Adsorption and orientation properties of two different types of immunoglobulin molecules on derivatized and native mica surfaces were investigated using TM-AFM. The analyses included height measurements at two different pH values and a new technique, presented here as threshold analysis, which displays the outer mantle shape of an adsorbed protein. A major difference in preferential orientation is observed upon comparing the adsorption of the two proteins onto the different surfaces. The characteristics of both the adsorbed immunoglobulin and the surface are important for any preferential orientation of the adsorbed protein.
Human plasma fibronectin (Fn) is a large flexible protein stabilized by intermolecular ionic interactions forming a compact structure. On altering solution conditions, the structure can revert to a more expanded state, thereby exposing previously hidden domains (e.g., cell-binding sites). Electron microscopy images of Fn air-sprayed onto mica surfaces show elongated protein structures, indicating a surface-induced structural change. This makes it interesting to investigate the influence of surface properties on the structure of adsorbed Fn. We have used intermittent-contact Atomic Force Microscopy to investigate the structure of Fn adsorbed onto mica, silica, and methylated silica surfaces. We observed that on silica surfaces, which is hydrophilic, most (70%) of the molecules had an elongated structure with partial intramolecular chain interactions, compare to molecules adsorbed on hydrophobic, methylated surfaces, where a compact structure predominated (70%). On mica surfaces, both compact and elongated protein structures were observed, with a slight preference for the elongated form (53%). Results show that surface physical properties influence the molecular structure of fibronectin on adsorption, which could provide useful information in understanding surface-induced in vivo responses.
Thiol-functionalized cobalt porphyrins were used as a model system for investigating catalytic activity in homogeneous and heterogeneous oxidation catalysis. Self-assembled monolayers of thiol-functionallized cobalt porphyrins were prepared on a gold surface and served as heterogeneous catalysts. These immobilized molecules prevented the strong inactivation observed for their homogeneous congener. As a result, the turnover number per molecule in heterogeneous catalysis was at least 100 times higher than that of the corresponding homogeneous catalyst. It is atypical for a heterogenized catalyst to outperform its homogeneous congener. The properties of the molecular layers were characterized on the molecular level by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The results demonstrate that the performance of these biomimetic catalysts can be dramatically improved if the catalyst arrangement can be controlled on the molecular level.
Cobalt tetraarylporphyrins 1-Co and 2-Co with thioacetate-functionalized carbon chains on the aryl groups were synthesized. The cobalt porphyrin 2-Co was immobilized on a gold surface after deprotection of the S-acetyl group. The immobilized porphyrin was studied by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and the results suggest that a complete monolayer of porphyrins is formed.
In this thesis electron transfer reactions and diffusion of redox molecules in three different types of self-aggregated structures are investigated. Electrochemistry was used to investigate the redox potential and diffusion coefficients for redox active molecules with different polarity. The first aggregate system studied was the micellar phase. The role of electrostatic interactions in the stability of an amphiphilic viologen was investigated for differently charged micelles. It was concluded that the electrostatic environment changed the redox potential of the viologen. In differently charged micelles the redox potential was more negative compared to when the viologen was situated in micelles with the same charge.
The second structure investigated is a very fascinating phase, the bicontinuous cubic phase, with its continuous channels of water and an apolar bilayer. Its domains with different polarity made it possible to solvate both hydrophilic and hydrophobic molecules. An amphiphilic molecule will have its head-group at the interface between the apolar and polar part, and can move lateral within the bilayer. All molecules investigated made contact with and reacted at the surface of the electrode. The diffusion of water bound species diffusing in the water channels was 3-4 times slower than in water. Hydrophobic and amphiphilic molecules were much more hindered, probably because the cubic phase was not defect free.
The third kind of structure studied was a lamellar system. This phase is built up from planar bilayers that are stacked with a repeating distance and with water in between. A hydrophilic molecule was severely hindered to move in the direction perpendicular to the bilayer plane. Upon addition of the peptide melittin the current increased, due to pore formation in the bilayer.
The objective of this study was to investigate the electrochemical behaviour of the divalent redox active surfactant, N-cetyl-N′-methylviologen (CMV), in bicontinuous cubic and lamellar phases. The liquid crystalline phases were prepared from the system glycerolmonooleate (GMO)–water (and brine)–cationic surfactant. A comparison of the phase behaviour of GMO with the monovalent cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and the divalent CMV surfactant showed that the surfactants gave about the same effect at the same surface charge density. The electrochemical measurements were made with a mixture of CTAB and CMV as the surfactant. Cyclic voltammetry was used to study the electrochemistry of CMV incorporated in the cubic and lamellar phases that were spread on a gold electrode. The E0-values in the cubic samples were more negative (−0.55 V versus SCE) than in the lamellar samples (−0.53 V versus SCE). This can be explained by the higher charge density in the lamellar phase. The diffusion coefficients were also measured in the cubic phase. The mass transport is slowed down about fifty times in the cubic phase compared to in the pure electrolyte. The concentration dependence on the diffusion coefficient was also investigated. No electron hopping could be observed, which suggest that diffusional movement of the redox probe is the main source of charge transport. By placing the samples on a conducting glass slide, spectroelectrochemical investigations were performed. In the lamellar phase strong dimerization was detected at high concentration of viologen, but much less in the cubic phase.
The electrochemical properties of N-tetradecyl-N′-methylviologen (TMV) in differently charged micelles were studied with a glassy carbon electrode using electrochemical techniques. The redox potential varied depending on the charge of the surrounding surfactants. When the viologen was situated in cationic micelles the redox potential for the 2+/1+ reaction was more positive than when situated in negatively charged micelles. The non-ionic micelles destabilised the 2+-state most showing the highest redox potentials. From studies of several different cationic micelles it was concluded that the most important parameter for the redox potential was the surface charge density. A calculation based on a simple model confirmed this. Other interactions also influenced the stability of the redox states. Adsorption, desorption and reorganisation of the surfactants at the electrode surface caused capacitive currents. To control the nonfaradaic current, differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) was used in addition to cyclic voltammetry.
The structural stability of hen egg white lysozyme in solution and adsorbed to small colloidal silica particles at various surface concentrations was investigated using hydrogen-deuterium (H/D) exchange in combination with mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The combination of HDX-MS and DSC allows a full thermodynamic analysis of the lysozyme structure as both the enthalpy and the Gibbs free energy can be derived from the various measurements. Moreover, both HDX-MS and DSC provide information on the relative structural heterogeneity of lysozyme in the adsorbed state compared to that in solution. Results demonstrated that at high surface coverage, the structural stability of lysozyme was only marginally affected by adsorption to silica particles whereas the unfolding enthalpy decreased by more than 10%, meaning that the entropy of lysozyme increased with a similar value upon adsorption. Furthermore, the structural heterogeneity increased considerably. At lower surface concentrations, the structural heterogeneity increased further whereas the enthalpy of unfolding decreased. Further analyses of the HDX-MS experiments clearly indicated that folding/unfolding of lysozyme occurs through a two-domain process. These two domains had a similar amount of structural elements and a difference in stabilization energy of 8 kJ/mol, regardless if lysozyme was in solution or adsorbed to silica.
In this investigation, the structure, stability, and orientation of bovine serum albumin (BSA) adsorbed onto silica particles were studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and limited proteolysis in combination with mass spectrometry (MS). DSC gave information on the overall structural stability of BSA while limited proteolysis was used to probe the accessibility of enzymatic cleavage sites, thereby yielding information on the orientation and structure of BSA adsorbed to silica surfaces. Thermal investigation of BSA in various buffers, both free in solution and in the adsorbed state, showed that solutes that surround the protein played an important role with respect to the overall structural stability and the structural heterogeneity of BSA. Limited proteolysis with trypsin and chymotrypsin indicated that BSA in the adsorbed state is oriented with domain 2 facing the silica surface. Also, upon adsorption, no additional cleavage sites were exposed. The combination of the results presented in this study implied that BSA molecules adsorbed onto silica particles were significantly reduced in their structural stability, but not to an extent that internal residues within the nativP structure became fully exposed to the solution.
Interactions between surfaces and macromolecules are the fundamentals in separation and detection of diverse solutes. In this very brief review the central aspects of protein-surface interactions are discussed with the intention of identifying the important factors influencing such processes and placing them in relation to the established knowledge in this field. Some perspectives of new techniques related to scanning probe microscopy for studying interactions at the nanometer level are also discussed.
Scanning force microscopy is more and more expanding as a tool for biological research. Here we report about the observation of molecular adsorption on mica surfaces. Human serum albumin and porcine pancreas trypsin were adsorbed on freshly cleaved mica from the solution phase, The new tapping mode (intermittent contact) scanning force microscopy technique was employed to image the molecules on the surface. We observed clusters of molecules and features which we interpret as single molecules adsorbed on the mica. For albumin, we could sometimes resolve structures corresponding to the three main domains of which albumin is composed. Analysis of lateral sizes and height, as well as scanning artefacts, are discussed. We observed the ability of the tapping mode to modify the distances between the respective domains in albumin and to split clusters into smaller parts.