IX.

Fundamental Principles of
Nanobiotechnology

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An Eaxample: MicroRNA’ for
Disease Control

2
 Natural organization of life
Eukaryotic cells
• Internal membranes surrounding
DNA (nucleus)
Electron transport machinery (mitochondria)
Photosynthetic appartus (chloroplasts)
• Plant cells have a thick outer wall
Prokaryotic cells
• No membrane-enclosed internal structures
HIV virus bacteriophage T4
• Cell walls made of sugars and proteins
• Evolutionarily distinct though functionally Viruses
analogous molecular machinery makes them •Cannot reproduce outside a host
susceptible to different kinds of drugs cell
•Not actually “alive”
•Eukaryotic viruses may be
enclosed in protein or lipid coats
May contain DNA or RNA
•Prokaryotic viruses are called
bacteriophage
•Typically DNA enclosed in a
protein coat 3
 Scales of life

Bacterial viruses Nucleus

on the surface of
a bacterial cell Smallpox viruses
inside a
eukaryotic cell 4
 Intracellular environment
Redox state
Effective
The intracellular E (mV)
concentrations of redox- Human respiratory tract fluids +200
active molecules and the
Human white blood cell +50
ratios of their oxidized and cytoplasm
reduced forms poise the
Human nerve cell cytoplasm +20
effective “reductive
capacity” of the intracellular Human red blood cell -200
fluids. The more negative cytoplasm
the value of the effective Human brain cell cytoplasm -215
reduction potential (Eeff) the
larger the reductive Rat bile -180
capability of those fluids. Rat liver cell cytoplasm -205
Rat liver cell mitochondria -260

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Adapted from Martinovich, et al. Eur. Biophys. J. 34:937-42. 2005.
 Intracellular environment
Water availability and solute concentrations
Water contents: red blood cells (64%), frog heart cells (80%), frog egg (49%)
Intracellular solutions contain more K+ ions
Ion Ionic Surface Molar ionic Intra-cellular Extra- Water
radius charge density volume cellular preference
Ca2+ 100 pm 2.11 -28.9 cm3 0.1 μM 2.5 mM High density

Na+ 102 pm 1.00 -6.7 cm3 10 mM 150 mM High density

K+ 138 pm 0.56 +3.5 cm3 159 mM 4 mM Low density

• The interactions between water and Na+ are stronger than those between water
molecules, which in turn are stronger than those between water and K+ ions.
• The distance between the Na+ ions and water is shorter than between two water
molecules which is shorter than between K+ ions and water.
• Ca2+ ions have stronger destructive effects on the hydrogen bonding than Na+ ions.
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From www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/cell.html
Intracellular environment
Temperature limits of life

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 Intracellular environment
Macromolecular interactions
Cross section of a portion of an
Escherichia coli bacterial cell
The cell wall, with two concentric membranes
studded with transmembrane proteins, is
shown in green. A large flagellar motor
crosses the entire wall, turning the flagellum
that extends upwards from the surface. The
cytoplasmic area is colored blue and purple.
The large purple molecules are ribosomes
and the small, L-shaped maroon molecules
are tRNA, and the white strands are mRNA.
Enzymes are shown in blue. The nucleoid
region is shown in yellow and orange, with
the long DNA circle shown in yellow, wrapped
around HU protein (bacterial nucleosomes).
In the center of the nucleoid region shown
here, you might find a replication fork, with
DNA polymerase (in red-orange) replicating
new DNA.

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Illustration and text by David Goodsell, http://mgl.scripps.edu/people/goodsell/illustration/public