Glossary - Viral Nanoparticles: Tools for Materials Science and Biomedicine - page 258

Optical imaging An imaging technology that utilizes photons (light)

to create an image.

Orthogonal See “bio-orthogonal”

Oxime condensation Oxime condensation describes the chemical reac-

tion between and aldehyde and hydrazide or alk-
oxyamine.

PEGylation The attachment of polyethylene glycol (PEG) to

biomolecules, VNPs, or other materials.

Phage display
technology

A high-throughput screening technique that is used
to identify peptides that specifically interact with
molecular proteins or certain materials.

Photodynamic
therapy

In photodynamic therapy photosensitizers are
used that can be activated by radiation. Activated
photosensitizers are radicals that can lead to the
production of reactive oxygen species, resulting in
cell death.

Photothermal
therapy

In photothermal therapy electromagnetic radiation,
such as infrared, is applied to activate a sensitizer in
order to release vibrational energy (i.e., heat) to kill
target cells.

Photovoltaics A technology that deals with the conversion of

sunlight into electricity.

Physisorption Physisorption, a.k.a. physical adsorption, is the

adsorption of molecules onto surfaces or other
molecules caused by van der Waals forces.

Polyvalency Polyvalency or multivalency describes having a

valence of three of more. In chemistry valence
is a measure of the number of bonds formed by
a molecule. In nanotechnology valency is often
referred to as the number of binding sites. An
antibody has two binding sites with which to bind
target molecules. The antibody is bivalent. A VNP
displaying hundreds of targeting ligands could
bind to hundreds of target receptors and is thus
polyvalent.

Protein cage A hollow, generally spherical protein structure that

is typically assembled by multiple copies of protein
monomers.

Quantum dot A semiconducting crystal of a few nanometers in

size.