Abstract: The invention relates to decontaminating composites, and methods, compositions, and kits comprising the same. In some aspects, the invention relates to a decontaminating composite, comprising a perhydrolase associated with a carbon nanotube, that is useful for producing peracids.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide a cellulose-sheathed carbon nanotube fiber. One aspect of the invention provides a sheathed nanotube fiber comprising: a carbon nanotube fiber; and a cellulose sheath extending co-axially along at least a first portion of a length of the carbon nanotube fiber. Another aspect of the invention provides a method of forming a sheathed carbon nanotube fiber, the method comprising: co-electrospinning a carbon nanotube fiber gel core within a cellulose solution sheath.

Abstract: The invention is directed a synthetic wood composite comprising biomimetic macromolecules and methods for the preparation thereof.

Abstract: The invention is directed to a three-dimensional cell culture array comprising spatially-separated matrices attached to a solid support, wherein a plurality of said matrices encapsulate cells transfected with nucleic acids, method for the preparation of the array and methods reducing the expression of a target gene.

Abstract: Using digital microfluidics, recombinant enzyme technology, and magnetic nanoparticles, a functional prototype of an artificial Golgi organelle is described. Analogous to the natural Golgi, which is responsible for the enzymatic modification of glycosaminoglycans immobilized on proteins, this artificial Golgi enzymatically modifies glycosaminoglycans, such as heparan sulfate (HS) chains, immobilized onto magnetic nanoparticles. Sulfo groups were transferred from adenosine 3?-phosphate 5?-phosphosulfate to the 3-hydroxyl group of the D-glucosamine residue in an immobilized HS chain using D-glucosaminyl 3-O-sulfotransferase. After modification, the nanoparticles with immobilized HS exhibited increased affinity for fluorescently labeled antithrombin III as detected by confocal microscopy. Since the biosynthesis of HS involves an array of specialized glycosyl transferases, epimerase, and sulfotransferases, this approach should mimic the synthesis of HS in vivo.

Abstract: A system and method for conducting high-throughput interactions between test compositions and analytes, comprising one or more test compositions, and a plurality of independent micromatrices, wherein each said micromatrix encapsulates at least one said test composition; and said micromatrices are made of a material that is permeable to an analyte.

Abstract: A system and method for conducting high-throughput interactions between test compositions and analytes, comprising one or more test compositions, and a plurality of independent micromatrices, wherein each said micromatrix encapsulates at least one said test composition; and said micromatrices are made of a material that is permeable to an analyte.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to a screening platform employing a miniaturized three-dimensional cell chip for high-throughput toxicology screening of test and lead compounds, prodrugs, drugs and P-450 generated drug metabolites. To this end, the three-dimensional cell chip, employs human cells encapsulated in a matrix (e.g., collagen or alginate gels) in volumes as small as 10 nL arrayed on a functionalized substrates (e.g., glass microscope slides) for spatially addressable screening against multiple test compounds. With the present platform, over 3,000 cell-matrix islands may be spotted providing for simultaneous screening against multiple compounds at multiple doses and in high replicate.

Abstract: This invention is directed to the application of a previously unknown property of nanomaterials—its ability to enhance protein activity and stability at high temperatures, in organic solvents, and in polymer composites. Nanomaterials such as single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) can significantly enhance enzyme function and stability in strongly denaturing environments. Experimental results and theoretical analysis reveal that the enhancement in stability is a result of the curvature of these nanoscale materials, which suppresses unfavorable protein-protein interactions. The enhanced stability is also exploited in the preparation of highly stable and active nanocomposite films that resist nonspecific protein absorption, i.e., inhibit fouling of the films. The protein-nanoparticles conjugates represent a new generation of highly selective, active, and stable catalytic materials.

Abstract: Aminoglycoside-polyamines are disclosed along with methods of use thereof in displacement chromatography and as DNA-binding ligands. The aminoglycoside-polyamines are derivatives of carbohydrates, such as sugars, amino sugars, deoxysugars, glycosides, nucleosides and their substituted counterparts. The subject polyamines possess a group in place of at least one hydrogen atom of at least one hydroxyl group of the carbohydrate compound. In these compounds R1 is an alkyl group or an azaalkyl group, and R2 is a primary or secondary amino group.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a microfluidics device that can be used to prepare natural products and their analogs. The device comprises the enzymes of a biosynthetic pathway immobilized thereon and a means for sequentially directing a starting material and each ensuing reaction product to the enzymes of the biosynthetic pathway in the order corresponding to the steps of the biosynthetic pathway. The device can thus be used to prepare the natural product using the natural starting material of the biosynthetic pathway or analogs of the natural product using an unnatural starting material. Alternatively, artificial pathways can be created by immobilizing an appropriate selection of enzymes on the device in an order whereby each subsequent enzyme can catalyze a reaction with the product of the prior enzyme. Novel chemical entities can be prepared from these artificial pathways.

Abstract: A system and method for conducting high-throughput interactions between test compositions and analytes, comprising one or more test compositions, and a plurality of independent micromatrices, wherein each said micromatrix encapsulates at least one said test composition; and said micromatrices are made of a material that is permeable to an analyte.

Abstract: This invention relates to the enzymatic synthesis of oligophenols on solid support by sequential enzymatic addition of reaction solutions containing phenols. The oligomers are then selectively built up on the solid surface. When used in a specific format, the oligomers can be generated in a spatially addressable array, which can then be screened for some type of biological interaction. The synthetic compounds of the present invention are synthesized in a combinatorial manner on solid support using peroxidase or other related enzymatic catalysis, and the products are generated in spatially addressable microarrays. Oligophenols of the present invention have shown significance as potential inhibitors of NADPH oxidase assembly, an enzyme that has been implicated in a wide range of diseases stemming from vascular hyperpermeability.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a method and apparatus of immobilizing a biocatalyst on a microfluidic biochip for conducting reactions in the presence of electroosmotic flow. The biochip includes a polymer on its microfluidic flow surfaces, wherein the polymer includes a first substituent selected from ionic groups of the same polarity or precursors thereof, a second substituent that is a hydrophobic group, and a third substituent comprising an immobilized biocatalyst-or precursor thereof. The biochip can be used to conduct multiple sequential biocatalyzed reactions in the presence of electroosmotic flow.

Abstract: A fluid delivery technique includes inserting a first end of a nanotube into the cell, connecting a second end of the nanotube to a fluid supply, and transferring fluid from the fluid supply into the cell via the nanotube. A technique for determining or sensing a property of a cell includes inserting two nanotubes into the cell, measuring at least one of a voltage and a resistance between the two nanotubes, and relating the at least one of the voltage and the resistance to a property of the cell. Other techniques and apparatus for fluid delivery to cell and sensing properties of a cell are also disclosed.

Abstract: The invention is based upon the discovery that insoluble, polysaccharides, such as inulin and dextran, can be enzymatically modified in an organic solvent. Thus, the invention relates to methods for making a high molecular weight polyhydroxy polymer, such as a polysaccharide, inulin or dextran derivative, comprising reacting an acyl donor and the polymer, such as inulin or dextran, to form an acyl ester of the polymer, such as inulin dextran, in a reaction medium comprising an organic solvent in the presence of a hydrolytic enzyme; methods for making a polymer, such as a polysaccharide, an inulin or dextran polymer, comprising reacting a polymerizable acyl donor and polyhydroxyl polymer in a reaction medium comprising an organic solvent in the presence of a hydrolytic enzyme thereby making an polymeric monomer, such as an inulin monomer, and polymerizing, preferably dimerizing, the monomer, thereby making a novel polymer, such as an inulin polymer.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a microfluidics device that can be used to prepare natural products and their analogs. The device comprises the enzymes of a biosynthetic pathway immobilized thereon and a means for sequentially directing a starting material and each ensuing reaction product to the enzymes of the biosynthetic pathway in the order corresponding to the steps of the biosynthetic pathway. The device can thus be used to prepare the natural product using the natural starting material of the biosynthetic pathway or analogs of the natural product using an unnatural starting material. Alternatively, artificial pathways can be created by immobilizing an appropriate selection of enzymes on the device in an order whereby each subsequent enzyme can catalyze a reaction with the product of the prior enzyme. Novel chemical entities can be prepared from these artificial pathways.

Abstract: A method of making a molecularly imprinted porous structure makes use of a surfactant analog of the molecule to be imprinted that has the imprint molecule portion serving as the surfactant headgroup. The surfactant analog is allowed to self-assemble in a mixture to create at least one supramolecular structure having exposed imprint groups. The imprinted porous structure is formed by adding reactive monomers to the mixture and allowing the monomers to polymerize, with the supramolecular structure serving as a template. The resulting solid structure has a shape that is complementary to the shape of the supramolecular structure and has cavities that are the mirror image of the imprint group. Similarly, molecularly imprinted particles may be made by using the surfactant to create a water-in-oil microemulsion wherein the imprint groups are exposed to the water phase.

Abstract: A method of making a molecularly imprinted porous structure makes use of a surfactant analog of the molecule to be imprinted that has the imprint molecule portion serving as the surfactant headgroup. The surfactant analog is allowed to self-assemble in a mixture to create at least one supramolecular structure having exposed imprint groups. The imprinted porous structure is formed by adding reactive monomers to the mixture and allowing the monomers to polymerize, with the supramolecular structure serving as a template. The resulting solid structure has a shape that is complementary to the shape of the supramolecular structure and has cavities that are the mirror image of the imprint group. Similarly, molecularly imprinted particles may be made by using the surfactant to create a water-in-oil microemulsion wherein the imprint groups are exposed to the water phase.

Abstract: A method of making a molecularly imprinted porous structure makes use of a surfactant analog of the molecule to be imprinted that has the imprint molecule portion serving as the surfactant headgroup. The surfactant analog is allowed to self-assemble in a mixture to create at least one supramolecular structure having exposed imprint groups. The imprinted porous structure is formed by adding reactive monomers to the mixture and allowing the monomers to polymerize, with the supramolecular structure serving as a template. The resulting solid structure has a shape that is complementary to the shape of the supramolecular structure and has cavities that are the mirror image of the imprint group. Similarly, molecularly imprinted particles may be made by using the surfactant to create a water-in-oil microemulsion wherein the imprint groups are exposed to the water phase.