Plankton is made of microscopic organisms living in salty or fresh waterish environments. Among these, shelled diatoms microalgae are capable to biomineralize inorganic silicate salts to produce nanostructured silica skeletons known as frustules. Diatom frustules are attractive for material scientists due to their possibility to be used as micro/nano structures useful for building up smart functional nanomaterials. Contrary to industrial silica, biosilica is produced at mild natural conditions. Here we present works about green extraction of biosilica from centric diatom species, chemically decorated with the antioxidant TEMPO radical trap, and used for bursting bone cells growth. Near this, we demonstrated that an in vivo functionalization of diatom biosilica with a bisphosphonate compound, sodium alendronate, leads to a final in vivo decorated and extracted material which exhibited the property of induction of osteoblasts activity and inhibition of osteoclasts proliferation.
Diatom microalgae represent the most abundant source of mesoporous biosilica in our planet. Their fossil derivative, diatomaceous earth (DE), consisting of diverse algal debris with nanostructured morphologies, is envisaged as a low cost silica support for biological applications. Intriguing features such as high surface/volume ratio and biocompatibility as well as unique absorption and confinement properties, make DE a suitable mesoporous support for biomolecules’ immobilization and stabilization. In this work, the model enzyme laccase was immobilized on DE using a polydopamine (PDA) coating that entraps a layer of protein molecules weakly interacting with DE. The DE/PDA/Laccase material, produced in aqueous solution under mild environment-friendly conditions, was characterized by spectroscopy and microscopy. The kinetic parameters and the recycle of the laccase were evaluated. This new hybrid material is in principle suitable for biomedical applications and for bioremediation in different environments.
Photosynthetic Reaction Center (RC) is a transmembrane photoenzyme capable of converting absorbed photons into electron-hole pairs with almost unitary efficiency. The unique properties of this natural photoconverter attract considerable interest for its use as functional component in nanomaterials and bioelectronics devices. Implementation of RC into nanostructures or anchoring on devices’ electrode surfaces require the development of suitable chemical manipulation. Here we report our methods to embed this protein in soft nanostructures or to covalently attach it on surfaces without denaturating it or altering its chemical properties.
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