TY - JOUR A1 - Wagner, Sabine A1 - Zapata, Carlos A1 - Wan, Wei A1 - Gawlitza, Kornelia A1 - Weber, M. A1 - Rurack, Knut T1 - Role of Counterions in Molecularly Imprinted Polymers for Anionic Species N2 - Small-molecule oxoanions are often imprinted noncovalently as carboxylates into molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), requiring the use of an organic counterion. Popular species are either pentamethylpiperidine (PMP) as a protonatable cation or tetraalkylammonium (TXA) ions as permanent cations. The present work explores the influence of the TXA as a function of their alkyl chain length, from methyl to octyl, using UV/vis absorption, fluorescence titrations, and HPLC as well as MD simulations. Protected phenylalanines (Z-L/D-Phe) served as templates/analytes. While the influence of the counterion on the complex stability constants and anion-induced spectral changes shows a monotonous trend with increasing alkyl chain length at the prepolymerization stage, the cross-imprinting/rebinding studies showed a unique pattern that suggested the presence of adaptive cavities in the MIP matrix, related to the concept of induced fit of enzyme−substrate interaction. Larger cavities formed in the presence of larger counterions can take up pairs of Z-X-Phe and smaller TXA, eventually escaping spectroscopic detection. Correlation of the experimental data with the MD simulations revealed that counterion mobility, the relative distances between the three partners, and the hydrogen bond lifetimes are more decisive for the response features observed than actual distances between interacting atoms in a complex or the orientation of binding moieties. TBA has been found to yield the highest imprinting factor, also showing a unique dual behavior regarding the interaction with template and fluorescent monomer. Finally, interesting differences between both enantiomers have been observed in both theory and experiment, suggesting true control of enantioselectivity. The contribution concludes with suggestions for translating the findings into actual MIP development. KW - Anion receptors KW - Fluorescence sensing KW - Molecular dynamics simulations KW - Molecularly imprinted polymers KW - Rational design PY - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.8b00500 SN - 0743-7463 VL - 34 IS - 23 SP - 6963 EP - 6975 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington, D.C. AN - OPUS4-45399 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wagner, Sabine A1 - Bell, Jérémy A1 - Biyikal, Mustafa A1 - Gawlitza, Kornelia A1 - Rurack, Knut T1 - Integrating fluorescent molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) sensor particles with a modular microfluidic platform for nanomolar smallmolecule detection directly in aqueous samples N2 - Fluorescent sensory MIP (molecularly imprinted polymer) particles were combined with a droplet-based 3D microfluidic system for the selective determination of a prototype small-molecule analyte of environmental concern, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid or 2,4-D, at nanomolar concentration directly in water samples. A tailor-made fluorescent indicator cross-linker was thus designed that translates the binding event directly into an enhanced fluorescence signal. The phenoxazinone-type cross-linker was co-polymerized into a thin MIP layer grafted from the surface of silica microparticles following a RAFT (reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer) polymerization protocol. While the indicator cross-linker outperformed its corresponding monomer twin, establishment of a phase-transfer protocol was essential to guarantee that the hydrogen bond-mediated signalling mechanism between the urea binding site on the indicator cross-linker and the carboxylate group of the analyte was still operative upon real sample analysis. The latter was achieved by integration of the fluorescent core-shell MIP sensor particles into a modular microfluidic platform that allows for an in-line phasetransfer assay, extracting the analyte from aqueous sample droplets into the organic phase that contains the sensor particles. Real-time fluorescence determination of 2,4-D down to 20 nM was realized with the system and applied for the analysis of various surface water samples collected from different parts of the world. KW - Molecular imprinting KW - Microfluidics KW - Fluorescence KW - Core-shell particles KW - Droplets PY - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bios.2017.07.053 SN - 0956-5663 VL - 99 IS - 1 SP - 244 EP - 250 PB - Elsevier B.V. CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-42258 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Völzke, Jule L. A1 - Hodjat Shamami, Parya A1 - Gawlitza, Kornelia A1 - Feldmann, Ines A1 - Zimathies, Annett A1 - Meyer, Klas A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - High-Purity Corundum as Support for Affinity Extractions from Complex Samples N2 - Nonporous corundum powder, known as an abrasive material in the industry, was functionalized covalently with protein binders to isolate and enrich specific proteins from complex matrices. The materials based on corundum were characterized by TEM, ESEM, BET, DLS, EDS, and zeta potential measurements. The strong Al-O-P bonds between the corundum surface and amino phosphonic acids were used to introduce functional groups for further conjugations. The common crosslinker glutaraldehyde was compared with a hyperbranched polyglycerol (PG) of around 10 kDa. The latter was oxidized with periodate to generate aldehyde groups that can covalently react with the amines of the surface and the amino groups from the protein via a reductive amination process. The amount of bound protein was quantified via aromatic amino acid analysis (AAAA). This work shows that oxidized polyglycerol can be used as an alternative to glutaraldehyde. With polyglycerol, more of the model protein bovine serum albumin (BSA) could be attached to the surface under the same conditions, and lower non-specific binding (NSB) was observed. As a proof of concept, IgG was extracted with protein A from crude human plasma. The purity of the product was examined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). A binding capacity of 1.8 mg IgG per gram of corundum powder was achieved. The advantages of corundum include the very low price, extremely high physical and chemical stability, pressure resistance, favorable binding kinetics, convenient handling, and flexible application. KW - Corundum KW - Sapphire KW - Affinity chromatography KW - Antibodies KW - Self-assembled monolayers (SAM) KW - Polyglycerol KW - Dendrimer KW - Nonspecific binding (NSB) KW - Purification KW - Solid-phase extraction (SPE) PY - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-559342 VL - 9 IS - 9 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-55934 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Valderrey, Virginia A1 - Gawlitza, Kornelia A1 - Rurack, Knut T1 - Thiourea- and Amino-Substituted Benzoxadiazole Dyes with Large Stokes Shifts as Red-Emitting Probe Monomers for Imprinted Polymer Layers Targeting Carboxylate-Containing Antibiotics N2 - Bifunctional fluorescent molecular oxoanion probes based on the benzoxadiazole (BD) chromophore are described which integrate a thiourea binding motif and a polymerizable 2-aminoethyl methacrylate unit in the 4,7-positions of the BD core. Concerted charge transfer in this electron donor-acceptor-donor architecture endows the dyes with strongly Stokes shifted (up to >250 nm) absorption and fluorescence. Binding of electron-rich carboxylate guests at the thiourea receptor leads to further analyte-induced red-shifts of the emission, shifting the fluorescence maximum of the complexes to ≥700 nm. Association constants for acetate are ranging from 1–5×105 M−1 in acetonitrile. Integration of one of the fluorescent probes through its polymerizable moiety into molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) grafted from the surface of submicron silica cores yielded fluorescent MIP-coated particle probes for the selective detection of antibiotics containing aliphatic carboxylate groups such as enoxacin (ENOX) at micromolar concentrations in highly polar solvents like acetonitrile. KW - Molecular imprinting KW - Anion recognition KW - Antibiotics KW - Benzoxadiazole dyes KW - Charge transfer KW - Fluorescence PY - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-545027 SN - 1521-3765 SP - 1 EP - 9 PB - Wiley-VCH AN - OPUS4-54502 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tobias, Charlie A1 - Climent Terol, Estela A1 - Gawlitza, Kornelia A1 - Rurack, Knut T1 - Polystyrene Microparticles with Convergently Grown Mesoporous Silica Shells as a Promising Tool for Multiplexed Bioanalytical Assays N2 - Functional core/shell particles are highly sought after in analytical chemistry, especially in methods suitable for single-particle analysis such as flow cytometry because they allow for facile multiplexed detection of several analytes in a single run. Aiming to develop a powerful bead platform of which the core particle can be doped in a straightforward manner while the shell offers the highest possible sensitivity when functionalized with (bio)chemical binders, polystyrene particles were coated with different kinds of mesoporous silica shells in a convergent growth approach. Mesoporous shells allow us to obtain distinctly higher surface areas in comparison with conventional nonporous shells. While assessing the potential of narrow- as well as wide-pore silicas such as Mobil composition of matter no. 41 (MCM-41) and Santa Barbara amorphous material no. 15 (SBA-15), especially the synthesis of the latter shells that are much more suitable for biomolecule anchoring was optimized by altering the pH and both, the amount and type of the mediator salt. Our studies showed that the best performing material resulted from a synthesis using neutral conditions and MgSO4 as an ionic mediator. The analytical potential of the particles was investigated in flow cytometric DNA assays after their respective functionalization for individual and multiplexed detection of short oligonucleotide strands. These experiments revealed that a two-step modification of the silica surface with amino silane and succinic anhydride prior to coupling of an amino-terminated capture DNA (c-DNA) strand is superior to coupling carboxylic acid-terminated c-DNA to aminated core/shell particles, yielding limits of detection (LOD) down to 5 pM for a hybridization assay, using labeled complementary single-stranded target DNA (t-DNA) 15mers. The potential of the use of the particles in multiplexed analysis was shown with the aid of dye-doped core particles carrying a respective SBA-15 shell. Characteristic genomic sequences of human papillomaviruses (HPV) were chosen as the t-DNA analytes here, since their high relevance as carcinogens and the high number of different pathogens is a relevant model case. The title particles showed a promising performance and allowed us to unequivocally detect the different high- and low-risk HPV types in a single experimental run. KW - Bead-based assay KW - Core-shell particles KW - Human papillomavirus KW - Mesoporous silica KW - Multiplexing PY - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.0c17940 SN - 1944-8244 VL - 13 IS - 1 SP - 207 EP - 218 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington, DC AN - OPUS4-51955 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sun, Yijuan A1 - Gawlitza, Kornelia A1 - Valderrey, Virginia A1 - Bell, Jérémy A1 - Rurack, Knut T1 - Polymerizable BODIPY probe crosslinker for the molecularly imprinted polymer-based detection of organic carboxylates via fluorescence N2 - This contribution reports the development of a polymerizable BODIPY-type fluorescent probe targeting small-molecule carboxylates for incorporation into molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). The design of the probe crosslinker includes a urea recognition site p-conjugated to the 3-position of the BODIPY core and two methacrylate moieties. Titration experiments with a carboxylate-expressing antibiotic, levofloxacin (LEVO), showed a blue shift of the absorption band as well as a broadening and decrease in emission, attributed to hydrogen bonding between the probe’s urea group and the carboxylate group of the antibiotic. Using this probe crosslinker, core–shell particles with a silica core and a thin MIP shell were prepared for the detection of LEVO. The MIP exhibited highly selective recognition of LEVO, with an imprinting factor of 18.1 compared to the non-imprinted polymer. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed the core–shell structure and spectroscopic studies revealed that the receptor’s positioning leads to a unique perturbation of the polymethinic character of the BODIPY chromophore, entailing the favourable responses. These features are fully preserved in the MIP, whereas no such response was observed for competitors such as ampicillin. The sensory particles allowed to detect LEVO down to submicromolar concentrations in dioxane. We have developed here for the first time a BODIPY probe for organic carboxylates and incorporated it into polymers using the imprinting technique, paving the way for BODIPY-type fluorescent MIP sensors. KW - Fluorescence KW - BODIPY probe KW - Molecularly Imprinted Polymers KW - Sensor Materials KW - Dyes KW - Water analysis KW - Advanced materials PY - 2024 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-598629 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) AN - OPUS4-59862 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sternbaek, L. A1 - Kimani, Martha Wamaitha A1 - Gawlitza, Kornelia A1 - Rurack, Knut A1 - Janicke, B. A1 - Alm, K. A1 - Gjörloff-Wingren, A. A1 - Eriksson, H. T1 - Molecularly Imprinted Polymers Exhibit Low Cytotoxic and Inflammatory Properties in Macrophages In Vitro N2 - Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) against sialic acid (SA) have been developed as a detection tool to target cancer cells. Before proceeding to in vivo studies, a better knowledge of the overall effects of MIPs on the innate immune system is needed. The aim of this study thus was to exemplarily assess whether SA-MIPs lead to inflammatory and/or cytotoxic responses when administered to phagocytosing cells in the innate immune system. The response of monocytic/macrophage cell lines to two different reference particles, Alhydrogel and PLGA, was compared to their response to SA-MIPs. In vitro culture showed a cellular association of SA-MIPs and Alhydrogel, as analyzed by flow cytometry. The reference particle Alhydrogel induced secretion of IL-1b from the monocytic cell line THP-1, whereas almost no secretion was provoked for SA-MIPs. A reduced number of both THP-1 and RAW 264.7 cells were observed after incubation with SA-MIPs and this was not caused by cytotoxicity. Digital holographic cytometry showed that SA-MIP treatment affected cell division, with much fewer cells dividing. Thus, the reduced number of cells after SA-MIP treatment was not linked to SA-MIPs cytotoxicity. In conclusion, SA-MIPs have a low degree of inflammatory properties, are not cytotoxic, and can be applicable for future in vivo studies. KW - Molecularly imprinted polymers KW - Digital holographic cytometry KW - Cytotoxicity KW - Proinflammatory cytokines PY - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-552250 SN - 2076-3417 VL - 12 IS - 12 SP - 1 EP - 16 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-55225 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sarma, Dominik A1 - Gawlitza, Kornelia A1 - Rurack, Knut T1 - Polystyrene Core−Silica Shell Particles with Defined Nanoarchitectures as a Versatile Platform for Suspension Array Technology N2 - The need for rapid and high-throughput screening in analytical laboratories has led to significant growth in interest in suspension array technologies (SATs), especially with regard to cytometric assays targeting a low to medium number of analytes. Such SAT or bead-based assays rely on spherical objects that constitute the analytical platform. Usually, functionalized polymer or silica (SiO2) microbeads are used which each have distinct advantages and drawbacks. In this paper, we present a straightforward synthetic route to highly monodisperse SiO2-coated polystyrene core−shell (CS) beads for SAT with controllable architectures from smooth to raspberry- and multilayer-like shells by varying the molecular weight of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP), which was used as the stabilizer of the cores. The combination of both organic polymer core and a structurally controlled inorganic SiO2 shell in one hybrid particle holds great promises for flexible next-generation design of the spherical platform. The particles were characterized by electron microscopy (SEM, T-SEM, and TEM), thermogravimetry, flow cytometry, and nitrogen adsorption/desorption, offering comprehensive information on the composition, size, structure, and surface area. All particles show ideal cytometric detection patterns and facile handling due to the hybrid structure. The beads are endowed with straightforward modification possibilities through the defined SiO2 shells. We successfully implemented the particles in fluorometric SAT model assays, illustrating the benefits of tailored surface area which is readily available for small-molecule anchoring. Very promising assay performance was shown for DNA hybridization assays with quantification limits down to 8 fmol. KW - core-shell particles KW - shell morphology KW - flow cytometry KW - scanning electron microscopy KW - stabilizer PY - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.6b00373 SN - 0743-7463 VL - 32 IS - 15 SP - 3717 EP - 3727 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington, DC, USA AN - OPUS4-35833 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ritter, B. A1 - Haida, P. A1 - Fink, F. A1 - Krahl, T. A1 - Gawlitza, Kornelia A1 - Rurack, Knut A1 - Scholz, G. A1 - Kemnitz, E. T1 - Novel and easy access to highly luminescent Eu and Tb doped ultra-small CaF2, SrF2 and BaF2 nanoparticles – structure and luminescence N2 - A universal fast and easy access at room temperature to transparent sols of nanoscopic Eu3+ and Tb3+ doped CaF2, SrF2 and BaF2 particles via the fluorolytic sol–gel synthesis route is presented. Monodisperse quasi-spherical nanoparticles with sizes of 3–20 nm are obtained with up to 40% rare earth doping showing red or green luminescence. In the beginning luminescence quenching effects are only observed for the highest content, which demonstrates the unique and outstanding properties of these materials. From CaF2:Eu10 via SrF2:Eu10 to BaF2:Eu10 a steady increase of the luminescence intensity and lifetime occurs by a factor of ≈2; the photoluminescence quantum yield increases by 29 to 35% due to the lower phonon energy of the matrix. The fast formation process of the particles within fractions of seconds is clearly visualized by exploiting appropriate luminescence processes during the synthesis. Multiply doped particles are also available by this method. Fine tuning of the luminescence properties is achieved by variation of the Ca-to-Sr ratio. Co-doping with Ce3+ and Tb3+ results in a huge increase (>50 times) of the green luminescence intensity due to energy transfer Ce3+ → Tb3+. In this case, the luminescence intensity is higher for CaF2 than for SrF2, due to a lower spatial distance of the rare earth ions. KW - Luminescence materials KW - Alkaline earth metal fluorides KW - Fluorolytic sol–gel synthesis PY - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/C6DT04711D VL - 46 IS - 9 SP - 2925 EP - 2936 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-39286 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kyrey, T. A1 - Ganeva, M. A1 - Gawlitza, Kornelia A1 - Witte, J. A1 - von Klitzing, R. A1 - Soltwedel, O. A1 - Di, Z. A1 - Wellert, S. A1 - Holderer, O. T1 - Grazing incidence SANS and reflectometry combined with simulation of adsorbed microgel particles N2 - Adsorbed ethylene glycol based microgel particles on a Silicon surface were studied. Neutron reflectometry (NR) and grazing incidence small-angle neutron scattering (GISANS) were performed to investigate their internal structure. Scattering experiments on soft matter systems such as adsorbed microgels often give only partial Information about the inner structure of the polymer system. In this contribution, we discuss how the detailed inner structure of adsorbed microgel particles can be reconstructed by a combination of the specular Neutron Reflectivity (NR), Grazing Incidence Small Angle Neutron Scattering (GISANS), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and a simulation in the framework of the Distorted Wave Born Approximation. KW - Grazing incidence small-angle neutron scattering KW - Neutron reflectometry KW - BornAgain simulation KW - Adsorbed microgel particles PY - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physb.2018.03.049 SN - 0921-4526 VL - 551 SP - 172 EP - 178 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-47011 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -