• Macromolecular Research
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.167-175
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• 2005

This review explores recent works involving the use of the self-assembled nanoparticles of bile acid-modified glycol chitosans (BGCs) as a new drug carrier for cancer therapy. BGC nanoparticles were produced by chemically grafting different bile acids through the use of l-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-carbodiimide (EDC). The precise control of the size, structure, and hydrophobicity of the various BGC nanoparticles could be achieved by grafting different amounts of bile acids. The BGC nanoparticles so produced formed nanoparticles ranging in size from 210 to 850 nm in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS, pH=7.4), which exhibited substantially lower critical aggregation concentrations (0.038-0.260 mg/mL) than those of other low-molecular-weight surfactants, indicating that they possess high thermodynamic stability. The SOC nanoparticles could encapsulate small molecular peptides and hydrophobic anticancer drugs with a high loading efficiency and release them in a sustained manner. This review also highlights the biodistribution of the BGC nanoparticles, in order to demonstrate their accumulation in the tumor tissue, by utilizing the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect. The different approaches used to optimize the delivery of drugs to treat cancer are also described in the last section.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.08a
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• pp.440-440
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• 2012

Nanomaterials have emerged as new building blocks to construct light energy harvesting assemblies. Size dependent properties provide the basis for developing new and effective systems with semiconductor nanoparticles, quantized charging effects in metal nanoparticle or their combinations in 2 and 3 dimensions for expanding the possibility of developing new strategies for photovoltaic system. As top-down approach, we developed a simple and effective method for the large scale formation of self-assembled Cu(In,Ga)$Se_2$ (CIGS) nanostructures by ion beam irradiation. The compositional changes and morphological evolution were observed as a function of the irradiation time. As the ion irradiation time increased, the nano-dots were transformed into a nano-ridge structure due to the difference in the sputtering yields and diffusion rates of each element and the competition between sputtering and diffusion processes during irradiation. As bottom-up approach, we developed the growth of CIGS nanowires using thermal-chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. Vapor-phase synthesis is probably the most extensively explored approach to the formation of 1D nanostructures such as whiskers, nanorods, and nanowires. However, unlike binary or ternary chalcogenides, the synthesis of quaternary CIGS nanostructures is challenging because of the difficulty in controlling the stoichiometry and phase structure. We introduced a method for synthesis of the single crystalline CIGS nanowires in the form of chalcopyrite using thermal-CVD without catalyst. It was confirmed that the CIGS nanowires are epitaxially grown on a sapphire substrate, having a length ranged from 3 to 100 micrometers and a diameter from 30 to 500 nm.

• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.47-51
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• 2009

For many large-scale applications of high-temperature superconducting materials, large critical current density ($J_c$) in high applied magnetic fields are required. A number of methods have been reported to introduce artificial pinning centers in $YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-{\delta}}$ films for enhancement of their $J_c$. We studied the microstructures and characteristic of $YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-{\delta}}$ films fabricated on $SrTiO_3$ (100) substrates with ZnO nanorods as pinning centers. Au catalyst nanoparticles were synthesized on STO substrates with self assembled monolayer to control the number of ZnO nanorods. The density of Au nanoparticles is approximately $240{\sim}260{\mu}m^{-2}$ with diameters of $41{\sim}49nm$. ZnO nanorods were grown on STO by hot-walled PLD with Au nanoparticles. Typical size of ZnO nanorod was around 179 nm in diameter and $2{\sim}6{\mu}m$ in length respectively. YBCO films deposited directly on STO substrates show the c-axis orientation, while YBCO films with ZnO nanorods exhibit any mixed phases without any typical crystal orientation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2014.02a
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• pp.382.2-382.2
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• 2014

We explain a method to fabricate multi-layered transparent conductive films (TCF) using graphene oxide (GO), copper powder and polyurethane (PU) solution. The flexible graphene nanosheets (GNSs) serve as nanoscale connection between conductive copper nanoparticles (CuNps) and PU nanofibers, resulting in a highly flexible TCF. To fabricate conductive films with high transmittance, polyurethane (PU) nanofibers were used for a conductive network consisting of CuNps and GNSs (CuNps-GNSs). In this experiment, copper powder and graphene oxides were mixed in deionized water with the ultrasonication for 2 h. NaBH4 solution is used as a reduction agents of CuNps and GNSs (CuNps-GNSs) under a nitrogen atmosphere in the oil bath at 100% for 24 h to mixed. The purified and dispersed CuNp-GNS were obtained in deionized water, and diluted to a 10wt.% based on the contents of GNSs. Polyurethane (PU) nanofibers on a PET substrate were formed by electrospinning method. PET slides coated with the PU nanofibers were immersed into CuNp-GNS solution for several second, rinsed briefly in deionized water, and dried to obtain self-assembled CuNp-GNS/PU films. The morphology of the multi-layered films were characterized with a field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM, Hitachi S-4700) and atomic force microscope (AFM, PSIA XE-100). The electrical property was analysed by the I-V measurement system and the optical property was measured by the UV/VIS spectroscopy.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.433-438
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• 2012

A chemical process involves polymerization within microspheres, whereas a physical process involves the dispersion of polymer in a nonsolvent. Nano-sized monodisperse microspheres are usually prepared by chemical processes such as water-based emulsions, seed suspension polymerization, nonaqueous dispersion polymerization, and precipitation polymerizations. Polymerization was performed in a four-necked, separate-type flask equipped with a stirrer, a condenser, a nitrogen inlet, and a rubber stopper for adding the initiator with a syringe. Nitrogen was bubbled through the mixture of reagents for 1 hr. before elevating the temperature. Functional silane (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane (MPTMS) was used for the modification of silica nanoparticles and the self-assembled monolayers obtained were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), laser scattering system (LSS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), elemental analysis (EA), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). In addition, polymer microspheres were polymerized by radical polymerization of ${\gamma}$-mercaptopropyl modified silica nanoparticles (MPSN) and acrylamide monomer via precipitation polymerization; then, their characteristics were investigated. From the elemental analysis results, it can be concluded that the conversion rate of acrylamide monomer was 93% and that polyacrylamide grafted to MPSN nanospheres via the radical precipitation polymerization with AAm in ethanol solvent. The microspheres were successfully polymerized by the 'graft from' method.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.1069-1074
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• 2008

In this work, we made a study for the 3D SAM formation of octanethiol, decanethiol, and dodecanethiol on copper nanoparticles and we verified stability of the copper particle depending on the ratio of dodecanethiol to copper. The reaction was performed in a one-phase system under nitrogen atmosphere and the thiolated copper particles could be obtained by centrifugation. We could confirm that the nanoparticles consisted of a spherical shape of 3~6 nm from TEM images. FT-IR, XPS and TGA results showed that alkanethiols were chemisorbed via thiol group and the packing density of the alkanethiols on copper surface increased with the alkyl chain lengths. XRD patterns gave us useful information about superlattice formations. Finally, $Cu_2O$ was formed when the molar ratio of dodecanethiol to copper is less than unity and copper nanoparticles formed more compact 3D SAMs when the molar ratio of dodecanethiol to copper was 1.25.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.163-167
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• 2021

In the present work, we studied a method for the synthesis of uniform gold-peptide hierarchical superstructures using tyrosine rich peptide, Tyr-Tyr-Leu-Tyr-Tyr (YYLYY). Peptide nanoparticles self-assembled by dityrosine bonds were synthesized through the photo-crosslinking reaction of the peptide, and gold-peptide hybrid nanoparticles were synthesized using biomineralization properties of tyrosine in a green synthetic manner. The synthesized gold-peptide hybrid nanoparticles were then characterized by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, UV-vis spectroscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Furthermore, the catalytic activity of gold-peptide hybrid nanoparticles was confirmed by the reduction reaction of methylene blue where the catalytic reaction rate constant was 13.4 × 10-3 s-1.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.58 no.4
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• pp.183-192
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• 2018

Although hyaluronic acid (HA) has been developed as a nanoparticle (NP; 320-400 nm) for a drug delivery system, the tissue targeting efficacy and the pharmacokinetics of HA-NPs are not yet fully understood. After a dose of 5 mg/kg of cyanine 5.5-labeled HA-NPs or HA-polymers was intravenously administrated into mice, the fluorescence was measured from 0.5 h to 28 days. The HA-NPs fluorescence was generally stronger than that of HA-polymers, which was maintained at a high level over 7 days in vivo, after which it gradually decreased. Upon ex vivo imaging, liver, spleen, kidney, lung, testis and sublingual gland fluorescences were much higher than that of other organs. The fluorescence of HA-NPs in the liver, spleen and kidney was highest at 30 min, where it was generally maintained until 4 h, while it drastically decreased at 1 day. However, the fluorescence in the liver and spleen increased sharply at 7 days relative to 3 days, then decreased drastically at 14 days. Conversely, the fluorescence of HA-polymers in the lymph node was higher than that of HA-NPs. The results presented herein may have important clinical implications regarding the safety of as self-assembled HA-NPs, which can be widely used in biomedical applications.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.10
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• pp.1335-1343
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• 2022

COVID-19 is an emerging disease that poses a severe threat to global public health. As such, there is an urgent demand for vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Here, we describe a virus-like nanoparticle candidate vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 produced by an E. coli expression system. The fusion protein of a truncated ORF2-encoded protein of aa 439~608 (p170) from hepatitis E virus CCJD-517 and the receptor-binding domain of the spike protein from SARS-CoV-2 were expressed, purified and characterized. The antigenicity and immunogenicity of p170-RBD were evaluated in vitro and in Kunming mice. Our investigation revealed that p170-RBD self-assembled into approximately 24 nm virus-like particles, which could bind to serum from vaccinated people (p < 0.001) and receptors on cells. Immunization with p170-RBD induced the titer of IgG antibody vaccine increased from 14 days post-immunization and was significantly enhanced after a booster immunization at 28 dpi, ultimately reaching a peak level on 42 dpi with a titer of 4.97 log₁₀. Pseudovirus neutralization tests showed that the candidate vaccine induced a strong neutralizing antibody response in mice. In this research, we demonstrated that p170-RBD possesses strong antigenicity and immunogenicity and could be a potential candidate for use in future SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.512-518
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• 2006

A biodegradable polymer poly((R) -3-hydroxybutyric acid) (PHB) was conjugated with a hydrophilic polymer poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) by the ttansesterification reaction to form the amphiphilic block copolymer. PHB with low molecular weight ($3000{\sim}30000$) was appropriated for the drug delivery materials. High molecular weight PHB was hydrolyzed by an acid-catalyst to produce the low molecular weight one. Amphiphilic block copolymer was formed the self-assembled polymeric micelle system in the aqueous solution that the hydrophillic PEG was wraped the hydrophobic PHB. Generally, polymeric micelle forms the small particle between $10{\sim}200nm$. These polymeric micelle systems have been widely used for the drug delivery systems because they were biodegradable, biocompatible, non-toxic and patient compliant. The hydroxyl group of PEG was substituted with carboxyl group which has the reactivity to the ester group of PHB. Amphiphilic block copolymer was conjugated between PHB, and modified PEG at $176^{\circ}C$ which was higher than the melting point of PHB. Transesterification reaction was verified with DSC, FTIR, $^1H-NMR$. In the aqueous solution, critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the mPEG-co-PHB copolymer measured by the fluororescence scanning spectrometer was $5{\times}10^{-5}g/L$. The shape and size of the nanoparticle was taken by dynamic light scattering and atomic force microscopy. The size of the nanoparticle was about 130 nm and the shape was spherical. Our polymeric micelle system can be used as the passive targeting drug delivery system.