Submit to Applied Sciences Review for Applied Sciences Propose a Special Issue

Journal Browser

Applications of Analytical Chemistry in Biological and Medical Sciences II

Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Chemical and Molecular Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2023) | Viewed by 5274

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Carlo Zambonin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department Chemistry, Universuty of Bari Aldo Moro, Via Orabona 4, I-70125 Bari, Italy
Interests: liquid chromatography; gas chromatography; mass spectrometry; maldi
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

After the first Special Issue, “Applications of Analytical Chemistry in Biological and Medical Sciences”, we have decided to propose a second issue that will once again bring together specialists in the field to show the latest advances and findings related to this topic.

It is a pleasure to participate as a Guest Editor in the design of a Special Issue of Applied Sciences entitled “Applications of Analytical Chemistry in Biological and Medical Sciences”. Analytical chemistry plays a key role in both the fields of biology and medicine. The analysis of molecules in biological samples, including blood, urine, and tissue, is crucial to understanding biological phenomena. The development and validation of innovative analytical methods play critical roles in the development of new drugs and the monitoring of drugs after in vivo administration. The discovery of novel tumor markers, as well as the monitoring of the levels of existing ones, are essential for diagnostic and prognostic evaluations in various kinds of malignant diseases. The use of advanced analytical techniques in the field of proteomics has provided efficient methods for generating sequences, leading to the maximization of the potential of connecting genetic and protein sequences. Based on the above considerations, the aim of the present Special Issue is to collect original research and review articles reporting a wide range of analytical applications performed in biomedical matrices. Therefore, authors are invited to submit relevant contributions until the submission deadline.

Prof. Dr. Carlo Zambonin
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

analytical chemistry
biological samples
mass spectrometry
chromatography
sample preparation
extraction techniques
analytical methods
proteomic
lipidomic
metabolomic

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

Jump to: Review

15 pages, 2606 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Electrophoretic Protein Deposition as a Tool for In Situ Co-Crosslinking Enzyme Immobilization: An Electrochemical/Quartz Crystal Microbalance Study

by Antonio Guerrieri, Rosanna Ciriello, Maria Assunta Acquavia, Giuliana Bianco and Angela Di Capua

Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(1), 212; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14010212 - 26 Dec 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 698

Abstract

Electrophoretic deposition is a powerful tool for depositing materials onto a substrate by using an electric field; its application in biotechnological areas, namely, electrophoretic protein deposition (EPD), is the most promising for, e.g., fabricating novel amperometric biosensors. Unfortunately, EPD suffers from several drawbacks due to coupled parasite electrochemical processes damaging the deposit; moreover, the nature of the deposition process, the deposit, and its stability are still controversial and unknown. The present research presents a deep investigation of the EPD processes conducted by using several electroanalytical techniques and an electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM); notably, EPD was used here as a novel tool for performing an electrophoretically assisted, classical enzyme immobilization technique like co-crosslinking, thus permitting the immobilization of the desired protein in situ, i.e., exclusively onto the deposition electrode. An electrochemical study permitted the acquisition of useful insights about electrophoresis processes as well as solvent discharge and gas evolution at the deposition electrode; further, the use of appropriate current or potential pulse sequences, as investigated and improved in this study, together with fine-tuned chemical conditions, allowed the optimization of this novel EPD approach. Moreover, an EQCM study gave useful insights into the kinetics of the process, permitting a quantitative estimate of the deposit. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applications of Analytical Chemistry in Biological and Medical Sciences II)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 2150 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Legal Cannabis sativa L. Dried Inflorescences: Cannabinoids Content and Cytotoxic Activity against Human HepG2 Cell Line

by Maria Assunta Acquavia, Carmen Tesoro, Raffaella Pascale, Angela Ostuni, Ilenia Matera, Giuliana Bianco, Laura Scrano, Sabino A. Bufo, Rosanna Ciriello, Angela Di Capua and Filomena Lelario

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(8), 4960; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13084960 - 14 Apr 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1280

Abstract

Cannabis sativa L. has health benefits, principally due to the levels and ratios of two important cannabinoids, Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). THC:CBD ratio affects their pharmacological interaction for the treatment of different diseases as well as its modulation allows for a custom-made product that utilizes the distinguishing effects of CBD, THC, or both, for a peculiar patient or clinical effect. This study aims to investigate the total content of THC, CBD, and their ratio in 34 dried inflorescence legally sold in physical and online stores, by using a validated liquid chromatography-ultraviolet (HPLC-UV) method, after cannabinoids identification performed through MSⁿ studies. Cannabinol (CBN) content was also monitored to evaluate hemp age or conservation status. CBN content always resulted lower than limit of quantification, thus confirming well-stored fresh hemp. All investigated samples showed a total THC amount below 0.59% w/w, thus responding to legal requirements.. The total CBD amount ranged from 2.62 to 20.27% w/w and it was not related to THC level. THC:CBD ranged among 1:3 and 1:26, thus ascertaining their suitability for different target pharmacological uses. In vitro studies using human hepatoblastoma cell line HepG2 suggested that hemp extracts with THC:CBD ratios of 1:9 exhibited higher toxicity than pure cannabinoids. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applications of Analytical Chemistry in Biological and Medical Sciences II)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 993 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Optimization of a Breath Analysis Methodology to Potentially Diagnose Transplanted Kidney Rejection: A Preclinic Study

by Nicoletta De Vietro, Antonella Maria Aresta, Arcangelo Picciariello, Donato Francesco Altomare, Giuseppe Lucarelli, Alessia Di Gilio, Jolanda Palmisani, Gianluigi De Gennaro and Carlo Zambonin

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(5), 2852; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13052852 - 23 Feb 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1383

Abstract

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) may result in end-stage renal disorder and an increased mortality rate. Presently, kidney transplantation represents the only definitive treatment to restore normal life expectancy. Nevertheless, there is an elevated risk of organ rejection in the short–medium term after surgery. This preclinic study proposes the optimization of an innovative, fast, non-invasive, and cheap thermal desorption-gas chromatograph–mass spectrometry (TD-GC–MS) protocol, which provides simple monitoring of the respiratory profile of CKD-affected patients, before and during the first year after surgery, and aims to preemptively predict the rejection of the transplanted kidney. Twenty volatile organic compounds (VOCs), known as targets and, which are representative of the major classes of molecules discriminating between CKD-affected patients and healthy individuals, were selected from the literature, and employed to optimize the methodology. Calibration curves, linearity concentration ranges, the limit of detection (LOD), and the limit of quantification (LOQ) were estimated for the chosen molecules as well as the intraday and interday reproducibility of the method. The applicability of the TD-GC–MS developed approach was tested by analyzing the breath of healthy and pathological subjects using the ReCIVA^® device. Sixty-seven molecules were identified, and between these, thirteen of the twenty selected compounds were quantified and were identified to have high prognostic values. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applications of Analytical Chemistry in Biological and Medical Sciences II)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

60 pages, 1335 KiB

Open AccessReview

Assessing Glycosphingolipid Profiles in Human Health and Disease Using Non-Imaging MALDI Mass Spectrometry

by Cristina Ramona Novaconi, Robert Onulov, Alina Florina Serb, Eugen Sisu, Nicolae Dinca, Mihai-Cosmin Pascariu and Marius Georgescu

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(17), 9922; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13179922 - 1 Sep 2023

Viewed by 1007

Abstract

Glycosphingolipids (GSLs) are a glycolipid subtype which plays vital roles in numerous biological processes, cell–cell interactions, as well as oncogenesis and ontogenesis. They are ubiquitous molecules found mostly in cell membranes. Abnormal expression of GSLs as well as altered molecular structure have been linked with progression of cancer and metastasis and are involved in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative, autoimmune, and infectious diseases as well as inherited enzyme defects—glycosphingolipidoses. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI MS) plays a leading role in analyzing and characterizing different GSLs, and thus can help to distinguish altered GSL patterns. This review offers insights into the benefits and limitations when using MALDI MS in this field of lipidomic research, with an emphasis on which are the optimal matrices in analyzing GSLs from different tissues (normal and pathological) as well as highlighting GSLs’ particular profiles in various cell cultures, and normal and pathological human tissues obtained by MALDI non-imaging MS (non-IMS). These findings can have implications in further understanding the role of altered GSL expression in various pathological conditions and could be a target for future therapies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applications of Analytical Chemistry in Biological and Medical Sciences II)

► Show Figures