Dual Enzyme-Responsive Capsules of Hyaluronic Acid-block-Poly(Lactic Acid) for Sensing Bacterial Enzymes.
The synthesis of novel amphiphilic hyaluronic acid (HYA) and poly(lactic acid) (PLA) block copolymers is reported as the key element of a strategy to detect the presence of pathogenic bacterial enzymes. In addition to the formation of defined HYA-block-PLA assemblies, the encapsulation of fluorescent reporter dyes and the selective enzymatic degradation of the capsules by hyaluronidase and proteinase K are studied. The synthesis of the dual enzyme-responsive HYA-b-PLA is carried out by copper-catalyzed Huisgen 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition. The resulting copolymers are assembled in water to form vesicular structures, which are characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron…
α-Chymotrypsin-Catalyzed Reaction Confined in Block-Copolymer Vesicles
Herein the reactivity of the enzyme α-chymotrypsin in the confinement of polystyrene-block-poly(acrylic acid) (PS-b-PAA) vesicles was investigated. Enzyme and substrate molecules were encapsulated in PS-b-PAA vesicles with internal diameters ranging from 26 nm to 165 nm during the formation of the vesicles. While the loading efficiencies of enzyme and substrate molecules were practically identical for vesicles of identical size, they were found to increase with decreasing vesicle size. The kinetics of the α-chymotrypsin catalyzed hydrolysis of N-succinyl-Ala-Ala-Phe-7-amido-4-methylcoumarin (AMC) was evaluated following the increase of the absorption of the product 7-amino-4-methylcoumarin …
Self-reporting hydrogels rapidly differentiate among enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) and non-virulent Escherichia coli (K12)
Abstract We report on the development of an autonomously reporting indicator hydrogel for the rapid and selective detection of enzymes secreted by the food-borne biosafety level 3 pathogen enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7 (EHEC) and the differentiation of this pathogen from the non-virulent E. coli strain K12. To introduce the sensing functionality, chitosan hydrogel films were equipped with fluorogenic substrates for the detection of α-galactosidase (α-Gal) and β-galactosidase (β-Gal), which are secreted by E. coli O157:H7, and β-glucuronidase (β-GUS), which is produced by the non-virulent E. coli K12 strain, but not by E. coli O157:H7, respectively. In the presence of …
Monolayers of asymmetrical diethylalkanoat disulfides on gold(111):.the influence of chain length difference on atomic force microscope images
Several symmetrical and asymmetrical long-chain diethylalkanoat disulfides were synthesized and character- ized. The differences in the chain lengths of the disul- fides ranged between zero and five methylene units. Self- assembled monolayers of these disulfides formed on Au(111) surfaces were studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM) in order to obtain information about the origin of the image contrast. Domains with hexagonal lattices (lattice constants 5:2- 5:3 A) were detected for all derivatives, independent of the chain length differences. This indicates that the contrast arises roughly at a depth of 4- 8 A in the monolayers at imag- ing forces between 0: 2a nd 3n N. For SAMs of diethyl…
Fiber-based planar antennas for spectroscopy and sensing
Fluorescence detection is a well-established method for spectroscopy and sensing. However, since dye molecules are dipolar light sources, a large fraction of the emitted photons can be lost. An effective approach to overcome this problem relies on a planar antenna configuration, which beams the radiation pattern of the dye into a narrow cone. A planar antenna works like a Yagi-Uda antenna, but reflector and director elements are made of thin metal films. Here, by introducing a scanning optical fiber, which incorporates the reflector or the director, we demonstrate a tunable planar antenna for spectroscopic and sensing applications. Our results show that the radiation pattern narrows down to…
Scanning tunneling microscopy investigation of tricycloquinazoline liquid crystals on gold
Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of hexaalkylthioether derivatives of tricycloquinazoline (TCQ) on Au(111) and tungsten diselenide (WSe2) were investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The Au(111) surfaces were found to be etched by the thioether containing solutions. Corroded surfaces which are similar to gold surfaces that were coated with SAMs of thiols or disulfides were revealed by STM. Atomic adsorption spectroscopy proved that an amount of gold that corresponds to ca. 30% of a monolayer was dissolved in the assembly solutions. On gold, the aromatic cores of the molecules were found to be in face-on orientation. The alkyl substituents were in most cases folded upwards and s…