Antibody-gold quantum dot-PAMAM dendrimer complex as an immunoglobulin immunoassay

Gold quantum dots (AuQDs) were synthesized and electrostatically conjugated to goat-derived anti-human IgG for the purpose of detecting human IgG in solution over a broad range of concentrations. The system is able to detect human IgG by linear fluorescence quenching over a micromolar to nanomolar concentration range. We have demonstrated the specificity and a wide dynamic range of the proposed immunoassay. The quenching is a result of competitive surface quenching of the AuQDs. Characterization, details of the immunoassay, and the quenching mechanism, are discussed.     

An alternative approach to amyloid fibrils morphology: CdSe/ZnS quantum dots labelled beta-amyloid peptide fragments Abeta (31-35), Abeta (1-40) and Abeta (1-42)

Aβ (31–35) peptide and control peptides as well as full length Aβ (1–40) and Aβ (1–42) peptides were labelled with luminescent CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) to observe the morphology of amyloid fibers. A comparison was made between QDs and an organic dye, namely Dansyl group, which showed that the QDs present a much better contrast for imaging than the organic dye.     

Study of molecular aggregation of artificial amyloid in a langmuir monolayer by infrared spectroscopy

A synthesized peptidolipid (C18IIGLM-NH2) comprised of a single C18-saturated hydrocarbon chain connected to the amino acid sequence IIGLM terminated with the NH2 group was spread on water, which formed a stable Langmuir monolayer. The Langmuir and Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films have been characterized by measurements of surface pressure-area (pi-A) and surface potential-area (DeltaV-A) isotherms and infrared multiple-angle incidence resolution spectrometry (MAIRS). The Langmuir monolayer had a significantly larger limiting molecular area than that of a similar molecule of C18IIGLM-OH, which was reported in our previous study. The surface dipole moment analysis coupled with the pi-A isotherm suggested that the C18IIGLM-NH2 monolayer was extraordinarily stiff and the fundamental structure of the monolayer was brought about before the monolayer compression. The infrared MAIRS analysis of the C18IIGLM-NH2 LB film revealed that the backbone structure of the monolayer was the 'antiparallel' beta sheet aligned parallel to the substrate. Since the C18IIGLM-OH LB film was made of 'parallel' beta sheet with a random orientation, it has been found that the present C18IIGLM-NH2 Langmuir monolayer has a largely different monolayer structure, although the chemical structures are slightly different from each other by the terminal group only.     

Film structures of poly(amido amine) dendrimers with an azacrown core and long alkyl chain spacers on water or Ag nanoparticle suspension

Newly designed poly(amido amine) dendrimers, which have an azacrown core, hexyl spacers, and methyl ester terminals (aza-C6-PAMAM dendrimer), were spread at the air-water and air-silver nanoparticle suspension interfaces, and their film structures were examined by surface pressure-area (pi-A) and surface potential-area (DeltaV-A) isotherms and epifluorescence microscopy. It was revealed that generation (G) 1.5 aza-C6-PAMAM dendrimer on a water subphase formed homogeneous film with face-on configuration, and this configuration was maintained during compression. On the other hand, a G2.5 dendrimer film on the air-water interface took initially homogeneous and face-on configuration that was followed by the conformational change during compression. Using a silver nanoparticle suspension as subphase, G1.5 film was significantly reinforced, and the partial collapse (cracks) in the film appeared as network texture. For a G2.5 dendrimer film, the pi-A and DeltaV-A isotherm properties were similar to that on the water subphase except for the collapsed film; small spots instead of cracks were formed under the film after collapse. These effects of the silver nanoparticle may be due to the formation of a dendrimer/silver nanoparticle composite. The formation process of the nanocomposite film was verified by UV-vis spectroscopy. For the G1.5 dendrimer, silver clusters and nanoparticles adsorbed to the dendrimer film after spreading and formed a small amount of aggregates. During compression, the aggregation proceeded even at low surface pressure. For the G2.5 dendrimer, a dendrimer/nanoparticle composite was also formed after spreading. However, with the initial compression, the absorption bands of clusters, nanoparticles, and aggregate increased together. Upon further compression, while the bands of cluster and nanoparticles decreased, the bands of aggregate still increased. These results suggest that the G2.5 dendrimer covered the cluster and nanoparticles more efficiently than the G1.5 dendrimer did because of the larger molecular size.     

Spectroscopic detection of Saxitoxin: an alternative to mouse bioassay

Herein, we report the surface modification of quartz with a coumaryl-aza-crown-6 derivative to detect Saxitoxin using fluorescence enhancement through Photoinduced Electron Transfer and the sensitivity with this system approaches the limit of the mouse bioassay which is the current benchmark for Saxitoxin detection.     

Amyloid-like formation by self-assembly of peptidolipids in two dimensions

The accumulation of beta-amyloid peptide (Abeta) in the human brain is known to be the major cause that drives Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis. Abeta, a 39-42 amino acid peptide, is the cleavage product of amyloid precursor protein in the hydrophobic transmembrane region. The present study employs a two-dimensional (2D) approach. Two synthetic peptidolipids, C18-IIGLM-OH and C18-IIGLM-NH2, are selected based on the fragment 31-35 of Abeta which is recognized as one of the determining segments that induces formation of amyloid fibril plaques. The aliphatic hydrocarbon chain C18 is attached to the N-terminal of the fragment 31-35 to facilitate the 2D study at the air-water interface. The aggregation process is observed by two measurements: (1) surface pressure-area and surface dipole moment-area isotherms and (2) epifluorescence microscopy of the Langmuir films to investigate the topography of the amyloid-like formation.     

Development of fluorescent film sensors for the detection of divalent copper

Monolayers of several peptide lipids at air-water and air-solid interfaces were prepared using Langmuir and Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) film techniques, and tested as fluorescent sensors for copper ions in aqueous phase. In one method, both the ionophore and the fluorophore were in the same molecule (lipid A), so intramolecular interaction was responsible for the fluorescence quenching of monolayers of this lipid. In the other method, ionophore and fluorophore were located on two different molecules (lipids B and C) so the intramolecular coupling does not exist; instead the fluorescence quenching was realized by a through-space interaction mechanism. Several experimental techniques, including pi-A isotherm, epifluorescence microscopy, and absorption and emission spectroscopies were used to study the different characteristics of copper ion effect on the properties of the lipid monolayers. Additionally, the fluorescence quenching properties of the Langmuir monolayers were found to be transferred to the one-layer LB films. On LB films, the fluorescence response presented a clear selectivity for copper ions in comparison with several other transition metal ions. Further, an excellent reversibility was observed: the fluorescence was switched OFF by immersing the solid substrate in copper ion solution and ON by washing with HCl solution. The intermolecular approach used here seems to be a very flexible and general method to design surface-oriented fluorescent sensors to meet different analytic purposes.     

Study of the aggregation of human insulin Langmuir monolayer

The human insulin (HI) Langmuir monolayer at the air-water interface was systematically investigated in the presence and absence of Zn(II) ions in the subphase. HI samples were dissolved in acidic (pH 2) and basic (pH 9) aqueous solutions and then spread at the air-water interface. Spectroscopic data of aqueous solutions of HI show a difference in HI conformation at different pH values. Moreover, the dynamics of the insulin protein showed a dependence on the concentration of Zn(II) ions. In the absence of Zn(II) ions in the subphase, the acidic and basic solutions showed similar behavior at the air-water interface. In the presence of Zn(II) ions in the subphase, the surface pressure-area and surface potential-area isotherms suggest that HI may aggregate at the air-water interface. It was observed that increasing the concentration of Zn(II) ions in the acidic (pH 2) aqueous solution of HI led to an increase of the area at a specific surface pressure. It was also seen that the conformation of HI in the basic (pH 9) medium had a reverse effect (decrease in the surface area) with the increase of the concentration of Zn(II) ions in solution. From the compression-decompression cycles we can conclude that the aggregated HI film at air-water interface is not stable and tends to restore a monolayer of monomers. These results were confirmed from UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopy analysis. Infrared reflection-absorption and circular dichroism spectroscopy techniques were used to determine the secondary structure and orientation changes of HI by zinc ions. Generally, the aggregation process leads to a conformation change from α-helix to β-strand and β-turn, and at the air-water interface, the aggregation process was likewise seen to induce specific orientations for HI in the acidic and basic media. A proposed surface orientation model is presented here as an explanation to the experimental data, shedding light for further research on the behavior of insulin as a Langmuir monolayer.     

In vitro sonodynamic cytotoxicity in regulated cavitation conditions

Sonodynamic toxicity has always been linked to the cavitation phenomenon. In this work, sonodynamic effect with Photofrin^® was evaluated with a new ultrasound device: a regulated cavitation generator. In this way, acoustic intensity was substituted with cavitation level as ultrasound parameter. Photofrin^® potentiated significantly the cavitation cytotoxicity even for low setpoints where no inertial cavitation appeared. Therefore sonodynamic mechanism was principally mechanical, facilitated by the Photofrin^® insertion in cellular cytoplasmic membranes. This assertion was also supported by the fact that sonodynamic cytotoxicity was independent from the Photofrin^® presence or absence in the extracellular medium. Reproducible sonodynamic efficiency was perfectly obtained with this new regulated cavitation generator.     

Fibril-like aggregate formation of peptide carboxylate Langmuir films analyzed by surface pressure, surface dipole moment, and infrared spectroscopy

The fibril formation process of a synthetic peptidolipid compound in a Langmuir monolayer at the air-water interface has been analyzed by surface pressure and surface dipole moment-area isotherms, followed by infrared spectral analysis of related Langmuir-Blodgett films. Thus far, the analysis of randomly oriented molecular assemblies has been a difficult matter, especially for spectroscopic measurements. In the present study, the Langmuir film isotherms were discussed in detail, and they have readily been correlated to the infrared spectra. For the spectral analysis, infrared multiple-angle incidence resolution spectroscopy (MAIRS) was employed, which was compared to the results by conventional techniques. Since the peptide assemblies greatly responded to a metal surface, the reflection-absorption technique was not useful for our analysis. Instead, MAIRS was found to be powerful to reveal the anisotropic structure of the Langmuir films, and a disordered molecular architecture has been revealed via the molecular orientation analysis. As a result, the fibril-like aggregation formation process during the monolayer compression, which was suggested by previous topographical study, has been found to be due to the stiff domain formation in the Langmuir films.