Gold nanoparticles decorated with ovalbumin-derived epitopes: effect of shape and size on T-cell immune responses.

Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) can be manufactured in various shapes, and their size is programmable, which permits the study of the effects imposed by these parameters on biological processes. However, there is currently no clear evidence that a certain shape or size is beneficial. To address this issue, we have utilised GNPs and gold nanorods (GNRs) functionalised with model epitopes derived from chicken ovalbumin (OVA and OVA).

Liposome fusion with orthogonal coiled coil peptides as fusogens: the efficacy of roleplaying peptides.

Biological membrane fusion is a highly specific and coordinated process as a multitude of vesicular fusion events proceed simultaneously in a complex environment with minimal off-target delivery. In this study, we develop a liposomal fusion model system with specific recognition using lipidated derivatives of a set of four designed heterodimeric coiled coil (CC) peptide pairs. Content mixing was only obtained between liposomes functionalized with complementary peptides, demonstrating both fusogenic activity of CC peptides and the specificity of this model system.