Nanotechnology is considered the next big revolution in medicine and biology. For the past 20 years, research groups have been involved in the development of new applications of novel nanomaterials for biotechnological applications. Nanomaterials are also becoming increasingly important in medical applications, with new drugs and diagnostic tools based on nanotechnology. Every year, hundreds of new ideas using nanomaterials are applied in the development of biosensors. An increasing number...

In recent years, the fabrication of nanomaterials and exploration of their properties have attracted the attention of various scientific disciplines such as biology, physics, chemistry, and engineering. Although nanoparticulate systems are of significant interest in various scientific and technological areas, there is little known about the safety of these nanoscale objects. It has now been established that the surfaces of nanoparticles are immediately covered by biomolecules (e.g. protein...

This book offers readers an introduction to the current status of nanoparticles and other nanomaterials that have potential applications in theranostics. Above all, it highlights the diagnostic and therapeutic applications of metallic (e.g. Au, Ag), semiconducting quantum dots (e.g. CdSe, CdTe), magnetic (e.g. Fe3O4, FePt, Co), and multifunctional (combination of two or three) nanoparticles.

In this monograph, the importance of fluctuations for biological reactions is discussed from various points of view. Understanding the biological reactions at the molecular level is one of the major targets in many scientific fields, including not only basic biology but also physics, physical chemistry, and medical science. One of the key factors in the process is “fluctuation”. Thermal energy causes biological molecules to be in constant fluctuation even while they are carrying out their ...

Nanomedicine can take advantage of the recent developments in nanobiotechnology research for the creation of platforms with superior drug carrier capabilities, selective responsiveness to the environment, unique contrast enhancement profiles, and improved accumulation at the disease site. This book provides a broad glimpse of how various dendritic nanomaterials have been designed and used as efficient tools for nanomedicine. It comprises a pedagogic introduction to dendrimers and hyperbran...

Functionalized Conjugated Polyelectrolytes presents a comprehensive review of these polyelectrolytes and their biomedical applications. Basic aspects like molecular design and optoelectronic properties are covered in the first chapter. Emphasis is placed on the various applications including sensing (chemical and biological), disease diagnosis, cell imaging, drug/gene delivery and disease treatment. This book explores a multi-disciplinary topic of interest to researchers working i...

Kinetic studies of enzyme action provide powerful insights into the underlying mechanisms of catalysis and regulation. These approaches are equally useful in examining the action of newly discovered enzymes and therapeutic agents. Contemporary Enzyme Kinetics and Mechanism, Second Edition presents key articles from Volumes 63, 64, 87, 249, 308 and 354 of Methods in Enzymology. The chapters describe the most essential and widely applied strategies. A set of exercises and problems is include...

Peptides are the building blocks of the natural world; with varied sequences and structures, they enrich materials producing more complex shapes, scaffolds and chemical properties with tailorable functionality. Essentially based on self-assembly and self-organization and mimicking the strategies that occur in Nature, peptide materials have been developed to accomplish certain functions such as the creation of specific secondary structures (a- or 310-helices, b-turns, b-sheets, coiled coils...

Biological membranes play a central role in cell structure, shape and functions. However, investigating the membrane bilayer has proved to be difficult due to its highly dynamic and anisotropic structure, which generates steep gradients at the nanometer scale. Due to the decisive impact of recently developed fluorescence-based techniques, tremendous advances have been made in the last few years in our understanding of membrane characteristics and functions. In this co...

Recognition receptors play a key role in the successful implementation of chemical and biosensors. Molecular recognition refers to non-covalent speci?c binding between molecules, one of which is typically a macromolecule or a molecular assembly, and the other is the target molecule (ligand or analyte). Biomolecular recognition is typically driven by many weak interactions such as hydrogen bo- ing, metal coordination, hydrophobic forces, van der Waals forces, pi-pi interactions and electros...

Nanoscience has become one of the key growth areas in recent years. It can be integrated into imaging and therapy to increase the potential for novel applications in the field of photomedicine. In the past commercial applications of nanoscience have been limited to materials science research only, however, in recent years nanoparticles are rapidly being incorporated into industrial and consumer products. This is mainly due to the expansion of biomedical related research and the burgeoning ...

Working from basic chemical principles, Metals in Medicine, 2nd Edition describes a wide range of metal-based agents for treating and diagnosing disease. Thoroughly revised and restructured to reflect significant research activity and advances, this new edition contains extensive updates and new pedagogical features while retaining the popular feature boxes and end-of-chapter problems of the first edition.Topics include:Metallo-Drugs and their action