Application of the JKR Method to the Measurement of Adhesion to Langmuir-Blodgett Cellulose Surfaces

The JKR method has been applied for studying adhesion between poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) caps and Langmuir–Blodgett cellulose surfaces including the substrate, hydrophobized mica, and two flat mineral surfaces, bare mica and glass. The self-adhesion of PDMS caps and oxidized PDMS caps are included as a reference to compare with literature data. The results of the measurements have been compared with previous studies using the surface force apparatus and similar systems. A satisfactory agreement is obtained for simple systems showing no, or very limited, hysteresis between loading and unloading curves. In several cases, however, a large hysteresis is found between loading and unloading curves, with a larger adhesion measured from the pull-off force than from the JKR-curve determined on loading. This is, for instance, the case for PDMS against cellulose. The situation is analogous to that found in wetting studies showing a large hysteresis between advancing and receding contact angles.     

Hydration state of nonionic surfactant monolayers at the liquid/vapor interface: structure determination by vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy

The OH stretching region of water molecules in the vicinity of nonionic surfactant monolayers has been investigated using vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy (VSFS) under the polarization combinations ssp, ppp, and sps. The surface sensitivity of the VSFS technique has allowed targeting the few water molecules present at the surface with a net orientation and, in particular, the hydration shell around alcohol, sugar, and poly(ethylene oxide) headgroups. Dramatic differences in the hydration shell of the uncharged headgroups were observed, both in comparison to each another and in comparison to the pure water surface. The water molecules around the rigid glucoside and maltoside sugar rings were found to form strong hydrogen bonds, similar to those observed in tetrahedrally coordinated water in ice. In the case of the poly(ethylene oxide) surfactant monolayer a significant ordering of both strongly and weakly hydrogen bonded water was observed. Moreover, a band common to all the surfactants studied, clearly detected at relatively high frequencies in the polarization combinations ppp and sps, was assigned to water species located in proximity to the surfactant hydrocarbon tail phase, with both hydrogen atoms free from hydrogen bonds. An orientational analysis provided additional information on the water species responsible for this band.     

Methods for Studying Endocytotic Pathways of Herpesvirus Encoded G Protein-Coupled Receptors

Endocytosis is a fundamental process involved in trafficking of various extracellular and transmembrane molecules from the cell surface to its interior. This enables cells to communicate and respond to external environments, maintain cellular homeostasis, and transduce signals. G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) constitute a family of receptors with seven transmembrane alpha-helical domains (7TM receptors) expressed at the cell surface, where they regulate physiological and pathological cellular processes. Several herpesviruses encode receptors (vGPCRs) which benefits the virus by avoiding host immune surveillance, supporting viral dissemination, and thereby establishing widespread and lifelong infection, processes where receptor signaling and/or endocytosis seem central. vGPCRs are rising as potential drug targets as exemplified by the cytomegalovirus-encoded receptor US28, where its constitutive internalization has been exploited for selective drug delivery in virus infected cells. Therefore, studying GPCR trafficking is of great importance. This review provides an overview of the current knowledge of endocytic and cell localization properties of vGPCRs and methodological approaches used for studying receptor internalization. Using such novel approaches, we show constitutive internalization of the BILF1 receptor from human and porcine γ-1 herpesviruses and present motifs from the eukaryotic linear motif (ELM) resources with importance for vGPCR endocytosis.     

Robust hydrophobic surfaces displaying different surface roughness scales while maintaining the same wettability

A range of surfaces coated with spherical silica particles, covering the size range from nanometer to micrometer, have been produced using Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) deposition. The particles were characterized both in suspension and in the Langmuir trough to optimize the surface preparation procedure. By limiting the particle aggregation and surface layer failures during the preparation steps, well-defined monolayers with a close-packed structure have been obtained for all particle sizes. Thus, this procedure led to structured surfaces with a characteristic variation in the amplitude and spatial roughness parameters. In order to obtain robust surfaces, a sintering protocol and an AFM-based wear test to determine the stability of the deposited surface layer were employed. Hydrophobization of the LB films followed by water contact angle measurements showed, for all tested particle sizes, the same increase in contact angle compared to the contact angle of a flat hydrophobic surface. This indicates nearly hexagonal packing and gives evidence for nearly complete surface wetting of the surface features.     

Crown ethers at the aqueous solution-air interface. Part 2. Electrolyte effects, ethylene oxide hydration and temperature behaviour

Vibrational Sum Frequency Spectroscopy (VSFS) was employed to study adsorbing films of 4-Nitro Benzo-15-Crown-5 (NB15C5) and Benzo-15-Crown-5 (B15C5) at the aqueous solution-air interface. The surface of the solution is strongly influenced by the presence of crown ether species. Changes in the orientation of NB15C5 were monitored as a function of solution concentration, by targeting the ratio of peak intensities of the CN and NO(2) vibrational modes. The water of hydration has also been probed as a function of crown concentration, salt concentration, and temperature. The latter study strongly suggests that the surface can be treated as a charged interface, and that the associated ordered water decreases with increasing ionic strength of the bulk solution.     

Effect of capillary condensation on friction force and adhesion

Friction force measurements have been conducted with a colloid probe on mica and silica (both hydrophilic and hydrophobized) after long (24 h) exposure to high-humidity air. Adhesion and friction measurements have also been performed on cellulose substrates. The long exposure to high humidity led to a large hysteresis between loading and unloading in the friction measurements with separation occurring at large negative applied loads. The large hysteresis in the friction-load relationship is attributed to a contact area hysteresis of the capillary condensate which built up during loading and did not evaporate during the unloading regime. The magnitude of the friction force varied dramatically between substrates and was lowest on the mica substrate and highest on the hydrophilic silica substrate, with the hydrophobized silica and cellulose being intermediate. The adhesion due to capillary forces on cellulose was small compared to that on the other substrates, due to the greater roughness of these surfaces.     

Adhesion forces between protein layers studied by means of atomic force microscopy

Adhesion forces between different protein layers adsorbed on different substrates in aqueous media have been measured by means of an atomic force microscope using the colloid probe technique. The effects of the loading force, the salt concentration and pH of the medium, and the electrolyte type on the strength, the pull-off distance, and the separation energy of such adhesion forces have been analyzed in depth. Two very different proteins (bovine serum albumin and apoferritin) and two dissimilar substrates (silica and polystyrene) were used in the experiments. The results clearly point out a very important contribution of the electrostatic interactions in the adhesion between protein layers.     

Ionic liquid nanotribology: stiction suppression and surface induced shear thinning

The friction and adhesion between pairs of materials (silica, alumina, and polytetrafluoroethylene) have been studied and interpreted in terms of the long-ranged interactions present. In ambient laboratory air, the interactions are dominated by van der Waals attraction and strong adhesion leading to significant frictional forces. In the presence of the ionic liquid (IL) ethylammonium nitrate (EAN) the van der Waals interaction is suppressed and the attractive/adhesive interactions which lead to "stiction" are removed, resulting in an at least a 10-fold reduction in the friction force at large applied loads. The friction coefficient for each system was determined; coefficients obtained in air were significantly larger than those obtained in the presence of EAN (which ranged between 0.1 and 0.25), and variation in the friction coefficients between systems was correlated with changes in surface roughness. As the viscosity of ILs can be relatively high, which has implications for the lubricating properties, the hydrodynamic forces between the surfaces have therefore also been studied. The linear increase in repulsive force with speed, expected from hydrodynamic interactions, is clearly observed, and these forces further inhibit the potential for stiction. Remarkably, the viscosity extracted from the data is dramatically reduced compared to the bulk value, indicative of a surface ordering effect which significantly reduces viscous losses.     

A vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy study of the liquid-gas interface of acetic acid-water mixtures: 1. Surface speciation

Aqueous acetic acid solutions have been studied by vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy (VSFS) in order to acquire molecular information about the liquid-gas interface. The concentration range 0-100% acetic acid has been studied in the CH/OH and the C-O/C=O regions, and in order to clarify peak assignments, experiments with deuterated acetic acid and water have also been performed. Throughout the whole concentration range, the acetic acid is proven to be protonated. It is explicitly shown that the structure of a water surface becomes disrupted even at small additions of acetic acid. Furthermore, the spectral evolution upon increasing the concentration of acetic acid is explained in terms of the different complexes of acetic acid molecules, such as the hydrated monomer, linear dimer, and cyclic dimer. In the C=O region, the hydrated monomer is concluded to give rise to the sum frequency (SF) signal, and in the CH region, the cyclic dimer contributes to the signal as well. The combination of results from the CH/OH and the C-O/C=O regions allows a thorough characterization of the behavior of the acetic acid molecules at the interface to be obtained.