Interaction of TiO2 nanoparticle with trypsin analyzed by kinetic and spectroscopic methods

A Comparative Analysis of Different Grades of Silica Particles and Temperature Variants of Food-Grade Silica Nanoparticles for Their Physicochemical Properties and Effect on Trypsin

While silica particles are used extensively in food products, different grades and temperature variants of silica particles have not been compared for their physiochemical and biological properties. Different grades of silica (food-grade nanoparticles (FG-NPs), nonfood-grade nanoparticles (NFG-NPs), and food-grade micron particles (FG-MPs)) and the temperature variants generated by exposing FG-NPs to wet heating, dry heating, and refrigeration were compared for their physicochemical properties and interaction with trypsin. FG-NPs were similar to NFG-NPs and FG-MPs in their elemental composition and amorphous nature but had relatively less branched and ring siloxane groups than the latter ones. There were subtle but noticeable changes in the agglomeration behavior and relative abundance of different silica groups in FG-NPs exposed to food-handling temperatures. Secondary structure and function of trypsin were negatively impacted by FG-NPs and their temperature variants. Silica particles showed a "mixed-type inhibition" of trypsin resulting in partial digestion of bovine serum albumin. In conclusion, our studies showed differences in the surface chemistry of different grades of silica particles and temperature variants of FG-NPs and their negative impact on the structure and function of trypsin.

Interactions between Metal Oxides and Biomolecules: from Fundamental Understanding to Applications

Metallo-oxide (MO)-based bioinorganic nanocomposites promise unique structures, physicochemical properties, and novel biochemical functionalities, and within the past decade, investment in research on materials such as ZnO, TiO₂, SiO₂, and GeO₂ has significantly increased. Besides traditional approaches, the synthesis, shaping, structural patterning, and postprocessing chemical functionalization of the materials surface is inspired by strategies which mimic processes in nature. Would such materials deliver new technologies? Answering this question requires the merging of historical knowledge and current research from different fields of science. Practically, we need an effective defragmentation of the research area. From our perspective, the superficial accounting of material properties, chemistry of the surfaces, and the behavior of biomolecules next to such surfaces is a problem. This is particularly of concern when we wish to bridge between technologies in vitro and biotechnologies in vivo. Further, besides the potential practical technological efficiency and advantages such materials might exhibit, we have to consider the wider long-term implications of material stability and toxicity. In this contribution, we present a critical review of recent advances in the chemistry and engineering of MO-based biocomposites, highlighting the role of interactions at the interface and the techniques by which these can be studied. At the end of the article, we outline the challenges which hamper progress in research and extrapolate to developing and promising directions including additive manufacturing and synthetic biology that could benefit from molecular level understanding of interactions occurring between inanimate (abiotic) and living (biotic) materials.