0000000000074482
AUTHOR
Grzegorz Engel
Effect of Chlorotriphenyl Derivatives of Sn and Pb upon Biophysical Properties of Membranes
Biophysical activity of two twin organometallic compounds Triphenyltin chloride (TPhT) and Triphenyllead chloride (TPhL) in their interreaction with model membranes, as well as with yeast cellsSaccharomyces cerevisiae, was investigated. Four measurement methods were used in the experiments: two physical methods (spin probes method and the electric method); two biological methods (minimal inhibitory concentration /MIC/ and yeast survival test). It has been found that the activity of TPhT in interaction with model membranes and yeast cells is distinctly greater than that of TPhL. The activity manifests itself by considerable increase in the fluidity of the middle part of liposome bilayer, cha…
The impact of model peptides on structural and dynamic properties of egg yolk lecithin liposomes - experimental and DFT studies.
Electron spin resonance (ESR), 1H-NMR, voltage and resistance experiments were performed to explore structural and dynamic changes of Egg Yolk Lecithin (EYL) bilayer upon addition of model peptides. Two of them are phenylalanine (Phe) derivatives, Ac-Phe-NHMe (1) and Ac-Phe-NMe2 (2), and the third one, Ac-(Z)-ΔPhe-NMe2 (3), is a derivative of (Z)-α,β-dehydrophenylalanine. The ESR results revealed that all compounds reduced the fluidity of liposome's membrane, and the highest activity was observed for compound 2 with N-methylated C-terminal amide bond (Ac-Phe-NMe2). This compound, being the most hydrophobic, penetrates easily through biological membranes. This was also observed in voltage an…
Influence of Dirac cone warping and tilting on the Friedel oscillations in a topological insulator
We calculate the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida interaction between impurity spins, localized at the surface of an imperfect topological insulator (TI). Namely, we consider the warping and tilting of a TI Dirac cone. We show that the warping and tilting addition to the initial Rashba spin-orbit interaction (SOI) yields a highly anisotropic response to the localized spin rotation. Also, the Friedel oscillation strength of such an imperfect TI depends on the direction in its plane. Latter dependence, parametrized by Lissajous curves of spin-response components, can serve as a “fingerprint” of the initial Dirac cone distortion in the TI. The ensuing unusual dynamics is due to the interplay of S…
Liposomes modified by mono- and bis-phthalocyanines: A comprehensive EPR study.
The impact of selected metallophthalocyanines, featuring diverse molecular structure, upon the fluidity of liposome membranes was studied using the spin label EPR technique. The “mono”-type MPc’s (M = Zn, Sn; Pc = C32H16N8 is the phthalocyanine ligand) and sandwich LnPc2 complexes (Ln = Nd, Sm, Gd) were explored. Liposomes were obtained in a sonication process, from egg yolk lecithin (EYL) in water. TEMPO and 16-DOXYL spin labels were used to monitor the peripheral and central part of the lipid double layer, respectively, which allowed to localize the phthalocyanine additive within the bilayer, as well as to perform independent measurements of changes in fluidity upon addition thereof. All …
Effect of Organic Tin Compounds on Electric Properties of Model Membranes
The objective of the present work was to investigate the effect of selected organic tin compounds and potassium chloride (used as a reference substance) on the trans-membrane electric voltage and electric resistance of model membranes, the latter being nitrocellulose filters impregnated with butylene ester of lauric acid. The increasing KCl concentration (in the measurement chambers) caused a rapid rise of the negative trans-membrane voltage, whose value stabilized afterwards. In the case of (C3H7)3SnCl an abrupt maximum of the negative voltage was observed followed by a monotonic drop to zero. In the case of highest concentrations of this compound the voltages, after having reached zero, c…
The influence of tin compounds on the dynamic properties of liposome membranes: A study using the ESR method
AbstractThe influence of organic and inorganic compounds of tin on the dynamic properties of liposome membranes obtained in the process of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) sonication in distilled water was investigated. This was carried out by means of the spin ESR probe method. The probes were selected in such a way as to penetrate different areas of the membrane (a TEMPO probe, 5-DOXYL stearic acid, 16-DOXYL stearic acid). Four compounds of tin were chosen: three organic ones, (CH3)4Sn, (C2H5)4Sn and (C3H7)3SnCl, and one inorganic one, SnCl2. The investigated compounds were added to a liposome dispersion, which was prepared prior to that. The concentration of the admixture was change…
Electron spectra in double quantum wells of different shapes
We suggest a method for calculating electronic spectra in ordered and disordered semiconductor structures (superlattices) forming double quantum wells (QW). In our method, we represent the solution of Schr\"odinger equation for QW potential with the help of the solution of the corresponding diffusion equation. This is because the diffusion is the mechanism, which is primarily responsible for amorphization (disordering) of the QW structure, leading to so-called interface mixing. We show that the electron spectrum in such a structure depends on the shape of the quantum well, which, in turn, corresponds to an ordered or disordered structure. Namely, in a disordered substance, QW typically has …
The Influence of Natural and Model Forms of Humic Acids on the Dynamic Parameters of Model Membranes
Abstract In this paper the influence of humic acid concentrations extracted from Histosols (HA-A) and their model forms (HA-B) separated from humic substances commercially produced by Carl Roth GmbH + Co.KG on the dynamic properties of liposome membranes was determined. Differences in the quality of the humic acids (HA-A and HA-B) were determined by the 1HNMR and FTIR methods. Liposomes from the sonication of egg yolk lecithin (EYL) in an aqueous solution and synthetic Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) were used. Fluidity of liposome membranes was determined by the EPR technique with spin probes (TEMPO, 16DOIXYL). The electrical parameters of membranes were found using a Keithley 6517 e…