As nanoparticles (NPs) are increasingly used in many applications their safety and efficient applications in nanomedicine have become concerns. Protein coronas on nanomaterials' surfaces can influence how the cell "recognizes" nanoparticles, as well as the in vitro and in vivo NPs' behaviors. The SuperParamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticle (SPION) is one of the most prominent agents because of its superparamagnetic properties, which is useful for separation applications. To mimic surface properties of different types of NPs, a core-shell SPION library was prepared by coating with different surfaces: polyvinyl alcohol polymer (PVA) ( positive, neutral and negative), SiO 2 ( positive and negative), titanium dioxide and metal gold. The SPIONs with different surfaces were incubated at a fixed serum : nanoparticle surface ratio, magnetically trapped and washed. The tightly bound proteins were quantified and identified. The surface charge has a great impact on protein adsorption, especially on PVA and silica where proteins preferred binding to the neutral and positively charged surfaces. The importance of surface material on protein adsorption was also revealed by preferential binding on TiO 2 and gold coated SPION, even negatively charged. There is no correlation between the protein net charge and the nanoparticle surface charge on protein binding, nor direct correlation between the serum proteins' concentration and the proteins detected in the coronas. † Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. For ESI and crystallographic data in CIF or other electronic format see This journal is

Biomaterials-associated-infections (BAI) are serious complications in modern medicine. Although non-adhesive coatings, like polymer-brush coatings, have been shown to prevent bacterial adhesion, they do not support cell growth. Bi-functional coatings are supposed to prevent biofilm formation while supporting tissue integration. Here, bacterial and cellular responses to poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) brush-coatings on titanium oxide presenting the integrin-active peptide RGD (arginine-glycine-aspartic acid) (bioactive "PEG-RGD") were compared to monofunctional PEG brush-coatings (biopassive "PEG") and bare titanium oxide (TiO 2 ) surfaces under flow. Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 35983 was deposited on the surfaces under a shear rate of 11 s -1 for 2 h followed by seeding of U2OS osteoblasts. Subsequently, both S. epidermidis and U2OS cells were grown simultaneously on the surfaces for 48 h under low shear (0.14 s -1

SummaryTransgenic plants producing peroxisomal polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) from intermediates of fatty acid degradation were used to study carbon¯ow through the b-oxidation cycle. Growth of transgenic plants in media containing fatty acids conjugated to Tween detergents resulted in an increased accumulation of PHA and incorporation into the polyester of monomers derived from the b-oxidation of these fatty acids. Tween±laurate was a stronger inducer of b-oxidation, as measured by acyl-CoA oxidase activity, and a more potent modulator of PHA quantity and monomer composition than Tween±oleate. Plants co-expressing a peroxisomal PHA synthase with a capryl-acyl carrier protein thioesterase from Cuphea lanceolata produced eightfold more PHA compared to plants expressing only the PHA synthase. PHA produced in double transgenic plants contained mainly saturated monomers ranging from 6 to 10 carbons, indicating an enhanced¯ow of capric acid towards b-oxidation. Together, these results support the hypothesis that plant cells have mechanisms which sense levels of free or esteri®ed unusual fatty acids, resulting in changes in the activity of the b-oxidation cycle as well as removal and degradation of these unusual fatty acids through b-oxidation. Such enhanced ow of fatty acids through b-oxidation can be utilized to modulate the amount and composition of PHA produced in transgenic plants. Furthermore, synthesis of PHAs in plants can be used as a new tool to study the quality and relative quantity of the carbon¯ow through boxidation as well as to analyse the degradation pathway of unusual fatty acids.