Multifunctional Nanostructures Based on Inorganic Nanoparticles and Oligothiophenes and Their Exploitation for Cellular Studies

Sequence-specific HCV RNA quantification using the size-dependent nonlinear optical properties of gold nanoparticles

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a single-stranded (ss) RNA virus that is responsible for chronic liver diseases, such as cirrhosis, end-stage liver disease, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Driven by the need to detect the presence of the HCV viral sequence, herein it is demonstrated for the first time that the nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of gold nanoparticles can be used for screening and quantifying HCV RNA without any modification, with excellent detection limit (80 pM) and selectivity (single base-pair mismatch). The hyper-Rayleigh scattering (HRS) intensity increases 25 times when label-free, 145-mer, HCV ss-RNA is hybridized with 400 pM target RNA. The mechanism of HRS intensity change is discussed with experimental evidence for a higher multipolar contribution to the NLO response of gold nanoparticles.

Toxicity and environmental risks of nanomaterials: challenges and future needs

Nanotechnology has gained a great deal of public interest because of the needs and applications of nanomaterials in many areas of human endeavors including industry, agriculture, business, medicine, and public health. Environmental exposure to nanomaterials is inevitable as nanomaterials become part of our daily life, and, as a result, nanotoxicity research is gaining attention. This review presents a summary of recent research efforts on fate, behavior, and toxicity of different classes of nanomaterials in the environment. A critical evaluation of challenges and future needs for the safe environmental nanotechnology are discussed.