TY - JOUR A1 - Nerger, Tino A1 - Neumann, Patrick P. A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - Drone-Based Localization of Hazardous Chemicals by Passive Smart Dust N2 - The distribution of tiny sensors over a specific area was first proposed in the late 1990s as a concept known as smart dust. Several efforts focused primarily on computing and networking capabilities, but quickly ran into problems related to power supply, cost, data transmission, and environmental pollution. To overcome these limitations, we propose using paper-based (confetti-like) chemosensors that exploit the inherent selectivity of chemical reagents, such as colorimetric indicators. In this work, cheap and biodegradable passive sensors made from cellulose could successfully indicate the presence of hazardous chemicals, e.g., strong acids, by a significant color change. A conventional color digital camera attached to a drone could easily detect this from a safe distance. The collected data were processed to define the hazardous area. Our work presents a combination of the smart dust concept, chemosensing, paper-based sensor technology, and low-cost drones for flexible, sensitive, economical, and rapid detection of hazardous chemicals in high-risk scenarios. KW - Cellulose KW - Passive Smart Dust KW - Drohne KW - Kolorimetrische Sensoren PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-614641 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/s24196195 VL - 24 IS - 19 SP - 1 EP - 16 PB - MDPI AN - OPUS4-61464 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tscheuschner, Georg A1 - Ponader, Marco A1 - Raab, Christopher A1 - Weider, Prisca S. A1 - Hartfiel, Reni A1 - Kaufmann, Jan Ole A1 - Völzke, Jule L. A1 - Bosc-Bierne, Gaby A1 - Prinz, Carsten A1 - Schwaar, T. A1 - Andrle, Paul A1 - Bäßler, Henriette A1 - Nguyen, Khoa A1 - Zhu, Y. A1 - Mey, A. S. J. S. A1 - Mostafa, A. A1 - Bald, I. A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - Efficient Purification of Cowpea Chlorotic Mottle Virus by a Novel Peptide Aptamer N2 - The cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV) is a plant virus explored as a nanotechnological platform. The robust self-assembly mechanism of its capsid protein allows for drug encapsulation and targeted delivery. Additionally, the capsid nanoparticle can be used as a programmable platform to display different molecular moieties. In view of future applications, efficient production and purification of plant viruses are key steps. In established protocols, the need for ultracentrifugation is a significant limitation due to cost, difficult scalability, and safety issues. In addition, the purity of the final virus isolate often remains unclear. Here, an advanced protocol for the purification of the CCMV from infected plant tissue was developed, focusing on efficiency, economy, and final purity. The protocol involves precipitation with PEG 8000, followed by affinity extraction using a novel peptide aptamer. The efficiency of the protocol was validated using size exclusion chromatography, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, reversed-phase HPLC, and sandwich immunoassay. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the final eluate of the affinity column is of exceptional purity (98.4%) determined by HPLC and detection at 220 nm. The scale-up of our proposed method seems to be straightforward, which opens the way to the large-scale production of such nanomaterials. This highly improved protocol may facilitate the use and implementation of plant viruses as nanotechnological platforms for in vitro and in vivo applications. N2 - Das Cowpea Chlorotic Mottle Virus (CCMV) ist ein Pflanzenvirus, das als nanotechnologische Plattform erforscht wird. Der robuste Selbstorganisationsmechanismus seines Kapsidproteins ermöglicht die Verkapselung und gezielte Abgabe von Medikamenten. Darüber hinaus kann das Kapsid-Nanopartikel als programmierbare Plattform für die Präsentation verschiedener molekularer Komponenten verwendet werden. Im Hinblick auf künftige Anwendungen ist eine effiziente Produktion und Reinigung von Pflanzenviren von entscheidender Bedeutung. In etablierten Protokollen stellt die notwendige Ultrazentrifugation aufgrund von Kosten, schwieriger Skalierbarkeit und Sicherheitsaspekten eine erhebliche Einschränkung dar. Darüber hinaus bleibt die Reinheit des endgültigen Virusisolats oft unklar. Hier wurde ein fortschrittliches Protokoll für die Reinigung von CCMV aus infiziertem Pflanzengewebe entwickelt, wobei der Schwerpunkt auf Effizienz, Wirtschaftlichkeit und Reinheit lag. Das Protokoll beinhaltet eine Fällung mit Polyethylenglycol (PEG 8000), gefolgt von einer Affinitätsextraktion mit einem neuartigen Peptid-Aptamer. Die Effizienz des Protokolls wurde mithilfe von Größenausschluss-Chromatographie (SEC), MALDI-TOF-Massenspektrometrie, Umkehrphasen-HPLC und Sandwich-Immunoassay validiert. Darüber hinaus wurde nachgewiesen, dass das endgültige Eluat der Affinitätssäule eine außergewöhnliche Reinheit (98,4 %) aufweist, die durch HPLC und Detektion bei 220 nm bestimmt wurde. Die Skalierung der von uns vorgeschlagenen Methode scheint einfach zu sein, was den Weg für eine größer angelegte Produktion solcher Nanomaterialien ebnet. Dieses stark verbesserte Protokoll könnte die Verwendung und Umsetzung von Pflanzenviren als nanotechnologische Plattformen für In-vitro- und In-vivo-Anwendungen erleichtern. KW - Affinity chromatography KW - Nanoparticles KW - Nanoscience KW - Carrier protein KW - Encapsulation KW - Combinatorial peptide library KW - Peptide binder KW - Vigna unguiculata KW - Augenbohne KW - Schlangenbohne KW - Pflanzenvirus KW - Plant virus KW - Upscaling KW - Commercialization KW - Reference material KW - Nanocarrier PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-572645 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/v15030697 VL - 15 IS - 3 SP - 1 EP - 24 PB - MDPI CY - Basel, Schweiz AN - OPUS4-57264 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Beslic, D. A1 - Tscheuschner, Georg A1 - Renard, B. Y. A1 - Weller, Michael G. A1 - Muth, Thilo T1 - Comprehensive evaluation of peptide de novo sequencing tools for monoclonal antibody assembly N2 - Monoclonal antibodies are biotechnologically produced proteins with various applications in research, therapeutics and diagnostics. Their ability to recognize and bind to specific molecule structures makes them essential research tools and therapeutic agents. Sequence information of antibodies is helpful for understanding antibody–antigen interactions and ensuring their affinity and specificity. De novo protein sequencing based on mass spectrometry is a valuable method to obtain the amino acid sequence of peptides and proteins without a priori knowledge. In this study, we evaluated six recently developed de novo peptide sequencing algorithms (Novor, pNovo 3, DeepNovo, SMSNet, PointNovo and Casanovo), which were not specifically designed for antibody data. We validated their ability to identify and assemble antibody sequences on three multi-enzymatic data sets. The deep learning-based tools Casanovo and PointNovo showed an increased peptide recall across different enzymes and data sets compared with spectrum-graph-based approaches. We evaluated different error types of de novo peptide sequencing tools and their performance for different numbers of missing cleavage sites, noisy spectra and peptides of various lengths. We achieved a sequence coverage of 97.69–99.53% on the light chains of three different antibody data sets using the de Bruijn assembler ALPS and the predictions from Casanovo. However, low sequence coverage and accuracy on the heavy chains demonstrate that complete de novo protein sequencing remains a challenging issue in proteomics that requires improved de novo error correction, alternative digestion strategies and hybrid approaches such as homology search to achieve high accuracy on long protein sequences. KW - De novo peptide sequencing KW - Bioinformatics KW - Benchmarking study KW - Monoclonal antibody KW - Mass spectrometry KW - Sequence coverage KW - Light chains KW - Heavy chains KW - IgG KW - Immunoglobulins KW - Error correction KW - Sequencing algorithm KW - Preprocessing KW - Missing fragmentation sites KW - Deep learning-based tools PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-570363 DO - https://doi.org/10.1093/bib/bbac542 VL - 24 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Oxford University Press AN - OPUS4-57036 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J. A1 - Bothen, N. A1 - Backes, A. T. A1 - Weller, Michael G. A1 - Pöschl, U. T1 - Oligomerization and tyrosine nitration enhance the allergenic potential of the birch and grass pollen allergens Bet v 1 and Phl p 5 N2 - Protein modifications such as oligomerization and tyrosine nitration alter the immune response to allergens and may contribute to the increasing prevalence of allergic diseases. In this mini-review, we summarize and discuss relevant findings for the major birch and grass pollen allergens Bet v 1 and Phl p 5 modified with tetranitromethane (laboratory studies), peroxynitrite (physiological processes), and ozone and nitrogen dioxide environmental conditions). We focus on tyrosine nitration and the formation of protein dimers and higher oligomers via dityrosine cross-linking and the immunological effects studied. N2 - Proteinmodifikationen wie Oligomerisierung und Tyrosinnitrierung verändern die Immunantwort auf Allergene und tragen möglicherweise zur zunehmenden Prävalenz allergischer Erkrankungen bei. In diesem Mini-Review fassen wir relevante Befunde zu den wichtigsten Birken- und Gräserpollenallergenen Bet v 1 und Phl p 5 zusammen, die mit Tetranitromethan (Laborstudien), Peroxynitrit (physiologische Prozesse) und Ozon und Stickstoffdioxid (Umweltbedingungen). Wir konzentrieren uns auf die Tyrosin-Nitrierung und die Bildung von Proteindimeren und höheren Oligomeren durch Dityrosin-Vernetzung und deren immunologischen Auswirkungen. KW - Allergy KW - Nitration KW - Protein oligomers KW - Air pollution KW - Ozone KW - Nitrogen oxides KW - Tyrosine KW - Nitrotyrosine KW - Dityrosine KW - Dityrosine crosslinking KW - Protein degradation KW - Neoepitopes KW - Neoallergen KW - IgE KW - Immunoglobulin E PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-591453 DO - https://doi.org/10.3389/falgy.2023.1303943 VL - 4 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - Frontiers Media CY - Switzerland AN - OPUS4-59145 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Reinmuth-Selzle, K. A1 - Bellinghausen, I. A1 - Leifke, A. L. A1 - Backes, A. T. A1 - Bothen, N. A1 - Ziegler, K. A1 - Weller, Michael G. A1 - Saloga, J. A1 - Schuppan, D. A1 - Lucas, K. A1 - Pöschl, U. A1 - Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J. T1 - Chemical modification by peroxynitrite enhances TLR4 activation of the grass pollen allergen Phl p 5 N2 - The chemical modification of aeroallergens by reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) may contribute to the growing prevalence of respiratory allergies in industrialized countries. Post-translational modifications can alter the immunological properties of proteins, but the underlying mechanisms and effects are not well understood. In this study, we investigate the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) activation of the major birch and grass pollen allergens Bet v 1 and Phl p 5, and how the physiological oxidant peroxynitrite (ONOO–) changes the TLR4 activation through protein nitration and the formation of protein dimers and higher oligomers. Of the two allergens, Bet v 1 exhibited no TLR4 activation, but we found TLR4 activation of Phl p 5, which increased after modification with ONOO– and may play a role in the sensitization against this grass pollen allergen. We attribute the TLR4 activation mainly to the two-domain structure of Phl p 5 which may promote TLR4 dimerization and activation. The enhanced TLR4 signaling of the modified allergen indicates that the ONOO–-induced modifications affect relevant protein-receptor interactions. This may lead to increased sensitization to the grass pollen allergen and thus contribute to the increasing prevalence of allergies in the Anthropocene, the present era of globally pervasive anthropogenic influence on the environment. KW - Bet v 1 KW - Birch pollen allergen KW - Phl p 5 KW - Grass pollen KW - Phleum pratense KW - Betula pendula KW - Nitration KW - Nitrotyrosine KW - Protein nitration KW - Toll-like receptor 4 KW - Allergy KW - Enhancement KW - Oligomerization KW - Dimerization KW - TLR4 activation KW - Air pollution KW - Nitrogen oxides KW - Inflammation PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-570298 DO - https://doi.org/10.3389/falgy.2023.1066392 VL - 4 SP - 1 EP - 7 PB - Frontiers Media SA CY - Lausanne, Switzerland AN - OPUS4-57029 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tchipilov, Teodor A1 - Meyer, Klas A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - Quantitative 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR) of aromatic amino acids for protein quantification N2 - Hydrolysis of protein samples into amino acids facilitates the use of NMR spectroscopy for protein and peptide quantification. Different conditions have been tested for quantifying aromatic amino acids and proteins. The pH-dependent signal shifts in the aromatic region of amino acid samples were examined. A pH of 12 was found to minimize signal overlap of the four aromatic amino acids. Several aromatic compounds, such as terephthalic acid, sulfoisophthalic acid, and benzene tricarboxylic acid, were applied as internal standards. The quantification of amino acids from an amino acid standard was performed. Using the first two suggested internal standards, recovery was ~97% for histidine, phenylalanine, and tyrosine at a concentration of approximately 1 mM in solution. Acidic hydrolysis of a certified reference material (CRM) of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and subsequent quantification of Phe and Tyr yielded recoveries of 98% ± 2% and 88% ± 4%, respectively, at a protein concentration of 16 g/L or 250 µM. KW - Amino acid analysis KW - Aromatic amino acid analysis KW - AAA KW - AAAA KW - Protein hydrolysis KW - Hydrochloric acid KW - Metrology KW - Traceability KW - NIST KW - Reference materials KW - Internal standard KW - Calibration KW - Compound-independent calibration KW - Histidine KW - Tyrosine KW - Tryptophan KW - Phenylalanine KW - Terephthalic acid KW - Benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid KW - Bovine serum albumin (BSA) KW - Quantitative protein analysis KW - Phenylketonuria PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-570943 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/mps6010011 VL - 6 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - MDPI CY - Basel, Schweiz AN - OPUS4-57094 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Liu, F. A1 - Reinmuth-Selzle, K. A1 - Lai, S. A1 - Weller, Michael G. A1 - Pöschl, U. A1 - Kampf, C. J. T1 - Simultaneous determination of nitrated and oligomerized proteins by size exclusion high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to photodiode array detection N2 - Chemical modifications such as nitration and cross-linking may enhance the allergenic potential of proteins. The kinetics and mechanisms of the underlying chemical processes, however, are not yet well understood. Here, we present a size-exclusion chromatography/spectrophotometry method (SEC-HPLC-DAD) that allows a simultaneous detection of mono-, di-, tri-, and higher protein oligomers, as well as their individual nitration degrees (NDs). The ND results of proteins from this new method agree well with the results from an alternative well-established method, for the analysis of tetranitromethane (TNM)- and nitrogen dioxide and ozone (NO2/O3)-nitrated protein samples. Importantly, the NDs for individual oligomer fractions can be obtained from the new method, and also, we provide a proof of principle for the calculation of the concentrations for individual protein oligomer fractions by their determined NDs, which will facilitate the investigation of the kinetics and mechanism for protein tyrosine nitration and cross-linking. KW - Size exclusion chromatography KW - HPLC-DAD KW - Protein nitration degree KW - Protein oligomer analysis KW - Nitrotyrosine KW - Dimer KW - Trimer KW - Oligomer KW - Protein KW - Tetranitromethane KW - BSA KW - Albumin KW - Air pollution KW - Nitrogen oxides PY - 2017 UR - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021967317303795 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chroma.2017.03.015 SN - 0021-9673 VL - 1495 SP - 76 EP - 82 PB - Elsevier B.V. CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-40304 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Paul, Martin A1 - Tscheuschner, Georg A1 - Herrmann, Stefan A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - Fast Detection of 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT) at ppt Level by a Laser-Induced Immunofluorometric Biosensor N2 - The illegal use of explosives by terrorists and other criminals is an increasing issue in public spaces, such as airports, railway stations, highways, sports venues, theaters, and other large buildings. Security in these environments can be achieved by different means, including the installation of scanners and other analytical devices to detect ultra-small traces of explosives in a very short time-frame to be able to take action as early as possible to prevent the detonation of such devices. Unfortunately, an ideal explosive detection system still does not exist, which means that a compromise is needed in practice. Most detection devices lack the extreme analytical sensitivity, which is nevertheless necessary due to the low vapor pressure of nearly all explosives. In addition, the rate of false positives needs to be virtually zero, which is also very difficult to achieve. Here we present an immunosensor system based on kinetic competition, which is known to be very fast and may even overcome affinity limitation, which impairs the performance of many traditional competitive assays. This immunosensor consists of a monolithic glass column with a vast excess of immobilized hapten, which traps the fluorescently labeled antibody as long as no explosive is present. In the case of the explosive 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), some binding sites of the antibody will be blocked, which leads to an immediate breakthrough of the labeled protein, detectable by highly sensitive laser-induced fluorescence with the help of a Peltier-cooled complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) camera. Liquid handling is performed with high-precision syringe pumps and chip-based mixing-devices and flow-cells. The system achieved limits of detection of 1 pM (1 ppt) of the fluorescent label and around 100 pM (20 ppt) of TNT. The total assay time is less than 8 min. A cross-reactivity test with 5000 pM solutions showed no signal by pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), 1,3,5-trinitroperhydro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX), and octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX). This immunosensor belongs to the most sensitive and fastest detectors for TNT with no significant cross-reactivity by non-related compounds. The consumption of the labeled antibody is surprisingly low: 1 mg of the reagent would be sufficient for more than one year of continuous biosensor operation. KW - Airport KW - Aviation KW - Bombs KW - Terrorism KW - Biosensing KW - Continuous Sensor KW - High-Speed KW - Ultrasensitive PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-511245 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/bios10080089 VL - 10 IS - 8 SP - 89 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-51124 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Costa, Elena A1 - Climent Terol, Estela A1 - Gawlitza, Kornelia A1 - Wan, Wei A1 - Weller, Michael G. A1 - Rurack, Knut T1 - Optimization of analytical assay performance of antibody-gated indicator-releasing mesoporous silica particles N2 - Antibody-gated indicator delivery (gAID) systems based on mesoporous silica nano- and microparticle scaffolds are a promising class of materials for the sensitive chemical detection of small-molecule analytes in simple test formats such as lateral flow assays (LFAs) or microfluidic chips. Their architecture is reminiscent of drug delivery systems, only that reporter molecules instead of drugs are stored in the voids of a porous host particle. In addition, the pores are closed with macromolecular “caps” through a tailored “gatekeeping” recognition chemistry so that the caps are opened when an analyte has reacted with a “gatekeeper”. The subsequent uncapping leads to a release of a large number of indicator molecules, endowing the system with signal amplification features. Particular benefits of such systems are their modularity and adaptability. With the example of the immunochemical detection of type-I pyrethroids by fluorescent dye-releasing gAID systems, the influence of several tuning modes on the optimisation of such hybrid sensory materials is introduced here. In particular, different mesoporous silica supports (from nano- and microparticles to platelets and short fibres), different functionalisation routes and different loading sequences were assessed. The materials’ performances were evaluated by studying their temporal response behaviour and detection sensitivity, including the tightness of pore closure (through the amount of blank release in the absence of analyte) and the release kinetics. Our results indicate that the better the paratope-accommodating Fab region of the antibody “cap” fits into the host material's pore opening, the better the closing/opening mechanism can be controlled. Because such materials are well-suited for LFAs, performance assessment included a test-strip format besides conventional assays in suspension. In combination with dyes as indicators and smartphones for read-out, simple analytical tests for use by untrained personnel directly at a point-of-need such as an aeroplane cabin can be devised, allowing for sensitivities down to the μg kg−1 range in <5 min with case-required selectivities. KW - Antibody-gated indicator delivery KW - Lateral flow assay KW - SBA-15 KW - SBA-16 KW - Type-I pyrethroids KW - Phenothrin KW - Permethrin KW - Etofenprox KW - Amplification KW - Biosensors KW - Immunoassays KW - Mesoporous particles KW - Optical detection PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-517053 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d0tb00371a VL - 8 IS - 22 SP - 4950 EP - 4961 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-51705 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tscheuschner, Georg A1 - Schwaar, Timm A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - Fast Confirmation of Antibody Identity by MALDI-TOF MS Fingerprints N2 - Thousands of antibodies for diagnostic and other analytical purposes are on the market. However, it is often difficult to identify duplicates, reagent changes, and to assign the correct original publications to an antibody. This slows down scientific progress and might even be a cause of irreproducible research and a waste of resources. Recently, activities were started to suggest the sole use of recombinant antibodies in combination with the open communication of their sequence. In this case, such uncertainties should be eliminated. Unfortunately, this approach seems to be rather a long-term vision since the development and manufacturing of recombinant antibodies remain quite expensive in the foreseeable future. Nearly all commercial antibody suppliers also may be reluctant to publish the sequence of their antibodies, since they fear counterfeiting. De novo sequencing of antibodies is also not feasible today for a reagent user without access to the hybridoma clone. Nevertheless, it seems to be crucial for any scientist to have the opportunity to identify an antibody undoubtedly to guarantee the traceability of any research activity using antibodies from a third party as a tool. For this purpose, we developed a method for the identification of antibodies based on a MALDI-TOF MS fingerprint. To circumvent lengthy denaturation, reduction, alkylation, and enzymatic digestion steps, the fragmentation was performed with a simple formic acid hydrolysis step. Eighty-nine unknown monoclonal antibodies were used for this study to examine the feasibility of this approach. Although the molecular assignment of peaks was rarely possible, antibodies could be easily recognized in a blinded test, simply from their mass-spectral fingerprint. A general protocol is given, which could be used without any optimization to generate fingerprints for a database. We want to propose that, in most scientific projects relying critically on antibody reagents, such a fingerprint should be established to prove and document the identity of the used antibodies, as well as to assign a specific reagent to a datasheet of a commercial supplier, public database record, or antibody ID. KW - Reproducibility KW - Quality Control KW - Traceability KW - Diagnostics KW - Hybridoma KW - Monoclonal Antibody KW - Recombinant Antibody PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-506611 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/antib9020008 SN - 2073-4468 VL - 9 IS - 2 SP - 1 EP - 17 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-50661 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ziegler, K. A1 - Kunert, A. T. A1 - Reinmuth-Selzle, K. A1 - Leifke, A. L. A1 - Widera, D. A1 - Weller, Michael G. A1 - Schuppan, D. A1 - Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J. A1 - Lucas, K. A1 - Pöschl, U. T1 - Chemical modification of pro-inflammatory proteins by peroxynitrite increases activation of TLR4 and NF-κB: Implications for the health effects of air pollution and oxidative stress N2 - Environmental pollutants like fine particulate matter can cause adverse health effects through oxidative stress and inflammation. Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) such as peroxynitrite can chemically modify proteins, but the effects of such modifications on the immune system and human health are not well understood. In the course of inflammatory processes, the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) can sense damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). Here, we investigate how the TLR4 response and pro-inflammatory potential of the proteinous DAMPs α-Synuclein (α-Syn), heat shock protein 60 (HSP60), and high-mobility-group box 1 protein (HMGB1), which are relevant in neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases, changes upon chemical modification with peroxynitrite. For the peroxynitrite-modified proteins, we found a strongly enhanced activation of TLR4 and the pro-inflammatory transcription factor NF-κB in stable reporter cell lines as well as increased mRNA expression and secretion of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-8 in human monocytes (THP-1). This enhanced activation of innate immunity via TLR4 is mediated by covalent chemical modifications of the studied DAMPs. Our results show that proteinous DAMPs modified by peroxynitrite more potently amplify inflammation via TLR4 activation than the native DAMPs, and provide first evidence that such modifications can directly enhance innate immune responses via a defined receptor. These findings suggest that environmental pollutants and related ROS/RNS may play a role in promoting acute and chronic inflammatory disorders by structurally modifying the body's own DAMPs. This may have important consequences for chronic neurodegenerative, cardiovascular or gastrointestinal diseases that are prevalent in modern societies, and calls for action, to improve air quality and climate in the Anthropocene. KW - Protein nitration KW - Protein oligomerization KW - Damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) KW - Pattern recognition receptor KW - Anthropocene KW - Environmental pollutants PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-517128 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.redox.2020.101581 VL - 37 SP - 101581 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-51712 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Brangsch, J. A1 - Reimann, C. A1 - Kaufmann, Jan Ole A1 - Adams, L. C. A1 - Onthank, D. A1 - Thöne-Reineke, C. A1 - Robinson, S. A1 - Ponader, Marco A1 - Weller, Michael G. A1 - Buchholz, R. A1 - Karst, U. A1 - Botnar, R. A1 - Hamm, B. A1 - Makowski, M. R. T1 - Molecular MR-Imaging for Noninvasive Quantification of the Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Targeting Interleukin-1β in a Mouse Model of Aortic Aneurysm N2 - Background: Molecular-MRI is a promising imaging modality for the assessment of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs). Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) represents a new therapeutic tool for AAA-treatment, since pro-inflammatory cytokines are key-mediators of inflammation. This study investigates the potential of molecular-MRI to evaluate therapeutic effects of an anti-IL-1β-therapy on AAA-formation in a mouse-model. Methods: Osmotic-minipumps were implanted in apolipoprotein-deficient-mice (N = 27). One group (Ang-II+01BSUR group, n = 9) was infused with angiotensin-II (Ang-II) for 4 weeks and received an anti-murine IL-1β-antibody (01BSUR) 3 times. One group (Ang-II-group, n = 9) was infused with Ang-II for 4 weeks but received no treatment. Control-group (n = 9) was infused with saline and received no treatment. MR-imaging was performed using an elastin-specific gadolinium-based-probe (0.2 mmol/kg). Results: Mice of the Ang-II+01BSUR-group showed a lower aortic-diameter compared to mice of the Ang-II-group and control mice (p < 0.05). Using the elastin-specific-probe, a significant decrease in elastin-destruction was observed in mice of the Ang-II+01BSUR-group. In vivo MR-measurements correlated well with histopathology (y = 0.34x-13.81, R2 = 0.84, p < 0.05), ICP-MS (y = 0.02x+2.39; R2 = 0.81, p < 0.05) and LA-ICP-MS. Immunofluorescence and western-blotting confirmed a reduced IL-1β-expression. Conclusions: Molecular-MRI enables the early visualization and quantification of the anti-inflammatory-effects of an IL-1β-inhibitor in a mouse-model of AAAs. Responders and non-responders could be identified early after the initiation of the therapy using molecular-MRI. KW - Cardiovascular KW - Molecular-MRI KW - Magnetic resonance imaging KW - Gadolinium-based contrast agent KW - Elastin-specific contrast agent ESMA KW - Gadovist KW - Gadofosveset KW - MR Angiography KW - Inductively Coupled Mass Spectroscopy KW - Element Specific Bioimaging Using Laser Ablation KW - Visualization PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-517150 DO - https://doi.org/10.1177/1536012120961875 N1 - Geburtsname von Ponader, Marco: Wilke, M. - Birth name of Ponader, Marco: Wilke, M. VL - 19 SP - 61875 PB - SAGE AN - OPUS4-51715 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Climent Terol, Estela A1 - Biyikal, Mustafa A1 - Gröninger, Delia A1 - Weller, Michael G. A1 - Martínez Mánez, R. A1 - Rurack, Knut ED - Climent Terol, Estela T1 - Multiplexed Detection of Analytes on Single Test Strips with Antibody-Gated Indicator-Releasing Mesoporous Nanoparticles N2 - Rapid testing methods for the use directly at apointof need are expected to unfold their true potential especiallywhen offering adequate capabilities for the simultaneousmeasurement of multiple analytes of interest. Considering theunique modularity,high sensitivity,and selectivity of antibody-gated indicator delivery (gAID) systems,amultiplexed assayfor three small-molecule explosives (TATP, TNT,PETN) wasthus developed, allowing to detect the analytes simultaneouslywith asingle test strip at lower ppb concentrations in the liquidphase in < 5min using afluorescence reader or asmartphonefor readout. While the TNT and PETN systems were newlydeveloped here,all the three systems also tolerated harshermatrices than buffered aqueous model solutions.Besidesasingle-track strip,the outstanding modularity of the hybridbiosensor materials in combination with strip-patterningtechnologies allowed us to obtain amultichannel strip inastraightforwardmanner,offering comparable analyticalperformance while allowing to be tailored even more to theusersneed. KW - Multiplexing KW - Explosives detection KW - Gated materials KW - Fluorescence PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-518424 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202009000 SN - 1433-7851 SN - 1521-3773 VL - 59 IS - 52 SP - 23862 EP - 23869 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-51842 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - The Protocol Gap N2 - Although peer review is considered one of the main pillars of modern science, experimental methods and protocols seem to be not a rigorous subject of this process in many papers. Commercial equipment, test kits, labeling kits, previously published concepts, and standard protocols are often considered to be not worth a detailed description or validation. Even more disturbing is the extremely biased citation behavior in this context, which sometimes leads to surrogate citations to avoid low-impact journals, preprints, or to indicate traditional practices. This article describes some of these surprising habits and suggests some measures to avoid the most unpleasant effects, which in the long term may undermine the credibility of science as a whole. KW - Validation KW - Peer review KW - Experiment KW - Documentation KW - Scientific publication KW - Reproducibility crisis KW - Replication crisis KW - Trust KW - Citation KW - References KW - Surrogate citations KW - Impact PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-521440 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/mps4010012 SN - 2409-9279 VL - 4 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 5 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-52144 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fischer, Janina A1 - Kaufmann, Jan Ole A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - Simple Determination of Affinity Constants of Antibodies by Competitive Immunoassays N2 - The affinity constant, also known as the equilibrium constant, binding constant, equilibrium association constant, or the reciprocal value, the equilibrium dissociation constant (Kd), can be considered as one of the most important characteristics for any antibody–antigen pair. Many methods based on different technologies have been proposed and used to determine this value. However, since a very large number of publications and commercial datasheets do not include this information, significant obstacles in performing such measurements seem to exist. In other cases where such data are reported, the results have often proved to be unreliable. This situation may indicate that most of the technologies available today require a high level of expertise and effort that does not seem to be available in many laboratories. In this paper, we present a simple approach based on standard immunoassay technology that is easy and quick to perform. It relies on the effect that the molar IC50 approaches the Kd value in the case of infinitely small concentrations of the reagents. A two-dimensional dilution of the reagents leads to an asymptotic convergence to Kd. The approach has some similarity to the well-known checkerboard titration used for the optimization of immunoassays. A well-known antibody against the FLAG peptide, clone M2, was used as a model system and the results were compared with other methods. This approach could be used in any case where a competitive assay is available or can be developed. The determination of an affinity constant should belong to the crucial parameters in any quality control of antibody-related products and assays and should be mandatory in papers using immunochemical protocols. N2 - Die Affinitätskonstante, auch bekannt als Gleichgewichtskonstante, Bindungskonstante, Gleichgewichtsassoziationskonstante oder der reziproke Wert, die Gleichgewichtsdissoziationskonstante (Kd), kann als eine der wichtigsten Eigenschaften für jedes Antikörper-Antigen-Paar angesehen werden. Zur Bestimmung dieses Wertes wurden zahlreiche Methoden auf der Grundlage verschiedener Technologien vorgeschlagen und verwendet. Da jedoch eine sehr große Anzahl von Veröffentlichungen und kommerziellen Datenblätter diese Information nicht enthalten, scheint es erhebliche Hindernisse bei der Durchführung solcher Messungen zu geben. In anderen Fällen, in denen solche Daten angegeben werden, haben sich die Ergebnisse häufig als unzuverlässig erwiesen. Diese Situation könnte darauf hindeuten, dass die meisten der heute verfügbaren Technologien ein hohes Maß an Fachwissen und Aufwand erfordern, das in vielen Labors nicht vorhanden zu sein scheint. In diesem Beitrag stellen wir einen einfachen Ansatz vor, der auf der Standard-Immunoassay-Technologie basiert und einfach und schnell durchführbar ist. Er beruht auf dem Effekt, dass sich der molare IC50 bei unendlich kleinen Reagenz-Konzentrationen dem Kd-Wert annähert. Eine zweidimensionale Verdünnung der Reagenzien führt zu einer asymptotischen Konvergenz zu Kd. Der Ansatz hat eine gewisse Ähnlichkeit mit der bekannten Checkerboard-Titration, die zur Optimierung von Immunoassays verwendet wird. Ein bekannter Antikörper gegen das FLAG-Peptid, Klon M2, wurde als Modellsystem verwendet, und die Ergebnisse wurden mit anderen Methoden verglichen. Dieser Ansatz kann überall dort angewendet werden, wo ein kompetitiver Assay verfügbar ist oder entwickelt werden kann. Die Bestimmung einer Affinitätskonstante sollte zu den entscheidenden Parametern bei der Qualitätskontrolle von Antikörperprodukten und -assays gehören und in Arbeiten, die immunchemische Protokolle verwenden, obligatorisch sein. KW - ELISA KW - Competitive immunoassay KW - IC50 KW - Test midpoint KW - Point of inflection KW - Equilibrium constant KW - Dissociation constant KW - Binding strength KW - Antibody antigen complex KW - Bio-interaction KW - SPR KW - Surface-plasmon resonance KW - FLAG peptide KW - Clone M2 KW - Antibody quality PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-605607 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/mps7030049 SN - 2409-9279 VL - 7 IS - 3 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-60560 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Fünning, Tabea A1 - Peczek, Anna A1 - Kroh, Aleksandra A1 - Mai, Christian A1 - Paul, Martin A1 - Thomsen, Florian A1 - Tannenberg, Robert A1 - Schumann, Christoph A1 - Weller, Michael G. A1 - Mai, Andreas A1 - Steglich, Patrick C. ED - Lieberman, Robert A. ED - Baldini, Francesco ED - Homola, Jiri T1 - Optimization of local backside released micro-ring resonators for sensing applications using silicon photonic integrated circuits in a SOI technology N2 - Photonic micro-ring resonators (MRR) are widely studied for their high sensitivity across applications like environmental monitoring, healthcare, and chemical analysis. Their evanescent field sensing requires partially unembedded waveguides compatible with CMOS processing. Our approach uses local backside etching with an additional buried oxide (BOX) etch to release waveguides while preserving the back-end of line (BEOL) structure, enabling spatial separation of the sensing area and electronics. The BOX etch critically affects sensor performance, as waveguide surface roughness can alter MRR properties and coupling. We analyzed MRR design variations, comparing wet and dry etching techniques for their effects on optical performance across rib and strip waveguides in quasi-TE and quasi-TM modes. Wafer-level measurements show that backside-released MRR achieve high extinction ratios with slightly reduced quality factors, advancing high-sensitivity photonic sensors. T2 - SPIE Optics + Optoelectronics 2025 CY - Prague, Czech Republic DA - 23.05.2025 KW - Photonic sensors KW - Micro-ring resonator (MRR) KW - Silicon on insulator (SOI) KW - CMOS KW - Local backside etching PY - 2025 SN - 978-1-5106-8851-3 DO - https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3056481 VL - 13527 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - SPIE CY - Bellingham, WA , USA AN - OPUS4-63585 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Paul, Martin A1 - Tannenberg, Robert A1 - Tscheuschner, Georg A1 - Ponader, Marco A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - Cocaine detection by a laser-induced immunofluorometric biosensor N2 - The trafficking of illegal drugs by criminal networks at borders, harbors, or airports is an increasing issue for public health as these routes ensure the main supply of illegal drugs. The prevention of drug smuggling, including the installation of scanners and other analytical devices to detect small traces of drugs within a reasonable time frame, remains a challenge. The presented immunosensor is based on a monolithic affinity column with a large excess of immobilized hapten, which traps fluorescently labeled antibodies as long as the analyte cocaine is absent. In the presence of the drug, some binding sites of the antibody will be blocked, which leads to an immediate breakthrough of the labeled protein, detectable by highly sensitive laser-induced fluorescence with the help of a Peltier-cooled complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) camera. Liquid handling is performed with high-precision syringe pumps and microfluidic chip-based mixing devices and flow cells. The biosensor achieved limits of detection of 7 ppt (23 pM) of cocaine with a response time of 90 s and a total assay time below 3 min. With surface wipe sampling, the biosensor was able to detect 300 pg of cocaine. This immunosensor belongs to the most sensitive and fastest detectors for cocaine and offers near-continuous analyte measurement. KW - Online detection KW - Security KW - Monoclonal antibody KW - Microfluidic mixing KW - Microfluidics KW - Lab-on-a-chip KW - Monolithic column KW - Affinity chromatography KW - Laser-induced fluorescence KW - LIF KW - ELISA KW - Wipe test KW - Low-cost PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-534487 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/bios11090313 VL - 11 IS - 9 SP - 1 EP - 15 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-53448 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Backes, A. T. A1 - Reinmuth-Selzle, K. A1 - Leifke, A. L. A1 - Ziegler, K. A1 - Krevert, C. S. A1 - Tscheuschner, Georg A1 - Lucas, K. A1 - Weller, Michael G. A1 - Berkemeier, T. A1 - Pöschl, U. A1 - Fröhlich-Nowoisky, J. T1 - Oligomerization and Nitration of the Grass Pollen Allergen Phl p 5 by Ozone, Nitrogen Dioxide, and Peroxynitrite: Reaction Products, Kinetics, and Health Effects N2 - The allergenic and inflammatory potential of proteins can be enhanced by chemical modification upon exposure to atmospheric or physiological oxidants. The molecular mechanisms and kinetics of such modifications, however, have not yet been fully resolved. We investigated the oligomerization and nitration of the grass pollen allergen Phl p 5 by ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and peroxynitrite (ONOO–). Within several hours of exposure to atmospherically relevant concentration levels of O3 and NO2, up to 50% of Phl p 5 were converted into protein oligomers, likely by formation of dityrosine cross-links. Assuming that tyrosine residues are the preferential site of nitration, up to 10% of the 12 tyrosine residues per protein monomer were nitrated. For the reaction with peroxynitrite, the largest oligomer mass fractions (up to 50%) were found for equimolar concentrations of peroxynitrite over tyrosine residues. With excess peroxynitrite, the nitration degrees increased up to 40% whereas the oligomer mass fractions decreased to 20%. Our results suggest that protein oligomerization and nitration are competing processes, which is consistent with a two-step mechanism involving a reactive oxygen intermediate (ROI), as observed for other proteins. The modified proteins can promote pro-inflammatory cellular signaling that may contribute to chronic inflammation and allergies in response to air pollution. KW - Protein KW - Nitrotyrosine KW - Dityrosine KW - Allergy KW - Hay fever KW - Diesel exhaust KW - Combustion KW - Exhaust PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-529729 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22147616 VL - 22 IS - 14 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-52972 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ponader, Marco A1 - Röder, Bettina A1 - Paul, Martin A1 - Weller, Michael G. T1 - Sintered glass monoliths as supports for affinity columns N2 - A novel stationary phase for affinity separations is presented. This material is based on sintered borosilicate glass readily available as semi-finished filter plates with defined porosity and surface area. The material shows fast binding kinetics and excellent long-term stability under real application conditions due to lacking macropores and high mechanical rigidity. The glass surface can be easily modified with standard organosilane chemistry to immobilize selective binders or other molecules used for biointeraction. In this paper, the manufacturing of the columns and their respective column holders by 3D printing is shown in detail. The model system protein A/IgG was chosen as an example to examine the properties of such monolithic columns under realistic application conditions. Several specifications, such as (dynamic) IgG capacity, pressure stability, long-term performance, productivity, non-specific binding, and peak shape, are presented. It could be shown that due to the very high separation speed, 250 mg antibody per hour and column can be collected, which surpasses the productivity of most standard columns of the same size. The total IgG capacity of the shown columns is around 4 mg (5.5 mg/mL), which is sufficient for most tasks in research laboratories. The cycle time of an IgG separation can be less than 1 min. Due to the glass material’s excellent pressure resistance, these columns are compatible with standard HPLC systems. This is usually not the case with standard affinity columns, limited to manual use or application in low-pressure systems. The use of a standard HPLC system also improves the ability for automation, which enables the purification of hundreds of cell supernatants in one day. The sharp peak shape of the elution leads to an enrichment effect, which might increase the concentration of IgG by a factor of 3. The final concentration of IgG can be around 7.5 mg/mL without the need for an additional nano-filtration step. The purity of the IgG was > 95% in one step and nearly 99% with a second polishing run. KW - Affinity Chromatography KW - Affinity Extraction KW - Affinity Separation KW - Protein Purification KW - Down Stream Processing KW - Antibody Purification KW - Diagnostic Antibodies KW - Therapeutic Antibodies KW - Automated Purification KW - HPLC KW - FPLC KW - IgG determination KW - Concentration step KW - Monoclonal Antibodies KW - Polyclonal Antibodies KW - Human Plasma KW - Glass Support KW - Borosilicate Glass KW - Monolith KW - Sintered Material KW - Additive Manufacturing KW - Column holder KW - Construction KW - Open Science KW - Citizen Science KW - Protein A KW - Regeneration KW - High-Speed Separations KW - Robustness PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-527581 DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/separations8050056 SN - 2297-8739 N1 - Geburtsname von Ponader, Marco: Wilke, M. - Birth name of Ponader, Marco: Wilke, M. VL - 8 IS - 5 SP - 1 EP - 16 PB - MDPI CY - Basel AN - OPUS4-52758 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -