etc.) as ligands to prepare affinity-based sorbents for application in the sample preparation field. The preparation and incorporation strategies of these MOF-based affinity materials were described. Additionally, the different types of ligands that can be employed for the synthesis of these biocomposites and their application as sorbents for the selective extraction of molecules and clean-up of complex real samples is reported. The most important features of the developed biocomposites will be discussed throughout the text in different sections, and several examples will be also commented on in detail. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Molecular Recognition Materials)
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