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Biomimetic Materials Applied in the Analytical and Biomedical Fields

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A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2024) | Viewed by 4529

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Iacob Bogdan-Cezar

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Analytical Chemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Iuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400349 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Interests: separation techniques; sensors; polymers; molecularly imprinted polymers; pharmacy; capillary electrophoresis; capillary electrochromatography; electrochemistry; electrochemical sensors
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Ede Bodoki

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Analytical Chemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Iuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 400349 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Interests: metal-mediated molecular imprinting; chiral separation; β-blockers; molecularly imprinted polymers; molecular recognition; chemotherapeutics; cancer therapy; drug delivery systems; nanosystems; antioxidants
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Many synthetic materials found in our everyday life are inspired by nature which has evolved over millions of years, however, the research so far has barely scratched the surface of biomimicry. “Biomimetic materials” are sophisticated artificial materials replicating a natural material or function in order to address a critical challenge faced by the human being. The design and practical insertion of biomimetic materials require an interdisciplinary approach, being at the intersecting areas of many domains: biology, medicine, engeneering, chemistry, technology. Most of these innovative materials aim to tackle mainly challenges of the analytical and biomedical fields.

This Special Issue on biomimetic materials applied in the analytical and biomedical fields calls for contributions from experts working in all areas of biomimetic materials with applications in the analytical and biomedical fields, and welcomes original research papers concerning the design, synthesis, optimization and applications of these materials. Also, occasionally we need to look back and highlight past achievements into review articles in order to inspire and promote new research directions.

Dr. Iacob Bogdan-Cezar
Dr. Ede Bodoki
Guest Editors

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. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. 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

biomimetics
molecular recognition
imprinted polymers
smart materials
molecular complexes
polymeric biomaterials
biomedical materials
analytical methods
molecular interactions
artificial receptors

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 4056 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Changes in Dental Biofilm Proteins’ Secondary Structure in Groups of People with Different Cariogenic Situations in the Oral Cavity and Using Medications by Means of Synchrotron FTIR-Microspectroscopy

by Pavel Seredin, Dmitry Goloshchapov, Vladimir Kashkarov, Anatoly Lukin, Yaroslav Peshkov, Ivan Ippolitov, Yuri Ippolitov, Tatiana Litvinova, Jitraporn Vongsvivut, Boknam Chae and Raul O. Freitas

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(20), 15324; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms242015324 - 18 Oct 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1096

Abstract

This work unveils the idea that the cariogenic status of the oral cavity (the presence of active caries lesions) can be predicted via a lineshape analysis of the infrared spectral signatures of the secondary structure of proteins in dental biofilms. These spectral signatures that work as natural markers also show strong sensitivity to the application in patients of a so-called modulator—a medicinal agent (a pelleted mineral complex with calcium glycerophosphate). For the first time, according to our knowledge, in terms of deconvolution of the complete spectral profile of the amide I and amide II bands, significant intra- and intergroup differences were determined in the secondary structure of proteins in the dental biofilm of patients with a healthy oral cavity and with a carious pathology. This allowed to conduct a mathematical assessment of the spectral shifts in proteins’ secondary structure in connection with the cariogenic situation in the oral cavity and with an external modulation. It was shown that only for the component parallel β-strands in the amide profile of the biofilm, a statistically significant (p < 0.05) change in its percentage weight (composition) was registered in a cariogenic situation (presence of active caries lesions). Note that no significant differences were detected in a normal situation (control) and in the presence of a carious pathology before and after the application of the modulator. The change in the frequency and percentage weight of parallel β-strands in the spectra of dental biofilms proved to be the result of the presence of cariogenic mutans streptococci in the film as well as of the products of their metabolism—glucan polymers. We foresee that the results presented here can inherently provide the basis for the infrared spectral diagnosis of changes (shifts) in the oral microbiome driven by the development of the carious process in the oral cavity as well as for the choice of optimal therapeutic treatments of caries based on microbiome-directed prevention measures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomimetic Materials Applied in the Analytical and Biomedical Fields)

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15 pages, 3959 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optimization of Magnetic and Paper-Based Molecularly Imprinted Polymers for Selective Extraction of Charantin in Momordica charantia

by Nantana Nuchtavorn, Jiraporn Leanpolchareanchai, Satsawat Visansirikul and Somnuk Bunsupa

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(9), 7870; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24097870 - 26 Apr 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1692

Abstract

Charantin is a mixture of β-sitosterol and stigmastadienol glucosides, which effectively lowers high blood glucose. Novel molecularly imprinted polymers coated magnetic nanoparticles (Fe₃O₄@MIPs) and filter paper (paper@MIPs) were synthesized by sol-gel polymerization to selectively extract charantin. β-sitosterol glucoside was selected as a template for imprinting a specific recognition owing to its larger molecular surface area than that of 5,25-stigmastadienol glucoside. Factorial designs were used to examine the effects of the types of porogenic solvents and cross-linkers on the extraction efficiency and imprinting factor before investigating other factors (for example, amounts of template and coated MIPs, and types of substrates for MIP immobilization). Compared to traditional liquid–liquid extraction, the optimal Fe₃O₄@MIP-based dispersive micro-solid phase extraction and paper@MIP extraction provided excellent extraction efficiency (87.5 ± 2.1% and 85.0 ± 2.9%, respectively) and selectivity. Charantin was well separated, and a new unidentified sterol glucoside was observed using the developed high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection (Rs ≥ 2.0, n > 16,400). The developed methods were successfully utilized to extract and quantify charantin from M. charantia fruit powder and herbal products. Moreover, these methods are rapid (<10 min), inexpensive, simple, reproducible, and environmentally friendly. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomimetic Materials Applied in the Analytical and Biomedical Fields)

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Other

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26 pages, 1053 KiB

Open AccessPerspective

Chemical Systems for Wetware Artificial Life: Selected Perspectives in Synthetic Cell Research

by Pasquale Stano

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(18), 14138; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241814138 - 15 Sep 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1217

Abstract

The recent and important advances in bottom-up synthetic biology (SB), in particular in the field of the so-called “synthetic cells” (SCs) (or “artificial cells”, or “protocells”), lead us to consider the role of wetware technologies in the “Sciences of Artificial”, where they constitute the third pillar, alongside the more well-known pillars hardware (robotics) and software (Artificial Intelligence, AI). In this article, it will be highlighted how wetware approaches can help to model life and cognition from a unique perspective, complementary to robotics and AI. It is suggested that, through SB, it is possible to explore novel forms of bio-inspired technologies and systems, in particular chemical AI. Furthermore, attention is paid to the concept of semantic information and its quantification, following the strategy recently introduced by Kolchinsky and Wolpert. Semantic information, in turn, is linked to the processes of generation of “meaning”, interpreted here through the lens of autonomy and cognition in artificial systems, emphasizing its role in chemical ones. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomimetic Materials Applied in the Analytical and Biomedical Fields)

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