NanoWorld AG CEO Manfred Detterbeck is attending NANOKOREA 2024, the 22nd International #Nanotech Symposium & Exhibition on nanoscale science and technology , which will be held from July 3-5, 2024 at KINTEX (Korea International Exhibition Center), Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. http://www.nanokorea-sympo.or.kr/welcome.php
This year’s main theme is: Invisible Nano Realizes the Future
Dietary fibers have been shown to exert immune effects via interaction with pattern recognition receptors (PRR) such as toll-like receptors (TLR) and nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptors. Pectin is a dietary fiber that interacts with PRR depending on its chemical structure. Papaya pectin retains different chemical structures at different ripening stages. How this influences PRR signalling is unknown.*
The aim of the
article “Pectin Interaction with Immune Receptors is Modulated by Ripening
Process in Papayas” by Samira B. R. Prado, Martin Beukema, Eva Jermendi,
Henk A. Schols, Paul de Vos and João Paulo Fabi was to determine how ripening
influences pectin structures and their ability to interact with TLR2, 3, 4, 5
and 9, and NOD1 and 2.*
Papaya
ripening is an enzymatic, biochemically driven process that occurs over a short
period of time (five days) and involves the mobilization of pectin and the
alteration of its chemical composition.
The authors
evaluated the interaction of the water-soluble fractions rich in pectin
extracted from unripe to ripe papayas. The pectin extracted from ripe papayas
activated all the TLR and, to a lesser extent, the NOD receptors. The pectin
extracted from unripe papayas also activated TLR2, 4 and 5 but inhibited the
activation of TLR3 and 9.*
During papaya
ripening, profound changes in pectin structures lead to differences in the
biological effects. The data presented in the paper show that papaya pectin
extracted from fruit pulp at different ripening points differently interacted
with PRR in a ripening-dependent way. The longer chains of HG from unripe
papayas pectin, which were less methyl-esterified, inhibited the activation of
TLR3 and 9 and activated TLR2 and 4, in contrast to the ripe papaya’s pectin,
which have smaller HG chains with medium methyl esterification thus activating
TLR2, 3, 4, 5 and 9.*
This
variation may represent new biological features of papaya pectin structures in
addition to anticancer activities, possibly creating new and cost-effective
approaches to extracting papaya pectin with desirable structural and biological
features.*
These
findings might lead to selection of ripening stages for tailored modulation of
PRR to support or attenuate immunity in consumers.*
The changes
in Molecular weight ( Mw ) can also be visualized by Atomic Force Microscopy (see
Fig. 1C in the paper.)
The AFM images presented in the paper were acquired in tapping mode using an NanoWorld Pointprobe®NCHR AFM probe with a typical spring constant of 42 N/m and typically 320 kHz resonance frequency. The scan speed and scanning resolution were 0.5 Hz and 512 × 512 points, respectively.*
*Samira B.
R. Prado, Martin Beukema, Eva Jermendi, Henk A. Schols, Paul de Vos and João
Paulo Fabi Pectin Interaction with Immune Receptors is Modulated by Ripening Process in
Papayas
Nature Scientific Reports volume 10, Article number: 1690 (2020)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-58311-0
Open Access The article “ Pectin Interaction with Immune Receptors is Modulated by Ripening Process in Papayas “ by Samira B. R. Prado, Martin Beukema, Eva Jermendi, Henk A. Schols, Paul de Vos and João Paulo Fabi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Kelvin
Probe Force Microscopy ( KPFM ) is a scanning probe microscopy technique. It is
a combination of the Kelvin probe and of Atomic Force Microscopy methods. The
technique consists in evaluating the difference in work function between two
conducting materials, by using a nanometer scale tip ( the “KPFMtip”), and placing
it close to the material to be characterised, where a difference in work
function leads to an electrostatic force developing between the two, which is
translated as an oscillation of the tip’s cantilever. A bia sapplied via an
external circuit is varied until the force and hence the electrostatic field
between sample and KPFM tip is cancelled.*
In the
article “KPFM surface photovoltage measurement and numerical simulation”
Clément Marchat, James P. Connolly, Jean-Paul Kleider, José Alvarez, Lejo J.
Koduvelikulathu and Jean Baptiste Puel present a method for the analysis of
Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) characterization of semiconductor devices.
It enables evaluation of the influence of defective surface layers. The model
is validated by analysing experimental KPFM measurements on crystalline silicon
samples of contact potential difference (VCPD) in the dark and under
illumination, and hence the surface photovoltage (SPV). It is shown that the
model phenomenologically explains the observed KPFM measurements. It reproduces
the magnitude of SPV characterization as a function of incident light power in
terms of a defect density assuming Gaussian defect distribution in the
semiconductor bandgap. This allows an estimation of defect densities in surface
layers of semiconductors and therefore increased exploitation of KPFM data.*
The KPFM measurements were performed using NanoWorld ARROW-EFM conductive AFM tips with a PtIr coating. The tip work function didn’t require calibration because only SPV measurement were performed and studied. Measurements were performed in the KPFM amplitude modulation (AM)mode rather than the frequency modulation (FM) one. The AM mode was chosen because lateral resolution was not a problem on the homogeneous bulk samples studied, allowing focus on the superior surface potential resolution that can be achieved with the AM mode.*
*Clément Marchat, James P. Connolly, Jean-Paul Kleider, José Alvarez, Lejo J. Koduvelikulathu and Jean Baptiste Puel KPFM surface photovoltage measurement and numerical simulation EPJ Photovoltaics10, 3 (2019) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/epjpv/2019002
Open Access The article “KPFM surface photovoltage measurement and numerical simulation “ by Clément Marchat, James P. Connolly, Jean-Paul Kleider, José Alvarez, Lejo J. Koduvelikulathu and Jean Baptiste Puel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.