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1700692 Fully addressable DNA nanostructures, especially DNA origami, possess huge potential to serve as inherently biocompatible and versatile molecular platforms. However, their use as delivery vehicles in therapeutics is compromised by their low stability and poor transfection rates. This study shows that DNA origami can be coated by precisely defined one-to-one protein-dendron conjugates to tackle the aforementioned issues. The dendron part of the conjugate serves as a cationic binding domain that attaches to the negatively charged DNA origami surface via electrostatic interactions. The protein is attached to dendron through cysteine-maleimide bond, making the modular approach highly versatile. This work demonstrates the coating using two different proteins: bovine serum albumin (BSA) and class II hydrophobin (HFBI). The results reveal that BSA-coating significantly improves the origami stability against endonucleases (DNase I) and enhances the transfection into human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells. Importantly,it is observed that BSA-coating attenuates the activation of immune response in mouse primary splenocytes. Serum albumin is the most abundant protein in the blood with a long circulation half-life and has already found clinically approved applications in drug delivery. It is therefore envisioned that the proposed system can open up further opportunities to tune the properties of DNA nanostructures in biological environment, and enable their use in various delivery applications.

DNA origami structures can be programmed into arbitrary shapes with nanometer scale precision, which opens up numerous attractive opportunities to engineer novel functional materials. One intriguing possibility is to use DNA origamis for fully tunable, targeted, and triggered drug delivery. In this work, we demonstrate the coating of DNA origami nanostructures with virus capsid proteins for enhancing cellular delivery. Our approach utilizes purified cowpea chlorotic mottle virus capsid proteins that can bind and self-assemble on the origami surface through electrostatic interactions and further pack the origami nanostructures inside the viral capsid. Confocal microscopy imaging and transfection studies with a human HEK293 cell line indicate that protein coating improves cellular attachment and delivery of origamis into the cells by 13-fold compared to bare DNA origamis. The presented method could readily find applications not only in sophisticated drug delivery applications but also in organizing intracellular reactions by origami-based templates.

A dinuclear pyridyl-bridged palladium complex, trans-(P,N)-[PdBr(μ- C5H4N-C2,N)(PPh3)]2 1, was obtained from material isolated from the Suzuki cross-coupling reaction of 2-bromopyridine with 2,4-difluorophenylboronic acid in the presence of catalytic (PPh3)4Pd. Complex 1 is an effective precatalyst for the Suzuki cross-coupling reactions of a variety organoboronic acids and aryl bromides, and represents a useful source of mono-ligated palladium(0), "(Ph3P)Pd(0)".

The Sonogashira couplings of 4-bromo-6-methyl-2-pyrone ( 5 ) with phenylacetylene, mediated by Pd(PPh3)2Cl2 in the presence of a CuI co-catalyst, have been investigated in detail. The concentration of Pd dramatically influences the product yield, with lower Pd-loadings favouring higher conversions and purer cross-coupled product. A post reaction time-dependence in product conversion is seen in samples quenched solely on silica-gel (eluted with CH2Cl2). The effect is mirrored in reactions employing 4-nitro-bromobenzene ( 14 ) and to a lesser extent (E) and (Z)-ethyl 3-iodo-2-propenonate ( 16 ) under similar conditions. A more efficient quenching system (using excess dppe) has been developed to enable accurate determinations in product conversions. Alternatively, solvent and base (Et3N) removal in vacuo, or quench with saturated aqueous ammonium chloride, prevents further turnover in Sonogashira coupling. An ESI-MS study on samples eluted through silica was undertaken to probe the nature of the soluble Pd/Cu species. The Sonogashira cross-coupling of 4-chloro- and 6-chloro-2-pyrone ( 18 and 20 , respectively) has further been investigated. The former undergoes successful coupling, however the latter decomposes in polar aprotic and protic solvents under standard conditions, through a chlorine substitution process, making Pd-mediated reactions problematic.

Nickel-titanium alloy (Nitinol) is a metallic biomaterial that has a unique thermal shape memory, superelasticity, and high damping properties. Nitinol is potentially very useful in orthopedic surgery, for example. At present, there are not enough confirmative biocompatibility data available on Nitinol. The aim of our study was to clarify the primary cytotoxicity and corrosion rate of Nitinol in human cell cultures. Comparisons were made with stainless steel (Stst), titanium (Ti), composite material (C), and control cultures with no test discs. Human osteoblasts (OB) and fibroblasts (FB) were incubated for 10 days with test discs of equal size, 6 x 7 mm. The cultures were photographed and the cells counted. Samples from culture media were collected on days 2, 4, 6, and 8, and the analysis of metals in the media was done using flameless atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The proliferation of FB was 108% (Nitinol), 134% (Ti) (p < 0.02), 107% (Stst), and 48% (C)(p < 0.0001) compared to the control cultures. The proliferation of OB was 101% (Nitinol), 100% (Ti), 105% (Stst), and 54% (C) (p < 0.025) compared to the controls. Initially, Nitinol released more nickel (129-87 micrograms/L) into the cell culture media than Stst (7 micrograms/L), but after 2 days the concentrations were about equal (23-5 micrograms/L versus 11-1 micrograms/L). The titanium concentrations from both Nitinol and Ti samples were all < 20 micrograms/L. We conclude that Nitinol has good in vitro biocompatibility with human osteoblasts and fibroblasts. Despite the higher initial nickel dissolution, Nitinol induced no toxic effects, decrease in cell proliferation, or inhibition on the growth of cells in contact with the metal surface.

On following the kinetics of the Sonogashira alkynylation reaction of halogenated 2-pyrone 1 with phenylacetylene we have found that turnover continues to occur in sample vials even after quenching by commonly employed silica adsorption methods and product elution with small quantities of CH 2 Cl 2 . Trace quantities of Pd are carried through the silica plug. Addition of a CH 2 Cl 2 solution of 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane (dppe) to the quenched sample inhibits the reaction and represents a more reliable method for determining yields and reaction kinetics.