Facile Preparation of Core-Shell Magnetic Metal-Organic Framework Nanoparticles for the Selective Capture of Phosphopeptides

Co-immobilization of crosslinked enzyme aggregates on lysozyme functionalized magnetic nanoparticles for enhancing stability and activity

Surface chemistry of carriers plays a key role in enzyme loading capacity, structure rigidity, and thus catalyze activity of immobilized enzymes. In this work, the two model enzymes of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and glucose oxidase (GOx) are co-immobilized on the lysozyme functionalized magnetic core-shell nanocomposites (LYZ@MCSNCs) to enhance their stability and activity. Briefly, the HRP and GOx aggregates are firstly formed under the crosslinker of trimesic acid, in which the loading amount and the rigidity of the enzyme can be further increased. Additionally, LYZ easily forms a robust anti-biofouling nanofilm on the surface of SiO2@Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles with abundant functional groups, which facilitate chemical crosslinking of HRP and GOx aggregates with minimized inactivation. The immobilized enzyme of HRP-GOx@LYZ@MCSNCs exhibited excellent recovery activity (95.6 %) higher than that of the free enzyme (HRP&GOx). Specifically, 85 % of relative activity was retained after seven cycles, while 73.5 % of initial activity was also remained after storage for 33 days at 4 °C. The thermal stability and pH adaptability of HRP-GOx@LYZ@MCSNCs were better than those of free enzyme of HRP&GOx. This study provides a mild and ecofriendly strategy for multienzyme co-immobilization based on LYZ functionalized magnetic nanoparticles using HRP and GOx as model enzymes.

In-Depth Endogenous Phosphopeptidomics of Serum with Zirconium(IV)-Grafted Mesoporous Silica Enrichment

Detection of endogenous peptides, especially those with modifications (such as phosphorylation) in biofluids, can serve as an indicator of intracellular pathophysiology. Although great progress has been made in phosphoproteomics in recent years, endogenous phosphopeptidomics has largely lagged behind. One main hurdle in endogenous phosphopeptidomics analysis is the coexistence of proteins and highly abundant nonmodified peptides in complex matrices. In this study, we developed an approach using zirconium(IV)-grafted mesoporous beads to enrich phosphopeptides, followed by analysis with a high resolution nanoRPLC-MS/MS system. The bifunctional material was first tested with digests of standard phosphoproteins and HeLa cell lysates, with excellent enrichment performance achieved. Given the size exclusion nature, the beads were directly applied for endogenous phosphopeptidomic analysis of serum samples from pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients and controls. In total, 329 endogenous phosphopeptides (containing 113 high confidence sites) were identified across samples, by far the largest endogenous phosphopeptide data set cataloged to date. In addition, the method was readily applied for phosphoproteomics of the same set of samples, with 172 phosphopeptides identified and significant changes in dozens of phosphopeptides observed. Given the simplicity and robustness of the proposed method, we envision that it can be readily used for comprehensive phosphorylation studies of serum and other biofluid samples.

Integration of metformin-loaded MIL-100(Fe) into hydrogel microneedles for prolonged regulation of blood glucose levels

The transdermal drug delivery based on microneedles (MNs) provides a suitable and painless self-administration for diabetic patients. In this work, the hydrogel-forming MNs were firstly fabricated using poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and chitosan (CS) as matrix. A hypoglycemic drug, metformin (Met), had been loaded into MIL-100(Fe). Then, both of free Met and Met-loaded MIL-100(Fe) were integrated into hydrogel-forming MNs for regulation of blood glucose levels (BGLs) on diabetic rats. After penetrated into the skin, the free Met could be firstly released from MNs. Due to the absorption of interstitial fluid and subsequent release of loaded Met from MIL-100(Fe), leading to a sustainable and long-term drug release behaviors. A notable hypoglycemic effect and low risk of hypoglycemia could be obtained on diabetic rat modelsin vivo. The as-fabricated hydrogel-forming MNs expected to become a new type of transdermal drug delivery platform for transdermal delivery of high-dose drugs to form a long-term hypoglycemic effect.

Nanocomposites Based on Magnetic Nanoparticles and Metal-Organic Frameworks for Therapy, Diagnosis, and Theragnostics

In the last two decades, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with highly tunable structure and porosity, have emerged as drug nanocarriers in the biomedical field. In particular, nanoscaled MOFs (nanoMOFs) have been widely investigated because of their potential biocompatibility, high drug loadings, and progressive release. To enhance their properties, MOFs have been combined with magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) to form magnetic nanocomposites (MNP@MOF) with additional functionalities. Due to the magnetic properties of the MNPs, their presence in the nanosystems enables potential combinatorial magnetic targeted therapy and diagnosis. In this Review, we analyze the four main synthetic strategies currently employed for the fabrication of MNP@MOF nanocomposites, namely, mixing, in situ formation of MNPs in presynthesized MOF, in situ formation of MOFs in the presence of MNPs, and layer-by-layer methods. Additionally, we discuss the current progress in bioapplications, focusing on drug delivery systems (DDSs), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), magnetic hyperthermia (MHT), and theragnostic systems. Overall, we provide a comprehensive overview of the recent advances in the development and bioapplications of MNP@MOF nanocomposites, highlighting their potential for future biomedical applications with a critical analysis of the challenges and limitations of these nanocomposites in terms of their synthesis, characterization, biocompatibility, and applicability.

Facile synthesis of Fe3+ immobilized magnetic polydopamine-polyethyleneimine composites for phosphopeptide enrichment

As one of the most common post-translational modification of proteins, protein phosphorylation plays a vital role in many physiological processes. The enrichment of phosphopeptides is highly important before the mass spectrometry detection since phosphopeptides are susceptible to interferences from high-abundance non-phosphopeptides. In this study, we designed a novel magnetic composite (Fe3O4@PDA-PEI-Fe3+) for phosphopeptide enrichment with a facile protocol. The developed Fe3O4@PDA-PEI-Fe3+ is a marvelous material with multiple functional groups, and can effectively enrich phosphopeptides through the synergistic effect of three mechanisms, i.e., immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography raised form Fe3+, electrostatic interaction between amine and phosphate groups, and hydrogen bond between the hydrogen atoms of amine groups and oxygen atoms of phosphate groups. Combined with mass spectrometry, the material shows excellent enrichment performance, high sensitivity (0.4 fmol), good selectivity (β-casein:BSA= 1:500, w:w), and stable reusability (at least 5 cycles). In addition, the material was successfully applied to enrich phosphopeptides from skim milk and human saliva samples, implying that it is an ideal adsorbent for the phosphopeptide enrichment in complex biological samples and provides valuable insights into the field of phosphopeptide analysis.

Bifunctional MNPs@UIO-66-Arg core-shell-satellite nanocomposites for enrichment of phosphopeptides

A facile and mild method based on self-assembled lysozyme (LYZ) to fabricate bifunctional MNPs@UIO-66-Arg core-shell-satellite nanocomposites (CSSNCs) is reported for the high-efficiency enrichment of phosphopeptides. Under physiological conditions, LYZ rapidly self-assembled into a robust coating on Fe3O4@SiO2 magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) with abundant surface functional groups, which effectively mediate heterogeneous nucleation and growth of UIO-66 nanocrystals. Well-defined MNPs@UIO-66 CSSNCs with stacked pores, showing high specific surface area (333.65 m2 g- 1) and low mass transfer resistance, were successfully fabricated by fine-tuning of the reaction conditions including reaction time and acetic acid content. Furthermore, the UIO-66 shells were further modified with arginine to obtain bifunctional MNPs@UIO-66-Arg CSSNCs. Thanks to the unique morphology and synergistic effect of Zr-O clusters and guanidine groups, the bifunctional MNPs@UIO-66-Arg CSSNCs exhibited outstanding enrichment performance for phosphopeptides, delivering a low limit of detection (0.1 fmol), high selectivity (β-casein/BSA, mass ratio 1:2000), and good capture capacity (120 mg g- 1). The mechanism for phosphopeptides capture may attribute to the hydrogen bonds, electrostatic interactions, and Zr-O-P bonds between phosphate groups in peptides and guanidyl/Zr-O clusters on bifunctional MNPs@UIO-66-Arg CSSNCs. In addition, the small stacking pores on the core-shell-satellite architecture may selectively capture phosphopeptides with low molecular weight, eliminating interference of other large molecular proteins in complex biological samples.

Metal-Organic Framework as a New Type of Magnetothermally-Triggered On-Demand Release Carrier

The development of external stimuli-controlled payload systems has been sought after with increasing interest toward magnetothermally-triggered drug release (MTDR) carriers due to their non-invasive features. However, current MTDR carriers present several limitations, such as poor heating efficiency caused by the aggregation of iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) or the presence of antiferromagnetic phases which affect their efficiency. Herein, a novel MTDR carrier is developed using a controlled encapsulation method that fully fixes and confines IONPs of various sizes within the metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). This novel carrier preserves the MOF's morphology, porosity, and IONP segregation, while enhances heating efficiency through the oxidation of antiferromagnetic phases in IONPs during encapsulation. It also features a magnetothermally-responsive nanobrush that is stimulated by an alternating magnetic field to enable on-demand drug release. The novel carrier shows improved heating, which has potential applications as contrast agents and for combined chemo and magnetic hyperthermia therapy. It holds a great promise for magneto-thermally modulated drug dosing at tumor sites, making it an exciting avenue for cancer treatment.

Surface ligand-assisted synthesis and biomedical applications of metal-organic framework nanocomposites

Metal-organic framework (MOF) nanocomposites have recently gained intensive attention for biosensing and disease therapy applications owing to their outstanding physiochemical properties. However, the direct growth of MOF nanocomposites is usually hindered by the mismatched lattice in the interface between the MOF and other nanocomponents. Surface ligands, molecules with surfactant-like properties, are demonstrated to exhibit the robust capability to modify the interfacial properties of nanomaterials and can be utilized as a powerful strategy for the synthesis of MOF nanocomposites. Besides this, surface ligands also exhibit significant functions in the morphological control and functionalization of MOF nanocomposites, thus greatly enhancing their performance in biomedical applications. In this review, the surface ligand-assisted synthesis and biomedical applications of MOF nanocomposites are comprehensively reviewed. Firstly, the synthesis of MOF nanocomposites is discussed according to the diverse roles of surface ligands. Then, MOF nanocomposites with different properties are listed with their applications in biosensing and disease therapy. Finally, current challenges and further directions of MOF nanocomposites are presented to motivate the development of MOF nanocomposites with elaborate structures, enriched functions, and excellent application prospects.

Surface Modification of Magnetic ZIF-90 Nanoparticles Improves the Microenvironment of Immobilized Lipase and Its Application in Esterification

Interactions of enzymes with supports significantly affect the activity and stability of immobilized enzymes. Herein, amino-functionalized ionic liquid (IL)-grafted magnetic zeolitic imidazolate framework-90 (MZIF-90) was prepared and used to immobilize porcine pancreatic lipase (PPL). The nanocomposites were fully characterized; meanwhile, the interactions between ILs and ZIF-90 were calculated based on density functional theory. The prepared biocatalyst (PPL-ILs/MZIF-90) had a lipase loading of 178.3 mg/g and hydrolysis activity up to 287.5 U/g. When the biocatalyst was used to synthesize isoamyl acetate, the reaction media, molar ratio of alcohol/acid, temperature, and reaction time were optimized. Under the optimized reaction conditions (in hexane, alcohol/acid = 3:1, under 45 °C, reacted for 9 h), the ester yield reached 85.5%. The results of the stability test showed that PPL-ILs/MZIF-90 retained 88.7% of the initial activity after storing for 35 days and 92.5% of the initial activity after reusing for seven cycles for synthesizing isoamyl acetate. Moreover, the secondary structure analysis showed that the synthesized supports protected the active conformation of immobilized lipase, which lead to the enhanced catalytic performance. Additionally, the biocatalyst can be easily separated with a magnet, which facilitated the reusability. This study provides insights regarding the application of metal organic framework composites in the field of enzyme catalysis.

Two-dimensional magnetic bimetallic organic framework nanosheets for highly efficient enrichment of phosphopeptides

Highly selective enrichment and sensitive detection of phosphopeptides is pivotal for comprehensive phosphoproteomics analysis; however, it also poses a long-standing challenge. Here, a novel two-dimensional (2D) magnetic bimetallic organic framework (MOF) nanosheet with Zr-O clusters and Ti-O clusters (denoted as the Fe₃O₄@Zr-Ti BPDC nanosheet) is prepared via a solvothermal method and in situ deposition of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles for the first time. Taking advantage of the abundant dual affinities of Zr-O and Ti-O clusters for phosphopeptides, large surface area and high chemical stability, the Fe₃O₄@Zr-Ti BPDC nanosheets exhibit excellent enrichment performance for phosphopeptides. Within the framework of density functional theory, the interaction between Zr-O clusters, Ti-O clusters and phosphorylated molecules was studied to find the possible reason behind the superior adsorption performance of the bimetallic MOF nanosheets. We found that electrons would migrate from Ti to Zr spontaneously after doping Ti element and enhance the electrostatic traction between Zr species and phosphorylated molecules, demonstrating that the synergistic effect of Zr-Ti was helpful to improve the enrichment efficiency for phosphopeptides. Furthermore, the Fe₃O₄@Zr-Ti BPDC nanosheets showed good enrichment performance in complex bio-samples, including nonfat milk, human saliva, and a breast cancer cell lysate, indicating their tremendous potential in the analysis of trace phosphorylated biomolecules in complex bio-samples.

Nanoarchitectonics beyond perfect order - not quite perfect but quite useful

Nanoarchitectonics, like architectonics, allows the design and building of structures, but at the nanoscale. Unlike those in architectonics, and even macro-, micro-, and atomic-scale architectonics, the assembled structures at the nanoscale do not always follow the projected design. In fact, they do follow the projected design but only for self-assembly processes producing structures with perfect order. Here, we look at nanoarchitectonics allowing the building of nanostructures without a perfect arrangement of building blocks. Here, fabrication of structures from molecules, polymers, nanoparticles, and nanosheets to polymer brushes, layer-by-layer assembly structures, and hydrogels through self-assembly processes is discussed, where perfect order is not necessarily the aim to be achieved. Both planar substrate and spherical template-based assemblies are discussed, showing the challenging nature of research in this field and the usefulness of such structures for numerous applications, which are also discussed here.

Rapid and efficient isolation platform for plasma extracellular vesicles: EV-FISHER

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have found diverse applications in clinical theranostics. However, the current techniques to isolate plasma EVs suffer from burdensome procedures and limited yield. Herein, we report a rapid and efficient EV isolation platform, namely, EV-FISHER, constructed from the metal-organic framework featuring cleavable lipid probes (PO4 3- -spacer-DNA-cholesterol, PSDC). The EV-FISHER baits EVs from plasma by cholesterol and separates them with an ordinary centrifuge. The captured EVs could be released and collected upon subsequent cleavage of PSDC by deoxyribonuclease I. We conclude that EV-FISHER dramatically outperforms the ultracentrifugation (UC) in terms of time (∼40 min vs. 240 min), isolation efficiency (74.2% vs. 18.1%), and isolation requirement (12,800 g vs. 135,000 g). In addition to the stable performance in plasma, EV-FISHER also exhibited excellent compatibility with downstream single-EV flow cytometry, enabling the identification of glypican-1 (GPC-1) EVs for early diagnosis, clinical stages differentiation, and therapeutic efficacy evaluation in breast cancer cohorts. This work portrays an efficient strategy to isolate EVs from complicated biological fluids with promising potential to facilitate EVs-based theranostics.

Nanoarchitectonics of a MOF-in-Nanochannel (HKUST-1/TiO2) Membrane for Multitarget Selective Enrichment and Staged Recovery

Enrichment and separation of specific endogenous molecules are essential for disease diagnosis and the pharmaceutical industry. Although many solid sorbents have been developed for target molecule enrichment, simultaneous separation of multitargets is still a challenge for adsorbents. In this study, we develop a multitarget selective sorbent based on a nanochannel membrane prepared by the anodization of a Ti-Cu alloy. The in situ growth of a metal-organic framework (MOF, herein using Cu-based HKUST-1) in the nanochannels enables the resulting MOF-in-nanochannel membrane to act as a nanofilter. Benefitting from the size-exclusion effect of MOFs and the distinct surface characteristics of each component in the HKUST-1/TiO₂ nanochannels, the as-proposed membranes can be simply operated as a filter and exhibit satisfactory selectivities and enrichment capacities in the separation of aromatic amino acids, histidine-rich proteins, and phosphoproteins. More importantly, the adsorbed multitargets can be further controllably released from the membrane in a sequence via a staged recovery process. The use of this system is envisioned to provide an innovative and potential design for efficient sorption media for the selective enrichment and staged separation of specific biomolecules.

Preparation of Magnetic Metal-Organic Frameworks@Molecularly Imprinted Nanoparticles for Specific Extraction and Enrichment of Bisphenol A in Food

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with systematically tailored structures have been suggested as promising precursors to the preparation of diverse functional materials. Herein, a facile and versatile layer-by-layer strategy without any special surface modifications has been proposed for the preparation of magnetic metal-organic frameworks (MMOFs) supported molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles (MMOFs@MIP), which are based on a magnetically susceptible core conjugated with an imidazole-derived self-assembled layer and a silane-based imprinted shell. The obtained MMOFs@MIPs, which integrated the advantages of Fe₃O₄, MOFs, and MIPs, were characterized and exhibited good magnetic properties, a rapid mass transfer rate, and an excellent adsorption selectivity as well as capacity for the targeted molecular - bisphenol A (BPA). Moreover, the MMOFs@MIPs were employed as adsorbents in magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) to selectively bind and rapidly separate BPA from real samples with satisfactory recoveries ranging from 88.3% to 92.3%. More importantly, the desirable reusability of MMOFs@MIP was also evaluated, and the recoveries still maintained above 88.0% even after five re-use cycles. Furthermore, combined with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis, a novel MSPE-HPLC method was developed, enabling the highly selective and sensitive detection of BPA in a wide linear range of 0.5–5000 μg L⁻¹ with a low limit of detection (LOD) of 0.1 μg L⁻¹. This work contributes a promising method for constructing various functional nanoparticles @MOFs@MIP hybrid materials for applications in many different fields.

Development of New Lanthanide(III) Ion-Based Magnetic Affinity Material for Phosphopeptide Enrichment

Lanthanide (III) ion-based magnetic IMAC materials consisting of core-shell-like silica-coated magnetic nanoparticles as supporting material, chelidamic acid as chelating agent, and Ln3+ ions were developed in this study. Magnetic nanoparticles...

Unravelling the catalytic potential of a magnetic CoFe2O4/Cu–ABDC MOF composite in the sustainable synthesis of 2H-indazole motifs

A magnetic CoFe2O4/Cu–ABDC hybrid composite was fabricated for the synthesis of biologically active and pharmacologically significant 2H-indazole scaffolds.

A capillary driven microfluidic chip for SERS based hCG detection

In this study, a capillary driven microfluidic chip-based immunoassay was developed for the determination of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) protein, which is prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Here, we used antibody modified magnetic metal organic framework nanoparticles (MMOFs) as a capture prob in urine sample. MMOF captured hCG was transferred in a capillary driven microfluidic chip consisting of four chambers, and the interaction of MMOF with gold nanorods labelled with 5,5'-Dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB) as a Raman label was carried out in the capillary driven microfluidic chip. The movement of MMOF through first chamber to the last chamber was achieved with a simple magnet. In the last chamber of capillary driven microfluidic chip, SERS signals of DTNB molecules from the sandwich complex were recorded using a Raman spectrophotometer. The selectivity of the developed method was demonstrated by applying the same procedure for the detection of Human Luteinizing Hormone (hLH), Human Chorionic Gonadotropin Hormone (hGH) and Immunoglobulin G (IgG) protein. The regression coefficient and limit of detection obtained from the standard addition method were found as 0,9985 and 0,61 IU/L, respectively. Furthermore, the conventional ELISA method confirmed that the results obtained by the presented method were acceptable with the similarity of 97.9% in terms of average recovery value, for the detection of hCG in urine samples. The analysis system developed for target proteins will be an alternative technique such as Western Blot used in routine analysis that is expensive and time consuming.

Functionally modified metal–organic frameworks for the removal of toxic dyes from wastewater

This review highlights recent advancement in functional modified (FM) MOFs as superior adsorbents for the removal of dyes, classifying them by various modification strategies. The adsorption interactions affected by the FM approach are summarized.

Recent development of metal-organic framework nanocomposites for biomedical applications

Albeit metal-organic framework (MOF) composites have been extensively explored, reducing the size and dimensions of various contents within the composition, to the nanoscale regime, has recently presented unique opportunities for enhanced properties with the formation of MOF-based nanocomposites. Many distinctive strategies have been used to fabricate these nanocomposites such as through the introduction of nanoparticles (NPs) into a MOF precursor solution or vice versa to achieve a core-shell or heterostructure configuration. As such, MOF-based nanocomposites offer seemingly limitless possibilities and promising solutions for the vast range of applications across biomedical disciplines especially for improving in vivo implementation. In this review, we focus on the recent development of MOF-based nanocomposites, outline their classification according to the type of integrations (NPs, coating materials, and different MOF-derived nanocomposites), and direct special attention towards the various approaches and strategies employed to construct these nanocomposites for their prospective utilization in biomedical applications including biomimetic enzymes and photo, chemo, sonodynamic, starvation and hyperthermia therapies. Lastly, our work aims to highlight the exciting potential as well as the challenges of MOF-based nanocomposites to help guide future research as well as to contribute to the progress of MOF-based nanotechnology in biomedicine.

Design of a Spiropyran-Based Smart Adsorbent with Dual Response: Focusing on Highly Efficient Enrichment of Phosphopeptides

Smart responsive materials have attractive application prospects due to their tunable behaviors. In this work, we design novel spiropyran (SP)-based magnetic nanoparticles (MNP-SP) with dual response to ultraviolet light and pH and apply them to the enrichment of phosphopeptides. SP is modified on the surface of magnetic nanoparticles through a simple esterification reaction, based on which an MNP-SP-MS phosphopeptide identification platform is established. The capture and release of phosphopeptides are facilely adjusted by changing external light and the pH of the solution. The smart responsive MNP-SP has fast magnetic response performance, high sensitivity (detection limit of 0.4 fmol), and good reusability (6 cycles). In addition, MNP-SP is used for the enrichment of phosphopeptides in skimmed milk, human saliva, and human serum samples, indicating that it is an ideal adsorbent for enriching low-abundance phosphopeptides in complex biological environments.

Magnetic covalent organic framework immobilized gold nanoparticles with high-efficiency catalytic performance for chemiluminescent detection of pesticide triazophos

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are considered to be a promising support material for catalyst due to their highly ordered porous structure. Here, a core-shell structured Fe₃O₄ magnetic covalent organic framework (Fe₃O₄@COF) was synthesized and employed to provide basic sites for immobilization of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). The AuNPs was in-situ immobilized on the shell of Fe₃O₄@COF via a citrate reducing method. The Fe₃O₄@COF-AuNP had convenient magnetic separability and exhibited excellent mimicking peroxidase-like activity in catalyzing chemiluminescence (CL) reaction of luminol with hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). With acetylcholine chloride (ACh) as substrate of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), a CL method was exploited for sensitive detection of organophosphorus pesticide triazophos due to its irreversible inhibiting effect on the AChE activity and subsequently influences the production of H₂O₂ under the condition of choline oxidase (ChOx). This method gave a good linearity for triazophos in the range of 5.0-300.0 nmol L^-1, and a limit of detection (LOD) of 1 nmol L^-1 was acquired. The applicability of this method was verified by the determination of triazophos in different spiked vegetable samples.

Design of Gd3+-immobilized two-dimensional magnetic magadiite nanosheets for highly selective enrichment of phosphopeptides

Exfoliated magadiite nanosheets embedded with Fe₃O₄ were constructed. Advantage was taken of the strong coordination between the silanol groups in magadiite nanosheets and the Gd³⁺ ion to prepare the final adsorbent, Gd³⁺-immobilized magnetic magadiite nanosheets. The adsorbent with two-dimensional (2D) morphology offered high surface area and abundant Gd³⁺ contents for phosphopeptides enrichment, on which Fe₃O₄ with positive electricity incorporated the magnetic properties. Combining with matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI TOF-MS), the method showed low detection limit (0.05 fmol). The feasibility of using the 2D nanocomposite for phosphopeptides enrichment was demonstrated using mixtures of β-casein and bovine serum albumin (1:5000). The standard deviation of captured phosphopeptides in three repeated experiments were in the range 0.15-0.42 (< 0.5% RSD). Further evaluation revealed that the nanocomposite was capable of enriching phosphopeptides from non-fat milk, human saliva, and serum. A novel Gd³⁺-immobilized two-dimensional magnetic magadiite nanosheets-based enrichment platform was designed. The developed material was employed as the adsorbent for the selective enrichment of phosphopeptides by coupling with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The material was successfully applied to enrich phosphopetides from standard peptide mixtures, nonfat milk, human saliva, and serum.

Engineering of nanomaterials for mass spectrometry analysis of biomolecules

Mass spectrometry (MS) based analysis has received intense attention in diverse biological fields. However, direct MS interrogation of target biomolecules in complex biological samples is still challenging, due to the extremely low abundance and poor ionization potency of target biological species. Innovations in nanomaterials create new auxiliary tools for deep and comprehensive MS characterization of biomolecules. More recently, growing research interest has been directed to the compositional and structural engineering of nanomaterials for enriching target biomolecules prior to MS analysis, enhancing the ionization efficiency in MS detection and designing biosensing nanoprobes in sensitive MS readout. In this review, we mainly focus on the recent advances in the engineering of nanomaterials towards their applications in sample pre-treatment, desorption/ionization matrices and ion signal amplification for MS profiling of biomolecules. This review will provide a toolbox of nanomaterials for researchers devoted to developing analytical methods and practical applications in the biological MS field.

Replacement of antibodies with bacteriophages in lateral flow assay of Salmonella Enteritidis

In this study, the analytical performance of bacteriophages for Salmonella Enteritidis was investigated using lateral flow assay (LFA) technique. The analytical performance characteristics of bacteriophages were compared with antibodies which are regularly used as analyte-specific agents in the lateral flow immunoassay test strip. Bacteriophages could be an alternative analyte-specific agents to antibodies in lateral flow assay testing of bacteria since they offer comparable sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy. In the present study, Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) and colorimetric measurements were combined in one platform and sensitive quantitation of target bacteria was accomplished with a total quantitative analysis time of less than 30 min. The developed Salmonella Enteritidis F5-4 phage-based LFA specifically responds to Salmonella Enteritidis, while lower SERS responses to different bacteria types including Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus luteus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella Typhimurium were observed. The developed test strips were also applied for the determination of Salmonella Enteritidis in spiked chicken and egg samples.

Hybrids of Pd Nanoparticles and Metal-Organic Frameworks for Enhanced Magnetism

Nonmagnetic Pd exhibits ferromagnetism in the nanosize regime. Various stabilization agents, including surfactants, metal oxide supports, polymers, and porous materials (e.g., metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)), have been employed to prevent the agglomeration of metal nanoparticles. However, magnetic properties are greatly affected by the structural and electronic changes imposed by these stabilizing agents. In particular, metal-MOF hybrids (NPs@MOFs) have reduced magnetic properties, as reported by several authors. Herein, we report the enhancement in magnetic properties resulting from the combination of magnetic Pd NPs with UiO-66(Hf), which exhibits ferromagnetism, and the corresponding modifications in the hybridized structures. These hybridized structures are found to be strongly ferromagnetic, showing high magnetization and coercivity. We observed that the magnetic property is enhanced by 2 to 3 times upon including the Pd NPs on the surface of a UiO-66(Hf) shell support. For a fundamental understanding, the magnetization (M-H data) of the hybridized structure is analyzed with a modified Langevin function.

Ti4+-immobilized hierarchically porous zirconium-organic frameworks for highly efficient enrichment of phosphopeptides

Ti⁴⁺-immobilized hierarchically porous zirconium-organic frameworks (denoted as THZr-MOFs) was prepared for phosphopeptide enrichment. The THZr-MOFs showed high specific surface area of 185.28 m² g^-1, wide pore-size distribution of 3 ~ 20 nm, good chemical stability and excellent hydrophilicity. Introduction of hierarchical pores in MOFs not only facilitated the accessibility of phosphopeptides to the internal metal affinity sites and reduce their mass transfer resistance, but also increased the exposure sites of metal affinity interaction and binding energies of Zr and Ti elements. Benefited from these advantages, the THZr-MOFs showed high adsorption capacity (79.8 μg mg^-1) towards standard phosphopeptide. A low detection limit (0.05 fmol μL^-1) and high enrichment selectivity (β-casein/BSA with a molar ratio of 1:5000) were also obtained by MALDI-TOF MS. The THZr-MOFs were applied to analyze complex samples including nonfat milk, human serum, and HeLa cell lysate. In total, 1432 phosphopeptides derived from 762 phosphoproteins were identified from human HeLa cell lysate. Schematic representation of the application of Ti⁴⁺-immobilized hierarchically porous zirconium-organic frameworks (denoted as THZr-MOFs) in high-efficiency and selective enrichment of low-abundance phosphopeptides from the tryptic digest of human HeLa cell lysate.

Magnetic mesoporous carbon nanosheets derived from two-dimensional bimetallic metal-organic frameworks for magnetic solid-phase extraction of nitroimidazole antibiotics

We prepared two-dimensional (2D) bimetallic metal-organic frameworks (Ni-ZIF-8) nanosheets by a simple solvent-free method at room temperature. The morphology and composition of Ni-ZIF-8 can be controlled through adding different amounts of Ni. And then, the 2D magnetic mesoporous nanosheets (Ni/ZnO@C) were synthesized by directly pyrolyzing Ni-ZIF-8 under argon atmosphere and explored as magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) adsorbents for the determination of nitroimidazole antibiotics (NIABs). Magnetic Ni nanoparticles embedded in carbon nanosheets uniformly resulted in high magnetization saturation of Ni/ZnO@C for easy separation. The Ni/ZnO@C can form hydrogen bond and π-π interaction with three NIABs resulting from their rich N-H containing imidazole, π-electron. Due to the high specific surface area and high mass transfer rate of 2D Ni/ZnO@C, the materials showed satisfactory adsorption capacity and rapid adsorption kinetics for NIABs. A rapid and effective method of Ni/ZnO@C-MSPE combined with high-performance liquid chromatography was proposed for the determination of NIABs. Several main parameters affecting MSPE were investigated. Under the optimal conditions, wide linear was achieved ranging from 0.1 to 500 µg⋅L^-1 with a low detection limit of 0.025-0.05 µg⋅L^-1. The established method has been successfully applied to analyze NIABs from environmental water samples with satisfactory recovery from 74.33 to 105.71%.

Metal-Organic Frameworks for Liquid Phase Applications

In the last two decades, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted overwhelming attention. With readily tunable structures and functionalities, MOFs offer an unprecedentedly vast degree of design flexibility from enormous number of inorganic and organic building blocks or via postsynthetic modification to produce functional nanoporous materials. A large extent of experimental and computational studies of MOFs have been focused on gas phase applications, particularly the storage of low-carbon footprint energy carriers and the separation of CO2-containing gas mixtures. With progressive success in the synthesis of water- and solvent-resistant MOFs over the past several years, the increasingly active exploration of MOFs has been witnessed for widespread liquid phase applications such as liquid fuel purification, aromatics separation, water treatment, solvent recovery, chemical sensing, chiral separation, drug delivery, biomolecule encapsulation and separation. At this juncture, the recent experimental and computational studies are summarized herein for these multifaceted liquid phase applications to demonstrate the rapid advance in this burgeoning field. The challenges and opportunities moving from laboratory scale towards practical applications are discussed.

Ionic liquid modification of metal-organic framework endows high selectivity for phosphoproteins adsorption

Zr-based metal-organic framework, UiO-66-NH₂, provides favorable adsorption capacity to phosphoproteins, however, it exhibits obvious nonspecific adsorption to other proteins. In the present work, we report a facile strategy to reduce the nonspecific adsorption of nonphosphoproteins by modifying UiO-66-NH₂ with imidazolium ionic liquids (ILs). With respect to bare UiO-66-NH₂, the modified counterpart, UiO@IL, exhibits much improved selectivity to phosphoproteins while maintains comparable adsorption performance. The surface of UiO@IL presents a strong hydrophilicity due to the modification of ILs. Hydrophobic and electrostatic interaction between the absorbent and nonphosphoprotein is significantly reduced. In addition, the interaction between imidazole group of ILs moiety and phosphate group in phosphoprotein ensures the favorable adsorption capacity of UiO@IL for phosphoproteins. Anionic moieties of ILs, i.e., Cl^-, Br^-, BF₄^-, CF₃SO₃^-, play negligible effect in the adsorption process. As a representative, phosphoprotein β-casein (β-ca) is selectively enriched at a mass ratio of BSA:β-ca = 100:1. UiO@IL was further applied for the selective enrichment of phosphoprotein in milk.

Metal-organic frameworks as advanced materials for sample preparation of bioactive peptides

Development of novel affinity materials and separation techniques is crucial for the progress of modern proteomics and peptidomics. Detection of peptides and proteins from complex matrices still remains a challenging task due to the highly complicated biological composition, low abundance of target molecules, and large dynamic range of proteins. As an emerging area of analytical science, metal-organic framework (MOF)-based separation of proteins and peptides is attracting growing interest. This minireview summarizes the recent advances in MOF-based affinity materials for the sample preparation of proteins and peptides. Some newly emerging MOF nanoreactors for the degradation of peptides and proteins are introduced. An update of MOF-based affinity materials for the isolation of glycopeptides, phosphopeptides and low-abundance endogenous peptides in the last two years is focused on. The separation mechanism is discussed along with the chemical structures of MOFs. Finally, the remaining challenges and future development of MOFs in analyzing peptides and proteins in complicated biological samples are discussed.

Synthesis of Al3+-doping-TiO2 monodisperse microspheres and their application for phosphopeptides and glycopeptides enrichment

Glycosylation and phosphorylation are two of the most common and important post-translational modifications (PTMs) of proteins, which play critical roles in regulating a variety of complex biological processes and involvement in many diseases. Due to the low abundance of phosphopeptides and glycopeptides, highly selective enrichment methods are crucial to the identification of protein phosphorylation and glycosylation by mass spectrometry (MS). Here, monodisperse uniform Al³⁺-doping-TiO₂ mixed oxide microspheres were easily synthesized. The morphology was controlled by a sol-gel method, during the hydrothermal treatment. The obtained microspheres with uniform particle size distribution (about 1-2 μm)，high surface area and improved pore structures, were characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD and N₂ adsorption-desorption isotherms. Al³⁺-doping-TiO₂ was applied in enriching glycopeptides and phosphopeptides respectively or simultaneously by using different enrichment conditions, achieving selective enrichment of glycopeptides and phosphopeptides. 20 glycopeptides and 25 phosphopeptides enriched from the tryptic digest mixtures of human serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) and α-casein (molar ratio of 1:1) were obviously observed with greatly improved signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio. Meanwhile, the enrichment results of non-fat milk and human serum also show the enrichment selectivity from complex biological samples. This study will provide a novel insight for selective enrichment of glycopeptides and phosphopeptides in post-translational modification proteomics research.

Engineering Magnetic Guanidyl-Functionalized Supramolecular Organic Framework for Efficient Enrichment of Global Phosphopeptides

Comprehensive mass spectrometry-based proteomics analysis is currently available but remains challenging, especially for post-translational modifications of phosphorylated proteins. Herein, multifunctional magnetic pillar[5]arene supramolecular organic frameworks were fabricated and immobilized with arginine (mP5SOF-Arg) for highly effective enrichment of global phosphopeptides. The specific phosphate-P5/phosphate-guanidine affinities and large surface area with regular porosity contribute to the high enrichment capacity. By coupling with mass spectrometry, high detection sensitivity (0.1 fmol), excellent selectivity (1:5000 molar ratios of β-casein/cytochrome c), and high recyclability (seven cycles) were achieved for phosphopeptide analysis. mP5SOF-Arg can efficiently enrich phosphopeptides from practical samples, including defatted milk, egg yolk, and human saliva. Notably, a total of 450 phosphopeptides were explored for highly selective identification from A594 cells and 1445 phosphopeptides were identified from mouse liver tissue samples. mP5SOF-Arg exhibited great potential to serve as the basis for peptidomic research to identify phosphopeptides and provided insight for biomarker discovery.

Multiple adsorption properties of aptamers on metal-organic frameworks for nucleic acid assay

Enrichment and detection of circulating free nucleic acids in biological samples have gained great attention for disease diagnosis or prognostic evaluation. Nanoscale metal-organic frameworks (NMOFs) have been used for aptamer-based nucleic acid sensing. In this work, different NMOFs, including ZIF-8, MIL-88, MIL-100, MIL-101, as well as Eu-TDA and Tb-TDA [prepared by the coordination of 2,2'-thiodiacetic acid (TDA) and Eu³⁺ or Tb³⁺], were investigated in nucleic acid sensing by employing their aptamer adsorption ability and fluorescence quenching capacity for the labeled dyes. Two types of dye aptamer, FAM-labeled aptamer (FAM-Ap) and TexasRedaptamer (TexasRed-Ap) were designed, and their adsorption properties on NMOFs-were compared. It was found that the TexasRed-Ap can be well used for nucleic acid (miR-21) extraction and sensing by linking with a pH-responsive nucleotide chain (TexasRed-Ap-pH) or with an additional random chain ssDNA-1' (TexasRed-Ap-a). After interacted with the target miR-21 in biosamples, the TexasRed-dsDNA + NMOFs composites can be collected, and the formed TexasRed-dsDNA can be released by changing pH value or addition of ssDNA-1, which is matched with ssDNA-1'. A linear relationship from 0.1 to 200 pM for miR-21 detection was obtained. The results show that the NMOFs can be used as promising platforms for nucleic acid extraction and fluorescent sensing.

Multifunctional metal-organic framework heterostructures for enhanced cancer therapy

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are an emerging class of molecular crystalline materials built from metal ions or clusters bridged by organic linkers. By taking advantage of their synthetic tunability and structural regularity, MOFs can hierarchically integrate nanoparticles and/or biomolecules into a single framework to enable multifunctions. The MOF-protected heterostructures not only enhance the catalytic capacity of nanoparticle components but also retain the biological activity of biomolecules in an intracellular microenvironment. Therefore, the multifunctional MOF heterostructures have great advantages over single components in cancer therapy. In this review, we comprehensively summarize the general principle of the design and functional modulation of nanoscaled MOF heterostructures, and biomedical applications in enhanced therapy within the last five years. The functions of MOF heterostructures with a controlled size can be regulated by designing various functional ligands and in situ growth/postmodification of nanoparticles and/or biomolecules. The advances in the application of multifunctional MOF heterostructures are also explored for enhanced cancer therapies involving photodynamic therapy, photothermal therapy, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, and theranostics. The remaining challenges and future opportunities in this field, in terms of precisely localized assembly, maximizing composite properties, and processing new techniques, are also presented. The introduction of multiple components into one crystalline MOF provides a promising approach to design all-in-one theranostics in clinical treatments.

Phosphoproteomic strategies in cancer research: a minireview

Understanding the cellular processes is central to comprehend disease conditions and is also true for cancer research. Proteomic studies provide significant insight into cancer mechanisms and aid in the diagnosis and prognosis of the disease. Phosphoproteome is one of the most studied complements of the whole proteome given its importance in the understanding of cellular processes such as signaling and regulations. Over the last decade, several new methods have been developed for phosphoproteome analysis. A significant amount of these efforts pertains to cancer research. The current use of powerful analytical instruments in phosphoproteomic approaches has paved the way for deeper and sensitive investigations. However, these methods and techniques need further improvements to deal with challenges posed by the complexity of samples and scarcity of phosphoproteins in the whole proteome, throughput and reproducibility. This review aims to provide a comprehensive summary of the variety of steps used in phosphoproteomic methods applied in cancer research including the enrichment and fractionation strategies. This will allow researchers to evaluate and choose a better combination of steps for their phosphoproteome studies.

Glass Fiber-Supported Hybrid Monolithic Spin Tip for Enrichment of Phosphopeptides from Urinary Extracellular Vesicles

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are attracting increasing interest with their intriguing role in intercellular communications. Protein phosphorylation in EVs is of great importance for understanding intercellular signaling processes. However, the study of EV phosphoproteomics is impeded by their relatively low amount in limited clinical sample volumes, and it is necessary to have a sensitive and efficient enrichment method for EV phosphopeptides. Herein, a novel Ti(IV)-functionalized and glass fiber-supported hybrid monolithic spin tip, termed PhosTip, was prepared for enriching phosphopeptides from urinary EVs. Glass fiber as the stationary phase positions the hybrid monolith in a standard pipet tip and prevents the monolith from distortion during experiments. The preparation procedure for the new PhosTip is simple and time-saving. The hybrid monolithic PhosTip provides excellent enrichment efficiency of low-abundance phosphopeptides from cell digests and urinary EVs with minimum contamination and sample loss. Using the PhosTip, we demonstrate that 5373 and 336 unique phosphopeptides were identified from 100 and 1 μg of cell lysates, while 3919 and 217 unique phosphopeptides were successfully identified from 10 and 1 mL of urinary samples, respectively. The PhosTip was finally applied to enrich phosphopeptides in urine EVs from prostate cancer patients and healthy controls and quantify 118 up-regulated proteins with phosphosites in prostate cancer samples. These results demonstrated that the PhosTip could be a simple and convenient tool for enriching phosphopeptides from clinical samples and for broader applications in biomarker discovery.