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"Imprinting"
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Molecular Imprinting Techniques Used for the Preparation of Biosensors
Molecular imprinting is the technology of creating artificial recognition sites in polymeric matrices which are complementary to the template in their size, shape and spatial arrangement of the functional groups. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) and their incorporation with various transducer platforms are among the most promising approaches for detection of several analytes. There are a variety of molecular imprinting techniques used for the preparation of biomimetic sensors including bulk imprinting, surface imprinting (soft lithography, template immobilization, grafting, emulsion polymerization) and epitope imprinting. This chapter presents an overview of all of these techniques with examples from particular publications.
Journal Article
Waking from Mao’s Dream
We theorize how an ideological imprint—ideology formed through past events—serves as an information filter that persistently affects individuals’ decision making and how subsequent behaviors of the imprinter—the entity that established the imprint—may alter it. We test our model with a longitudinal dataset of Chinese private entrepreneurs from 1993 to 2012, investigating the influence of a founder’s communist ideological imprint, which characterizes foreign capitalism as evil, and subsequent dynamics introduced by the imprinter—the Communist Party–led government of China—on two internationalization strategies that deal with foreign investors and markets: firms’ efforts to attract foreign capital and to expand globally. Our findings show that Chinese entrepreneurs’ communist ideological imprint negatively affects the internationalization of their ventures, while available and credible information contradicting communism—coming from the government directly, government-created industry social networks for entrepreneurs, or observing governmental support of internationalization—weakens the influence of the imprint. Our study contributes to a better understanding of imprinting and its decay, the effects of corporate decision makers’ political ideology, and the internationalization of firms.
Journal Article
Maternal variants in NLRP and other maternal effect proteins are associated with multilocus imprinting disturbance in offspring
BackgroundGenomic imprinting results from the resistance of germline epigenetic marks to reprogramming in the early embryo for a small number of mammalian genes. Genetic, epigenetic or environmental insults that prevent imprints from evading reprogramming may result in imprinting disorders, which impact growth, development, behaviour and metabolism. We aimed to identify genetic defects causing imprinting disorders by whole-exome sequencing in families with one or more members affected by multilocus imprinting disturbance.MethodsWhole-exome sequencing was performed in 38 pedigrees where probands had multilocus imprinting disturbance, in five of whom maternal variants in NLRP5 have previously been found.ResultsWe now report 15 further pedigrees in which offspring had disturbance of imprinting, while their mothers had rare, predicted-deleterious variants in maternal effect genes, including NLRP2, NLRP7 and PADI6. As well as clinical features of well-recognised imprinting disorders, some offspring had additional features including developmental delay, behavioural problems and discordant monozygotic twinning, while some mothers had reproductive problems including pregnancy loss.ConclusionThe identification of 20 putative maternal effect variants in 38 families affected by multilocus imprinting disorders adds to the evidence that maternal genetic factors affect oocyte fitness and thus offspring development. Testing for maternal-effect genetic variants should be considered in families affected by atypical imprinting disorders.
Journal Article
Molecularly Imprinted Polymers in Electrochemical and Optical Sensors
Molecular imprinting is the process of template-induced formation of specific recognition sites in a polymer. Synthetic receptors prepared using molecular imprinting possess a unique combination of properties such as robustness, high affinity, specificity, and low-cost production, which makes them attractive alternatives to natural receptors. Improvements in polymer science and nanotechnology have contributed to enhanced performance of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) sensors. Encouragingly, recent years have seen an increase in high-quality publications describing MIP sensors for the determination of biomolecules, drugs of abuse, and explosives, driving toward applications of this technology in medical and forensic diagnostics. This review aims to provide a focused overview of the latest achievements made in MIP-based sensor technology, with emphasis on research toward real-life applications.
Electrochemical and optical sensing based on molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) has particular relevance in real-life applications and point-of-care testing in real human samples.
MIPs are a leading technology for sensing molecules where there is no available bioreceptor.
MIP nanoparticles can be used for direct and indirect detection (labeled or label free).
The sensitivity of MIP-based sensors can be enhanced by coupling with nanomaterials such as graphene oxide, carbon nanotubes, or nanoparticles.
The present challenges and perspectives of MIP-based electrochemical and optical sensors include exploring the market niches for MIP sensors and identifying the necessary steps toward commercialization.
Journal Article
Effects of Cadmium Exposure on DNA Methylation at Imprinting Control Regions and Genome-Wide in Mothers and Newborn Children
Imprinted genes are defined by their preferential expression from one of the two parental alleles. This unique mode of gene expression is dependent on allele-specific DNA methylation profiles established at regulatory sequences called imprinting control regions (ICRs). These loci have been used as biosensors to study how environmental exposures affect methylation and transcription. However, a critical unanswered question is whether they are more, less, or equally sensitive to environmental stressors as the rest of the genome.
Using cadmium exposure in humans as a model, we aimed to determine the relative sensitivity of ICRs to perturbation of methylation compared to similar, nonimprinted loci in the genome.
We assayed DNA methylation genome-wide using bisulfite sequencing of 19 newborn cord blood and 20 maternal blood samples selected on the basis of maternal blood cadmium levels. Differentially methylated regions (DMRs) associated with cadmium exposure were identified.
In newborn cord blood and maternal blood, 641 and 1,945 cadmium-associated DMRs were identified, respectively. DMRs were more common at the 15 maternally methylated ICRs than at similar nonimprinted loci in newborn cord blood (
=5.64×10
) and maternal blood (
=6.22×10
), suggesting a higher sensitivity for ICRs to cadmium. Genome-wide, Enrichr analysis indicated that the top three functional categories for genes that overlapped DMRs in maternal blood were body mass index (BMI) (
=2.0×10
), blood pressure (
=3.8×10
), and body weight (
=0.0014). In newborn cord blood, the top three functional categories were BMI, atrial fibrillation, and hypertension, although associations were not significant after correction for multiple testing (
=0.098). These findings suggest that epigenetic changes may contribute to the etiology of cadmium-associated diseases.
We analyzed cord blood and maternal blood DNA methylation profiles genome-wide at nucleotide resolution in individuals selected for high and low blood cadmium levels in the first trimester. Our findings suggest that ICRs may be hot spots for perturbation by cadmium, motivating further study of these loci to investigate potential mechanisms of cadmium action. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP2085.
Journal Article
Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Based Sensors for Medical Applications
Sensors have been extensively used owing to multiple advantages, including exceptional sensing performance, user-friendly operation, fast response, high sensitivity and specificity, portability, and real-time analysis. In recent years, efforts in sensor realm have expanded promptly, and it has already presented a broad range of applications in the fields of medical, pharmaceutical and environmental applications, food safety, and homeland security. In particular, molecularly imprinted polymer based sensors have created a fascinating horizon for surface modification techniques by forming specific recognition cavities for template molecules in the polymeric matrix. This method ensures a broad range of versatility to imprint a variety of biomolecules with different size, three dimensional structure, physical and chemical features. In contrast to complex and time-consuming laboratory surface modification methods, molecular imprinting offers a rapid, sensitive, inexpensive, easy-to-use, and highly selective approaches for sensing, and especially for the applications of diagnosis, screening, and theranostics. Due to its physical and chemical robustness, high stability, low-cost, and reusability features, molecularly imprinted polymer based sensors have become very attractive modalities for such applications with a sensitivity of minute structural changes in the structure of biomolecules. This review aims at discussing the principle of molecular imprinting method, the integration of molecularly imprinted polymers with sensing tools, the recent advances and strategies in molecular imprinting methodologies, their applications in medical, and future outlook on this concept.
Journal Article
Specific Recognition of Glycoproteins: Design Strategies and Application Prospects of Molecularly Imprinted Polymers
Glycoproteins pose significant challenges for specific recognition due to their structural complexity and microheterogeneity. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have emerged as promising synthetic receptors, offering high stability and tailorable recognition sites. This review specifically highlights and systematically evaluates several cutting-edge design strategies tailored for glycoproteins, including oriented surface imprinting for site-accessible recognition, epitope imprinting for enhanced specificity, and post-imprinting modification for tailored functionality. The fundamental principles, technical advantages, and applications in glycoprotein detection and separation are thoroughly discussed, with a particular emphasis on a comparative analysis to guide strategy selection and how they collectively address the persistent challenges of traditional imprinting. Future perspectives highlight stimuli-responsive systems, multimodal recognition, and computational design to advance MIPs as indispensable tools in proteomics and personalized medicine. The synergistic integration of these advanced strategies within sustainable and standardized MIP systems is particularly promising for fabricating next-generation synthetic receptors with enhanced recognition capabilities.
Journal Article
Microbial transmission, colonisation and succession: from pregnancy to infancy
The microbiome has been proven to be associated with many diseases and has been used as a biomarker and target in disease prevention and intervention. Currently, the vital role of the microbiome in pregnant women and newborns is increasingly emphasised. In this review, we discuss the interplay of the microbiome and the corresponding immune mechanism between mothers and their offspring during the perinatal period. We aim to present a comprehensive picture of microbial transmission and potential immune imprinting before and after delivery. In addition, we discuss the possibility of in utero microbial colonisation during pregnancy, which has been highly debated in recent studies, and highlight the importance of the microbiome in infant development during the first 3 years of life. This holistic view of the role of the microbial interplay between mothers and infants will refine our current understanding of pregnancy complications as well as diseases in early life and will greatly facilitate the microbiome-based prenatal diagnosis and treatment of mother-infant-related diseases.
Journal Article
Molecularly imprinted polymers by epitope imprinting: a journey from molecular interactions to the available bioinformatics resources to scout for epitope templates
The molecular imprinting of proteins is the process of forming biomimetics with entailed protein-recognition by means of a template-assisted synthesis. Protein-imprinted polymers (pMIPs) have been successfully employed in separations, assays, sensors, and imaging. From a technical point of view, imprinting a protein is both costly, for protein expression and purification, and challenging, for the preservation of the protein’s structural properties. In fact, the imprinting process needs to guarantee the preservation of the same protein three-dimensional conformation that later would be recognized. So far, the captivating idea to imprint just a portion of the protein, i.e., an epitope, instead of the whole, proved successful, offering reduced costs, compatibility with many synthetic conditions (solvents, pH, temperatures), and fine-tuning of the peptide sequence so to target specific physiological and functional conditions of the protein, such as post-translational modifications. Here, protein-protein interactions and the biochemical features of the epitopes are inspected, deriving lessons to prepare more effective pMIPs. Epitopes are categorized in linear or structured, immunogenic or not, located at the protein’s surface or buried in its core and the imprinting strategies are discussed. Moreover, attention is given to freely available online bioinformatics resources that might offer key tools to gain further rationale amid the selection process of suitable epitopes templates.
Journal Article