Nanomedicine utilizes the remarkable properties of nanomaterials for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease.

Spectroelectrochemistry measurements are used to demonstrate that active site mutation and binding of an non-natural substrate to P450cam (CYP101) reduces the shift in the redox potential caused by substrate-binding, and thereby results in slower catalytic turnover rate relative to wild-type enzyme with the natural camphor substrate.

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO₂ NPs) have wide commercial applications, owing to their small size; however, the biosafety of TiO₂ NPs should be evaluated further. In this study, we aimed to investigate the cytotoxicity of TiO₂ NPs in the presence and absence of ultraviolet A (UVA) irradiation in human keratinocyte HaCaT cells. TiO₂ NPs did not significantly affect cell viability in the absence of UVA irradiation. Nonetheless, UVA-irradiated TiO₂ NPs induced caspase-dependent apoptosis of HaCaT cells. Exposure of HaCaT cells to TiO₂ NPs and UVA resulted in reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP); both effects were not observed in the absence of UVA irradiation. An analysis of the relationship between LMP and ROS, using CA-074 as a cathepsin inhibitor or NAC as an antioxidant, showed that LMP stimulates ROS generation under these conditions. These results imply that LMP-dependent oxidative stress plays a critical role in the UVA phototoxicity of TiO₂ NPs in HaCaT cells.

The Raman spectra of commercially available heparin disaccharide standards exhibit bands associated with the N-sulfate and the 6-O-sulfate groups of the glucosamine and the 2-O-sulfate of the iduronic acid. The N-sulfate has a strong band at 1039 cm-1. The 6-O-sulfate and the 2-O-sulfate exhibit bands at 1055 and 1065 cm-1, respectively. The pattern of these modes, which are assigned to the symmetric SO3 vibrations, was supported by semiempirical quantum mechanical calculations. The above bands were identified in the Raman spectrum of a commercial preparation of porcine mucosal heparin and were used to determine the relative proportion of the N-sulfate, 6-O-sulfate, and 2-O-sulfate groups in the heparin molecule. This information, which is complementary to that obtained by NMR spectroscopy, is of particular importance in relation to biological activity. This study also extends the usefulness of Raman spectroscopy to include structural details required for the quality assurance of pharmaceutical preparations of heparin.