Role of Surface Chemistry in the Superhydrophobicity of the Springtail Orchesella cincta (Insecta:Collembola)

Collembola are ancient arthropods living in soil with extensive exposure to dirt, bacteria, and fungi. To protect from the harsh environmental conditions and to retain a layer of air for breathing when submerged in water, they have evolved a superhydrophobic, liquid-repelling cuticle surface. The nonfouling and self-cleaning properties of springtail cuticle make it an interesting target of biomimetic materials design. Recent research has mainly focused on the intricate microstructures at the cuticle surface. Here we study the role of the cuticle chemistry for the Collembola species Orchesella cincta (Collembola, Entomobryidae). O. cincta uses a relatively simple cuticle structure with prima…

IM30 triggers membrane fusion in cyanobacteria and chloroplasts

The thylakoid membrane of chloroplasts and cyanobacteria is a unique internal membrane system harbouring the complexes of the photosynthetic electron transfer chain. Despite their apparent importance, little is known about the biogenesis and maintenance of thylakoid membranes. Although membrane fusion events are essential for the formation of thylakoid membranes, proteins involved in membrane fusion have yet to be identified in photosynthetic cells or organelles. Here we show that IM30, a conserved chloroplast and cyanobacterial protein of approximately 30 kDa binds as an oligomeric ring in a well-defined geometry specifically to membranes containing anionic lipids. Triggered by Mg2+, membr…

Kinetically Controlled Sequential Growth of Surface-Grafted Chiral Supramolecular Copolymers.

We report a facile strategy to grow supramolecular copolymers on Au surfaces by successively exposing a surface-anchored monomer to solutions of oppositely charged peptide comonomers. Charge regulation on the active chain end of the polymer sufficiently slows down the kinetics of the self-assembly process to produce kinetically trapped copolymers at near-neutral pH. We thereby achieve architectural control at three levels: The β-sheet sequences direct the polymerization away from the surface, the height of the supramolecular copolymer brushes is well-controlled by the stepwise nature of the alternating copolymer growth, and 2D spatial resolution is realized by using micropatterned initiatin…

Membrane Structure of Aquaporin Observed with Combined Experimental and Theoretical Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy

High-resolution structural information on membrane proteins is essential for understanding cell biology and for the structure-based design of new medical drugs and drug delivery strategies. X-ray diffraction (XRD) can provide angstrom-level information about the structure of membrane proteins, yet for XRD experiments, proteins are removed from their native membrane environment, chemically stabilized, and crystallized, all of which can compromise the conformation. Here, we describe how a combination of surface-sensitive vibrational spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations can account for the native membrane environment. We observe the structure of a glycerol facilitator channel (GlpF)…

Inside Back Cover: Kinetically Controlled Sequential Growth of Surface-Grafted Chiral Supramolecular Copolymers (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 25/2016)

Innenrücktitelbild: Kinetisch kontrolliertes, sequenzielles Wachstum von chiralen supramolekularen Copolymeren auf Oberflächen (Angew. Chem. 25/2016)

Kinetisch kontrolliertes, sequenzielles Wachstum von chiralen supramolekularen Copolymeren auf Oberflächen

Wir berichten uber eine einfache Strategie zur Herstellung supramolekularer Copolymere an Goldoberflachen durch sukzessive Inkubation einer initiatorbeschichteten Oberflache mit Losungen aus gegensatzlich geladenen peptidischen Comonomeren. Ein ladungsreguliertes Wachstum des Polymers verlangsamt die Kinetik der Selbstorganisation in dem Mase, dass kinetisch gehemmte Copolymere im nahezu neutralen pH-Bereich gebildet werden. Auf diese Weise erreichen wir eine Kontrolle der Polymerarchitektur auf drei Ebenen: Die β-faltblattkodierte Peptidsequenz steuert eine Wachstumsrichtung der Polymere senkrecht zur Oberflache, die Hohe der supramolekularen Copolymerbursten wird durch den schrittweisen A…