Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 1, 2026
09:23
Author Spotlight: Advancing Energy Solutions Using Nanocomposites as Processed Thermoelectric Materials
Published on: May 17, 2024
2.1K
Chirality-Driven Transportation and Oxidation Prevention by Chiral Selenium Nanoparticles
Yanyu Huang1,2, Yuanting Fu1, Mengting Li3
1Department of Chemistry, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, China.
Angewandte Chemie (International Ed. in English)
|December 27, 2019
Summary
Chiral selenium nanoparticles (G@SeNPs) show distinct biodistribution and kinetics based on their handedness. This chirality influences their transport and antioxidant effects, offering new insights into nanoparticle behavior.
Area of Science:
- Nanotechnology
- Materials Science
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Nanoparticle chirality is increasingly recognized to impact biological interactions and physiological transport.
- However, detailed investigations into how nanoparticle chirality affects biodistribution and cellular effects remain limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To synthesize chiral glutathione (GSH)-anchored selenium nanoparticles (G@SeNPs) and explore the influence of their chirality on transport and antioxidant activity.
- To investigate the differential biodistribution and kinetics of enantiomeric G@SeNPs in vivo.
- To evaluate the protective effects of chiral G@SeNPs against oxidative damage in cells.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of chiral G@SeNPs with tunable circular dichroism signals.
- Noninvasive positron emission tomography (PET) imaging using 64Cu-labeled nanoparticles to track biodistribution and kinetics.
- Assessment of antioxidant activity in insulinoma cells exposed to palmitic acid-induced oxidative stress.
Main Results:
- Chiral G@SeNPs exhibited opposite handedness and distinct circular dichroism signals.
- PET imaging revealed significantly different transport and biodistribution patterns for l-G@SeNPs compared to d- and dl-G@SeNPs.
- l-G@SeNPs demonstrated effective prevention of palmitic acid-induced oxidation damage in insulinoma cells due to enhanced homologous cell adhesion and uptake.
Conclusions:
- Nanoparticle chirality is a critical factor governing in vivo transport, biodistribution, and kinetics.
- Chiral G@SeNPs offer potential for targeted delivery and therapeutic applications, particularly in mitigating oxidative stress.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
02:30Chirality in Nature
16.4K
Chirality is the most intriguing yet essential facet of nature, governing life’s biochemical processes and precision. It can be observed from a snail shell pattern in a macroscopic world to an amino acid, the minutest building block of life. Most of the snails around the world have right-coiled shells because of the intrinsic chirality in their genes. All the amino acids present in the human body exist in an enantiomerically pure state, except for glycine - the sole achiral amino acid.
16.4K
02:17Reduction of Alkenes: Asymmetric Catalytic Hydrogenation
3.8K
Catalytic hydrogenation of alkenes is a transition-metal catalyzed reduction of the double bond using molecular hydrogen to give alkanes. The mode of hydrogen addition follows syn stereochemistry.
The metal catalyst used can be either heterogeneous or homogeneous. When hydrogenation of an alkene generates a chiral center, a pair of enantiomeric products is expected to form. However, an enantiomeric excess of one of the products can be facilitated using an enantioselective reaction or an...
The metal catalyst used can be either heterogeneous or homogeneous. When hydrogenation of an alkene generates a chiral center, a pair of enantiomeric products is expected to form. However, an enantiomeric excess of one of the products can be facilitated using an enantioselective reaction or an...
3.8K
02:30Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur
6.7K
Chirality is most prevalent in carbon-based tetrahedral compounds, but this important facet of molecular symmetry extends to sp3-hybridized nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur centers, including trivalent molecules with lone pairs. Here, the lone pair behaves as a functional group in addition to the other three substituents to form an analogous tetrahedral center that can be chiral.
A consequence of chirality is the need for enantiomeric resolution. While this is theoretically possible for all...
A consequence of chirality is the need for enantiomeric resolution. While this is theoretically possible for all...
6.7K
02:25Chirality
28.8K
Chirality is a term that describes the lack of mirror symmetry in an object. In other words, chiral objects cannot be superposed on their mirror images. For example, our feet are chiral, as the mirror image of the left foot, the right foot, cannot be superposed on the left foot.
Chiral objects exhibit a sense of handedness when they interact with another chiral object. For example, our left foot can only fit in the left shoe and not in the right shoe. Achiral objects — objects that have...
Chiral objects exhibit a sense of handedness when they interact with another chiral object. For example, our left foot can only fit in the left shoe and not in the right shoe. Achiral objects — objects that have...
28.8K
02:05Prochirality
4.8K
The concept of prochirality leads to the nomenclature of the individual faces of a molecule and plays a crucial role in the enantioselective reaction. It is a concept where two or more achiral molecules react to produce chiral products. A typical process is the reaction of an achiral ketone to generate a chiral alcohol. Here, the achiral reactant reacts with an achiral reducing agent, sodium borohydride, to generate an equimolar mixture of the chiral enantiomers of the product. For example, an...
4.8K
02:44Oxidation of Alkenes: Syn Dihydroxylation with Osmium Tetraoxide
12.4K
Alkenes are converted to 1,2-diols or glycols through a process called dihydroxylation. It involves the addition of two hydroxyl groups across the double bond with two different stereochemical approaches, namely anti and syn. Dihydroxylation using osmium tetroxide progresses with syn stereochemistry.
12.4K