Study on the interaction between nucleic acids and cationic surfactants

Association behavior and physico-chemical parameters of a cetylpyridinium bromide and levofloxacin hemihydrate mixture in aqueous and additive media

The investigation of the micellization of a mixture of cetylpyridinium bromide (CPB) and levofloxacin hemihydrate (LFH) was carried out by a conductivity technique in aqueous and aq. additive mixtures, including NaCl, NaOAc, NaBenz, 4-ABA, and urea. The aggregation behavior of the CPB + LFH mixture was studied considering the variation in additive contents and the change in experimental temperature. The micelle formation of the CPB + LFH mixture was examined from the breakpoint observed in the specific conductivity versus surfactant concentration plots. Different micellar characteristics, such as the critical micelle concentration (CMC) and the extent of counter ion bound (β), were evaluated for the CPB + LFH mixture. The CMC and β were found to undergo a change with the types of solvents, composition of solvents, and working temperatures. The ΔG⁰_m values of the CPB + LFH system in aqueous and aq. additive solutions were found to be negative, which denotes a spontaneous aggregation phenomenon of the CPB + LFH system. The changes in ΔH⁰_m and ΔS⁰_m for the CPB + LFH mixture were also detected with the alteration in the solvent nature and solution temperature. The ΔH⁰_m and ΔS⁰_m values obtained for the association of the CPB + LFH mixture reveal that the characteristic interaction forces may possibly be ion-dipole, dipole-dipole, and hydrophobic between CPB and LFH. The thermodynamics of transfer and ΔH⁰_m-ΔS⁰_m compensation variables were also determined. All the parameters computed in the present investigation are illustrated with proper logic.

Staphylococcus aureus-targeting peptide/surfactant assemblies for antibacterial therapy

To address the challenge from microbial resistance, this work developed a surfactant with 18-carbon single hydrocarbon chain and multi-amine head groups (C18N3). After assembling with Staphylococcus aureus-targeting peptide (CARG), the obtained C18N3/CARG assemblies exhibited excellent antimicrobial activities against Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in vitro and in vivo, in which the targeting peptide CARG bonded specifically to Staphylococcus aureus and C18N3 killed bacteria with a mechanism of membrane disruption. Importantly, C18N3 could also work as a β-lactamase inhibitor to overcome the bacterial resistance to β-lactam antibiotics through noncompetitive inhibition. The combination of β-lactam antibiotic and C18N3/CARG assemblies more effectively suppressed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in vitro and in vivo relative to equivalent dose of free antibiotic or C18N3. Thus, the antibacterial platform of antibiotic-carrying surfactant assemblies bearing bacteria-targeted peptides, in which C18N3 performed dual function, antibacterial agent and β-lactamase inhibitor, may help fight against the difficult-to-treat infections.

Label-free DNA hybridization detection by various spectroscopy methods using triphenylmethane dyes as a probe

A new assay is developed for direct detection of DNA hybridization using triphenylmethane dye as a probe. It is based on various spectroscopic methods including resonance light scattering (RLS), circular dichroism (CD), ultraviolet spectra and fluorescence spectra, as well as atomic force microscopy (AFM), six triphenylmethane dyes interact with double strand DNA (dsDNA) and single strand DNA (ssDNA) were investigated, respectively. The interaction results in amplified resonance light scattering signals and enables the detection of hybridization without the need for labeling DNA. Mechanism investigations have shown that groove binding occurs between dsDNA and these triphenylmethane dyes, which depends on G-C sequences of dsDNA and the molecular volumes of triphenylmethane dyes. Our present approaches display the advantages of simple and fast, accurate and reliable, and the artificial samples were determined with satisfactory results.

Spectral study of interaction between poly(L-lysine)-poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(L-lysine) and nucleic acids

Polymer-DNA interactions have attracted considerable interests due to their important application in DNA transfection and cellular drug delivery technologies. In this work, a new detection assay for DNA is proposed with a tri-block copolymer poly(L-lysine)-poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(L-lysine) by resonance light scattering technique with the linear ranges from 0.0656 to 6.56 μg ml⁻¹. The detection limit for DNA is 0.42 ng ml⁻¹. Most coexisting substances do not interfere in the detection. UV-spectra and FTIR-spectra were employed to demonstrate the mechanisms of the interaction that the conformation of the DNA changes because the microenvironment of DNA changes.

Nucleic acids determination using the complex of eriochrome black T and silver nanoparticles in a resonance light scattering technique

A novel method for the determination of nucleic acids by using silver nanoparticle (AgNPs)-eriochrome black T (EBT) as a resonance light scattering (RLS) probe has been developed. Under optimum conditions, there are linear relationships between the quenching extent of RLS intensity and the concentration of nucleic acids in the range of 4.0×10(-9)-4.0×10(-7), 4.0×10(-7)-1.6×10(-6) g mL(-1) for fish sperm DNA (fsDNA) and 4.0×10(-8)-2.0×10(-6) g mL(-1) for yeast RNA (yRNA). Their detection limits (S/N=3) are 2.0 ng mL(-1) and 21 ng mL(-1), respectively. The results indicate that AgNPs can form wirelike aggregates and nanoslices in the presence of the EBT. Whereas, when nucleic acids are added into the AgNPs-EBT system, the dynamic balance of AgNPs-EBT system is destroyed and the nanoparticles undergo dispersion again, leading to the RLS intensity of AgNPs-EBT system quenching. Meanwhile, the conformation of fsDNA is changed by the synergistic effect of AgNPs and EBT.

Investigation on the toxic interaction of chrysoidine hydrochloride-CTMAB combined contamination with calf thymus DNA

The toxic interaction of the azo dye-chrysoidine hydrochloride combined with cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTMAB) in living tissue was studied in vitro. The absorption spectrum, resonance light scattering (RLS), circular dichroism (CD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results showed that the toxicity of chrysoidine hydrochloride itself to calf thymus DNA (ct-DNA) is weak, while the chrysoidine hydrochloride-CTMAB combined pollution showed obvious toxic interaction with ct-DNA. The chrysoidine hydrochloride-CTMAB combined contamination can interact with ct-DNA to form an ion-associated complex through electrostatic and hydrophobic forces. The conformation of DNA was changed in the interaction process to show toxic. The experimental results showed that the combination of chrysoidine hydrochloride-CTMAB has higher toxicity to ct-DNA than either chrysoidine hydrochloride or CTMAB individually, and the combined pollution showed a strong toxic co-effect at a dose of 3.0x10(-4) mol L(-1) chrysoidine hydrochloride and 1.6x10(-5) mol L(-1) CTMAB.

Study on the genotoxic interaction of methyl violet with calf thymus DNA

By utilizing ultraviolet (UV)-visible absorption spectroscopy, circular dichroism (CD), resonance light scattering (RLS), and transmission electron microscope (TEM) techniques, the toxic interaction of methyl violet (MV) with calf thymus DNA (ctDNA) was investigated at the molecular level. The UV-visible absorption spectra results showed that MV intercalated into ctDNA base pairs at low MV concentrations, while MV was attached to the negative charged phosphate groups at higher concentrations and the binding constant (K(theta)(25 degrees C)) was 1.80 x 10(3) L mol(-1). The absorbency results showed that the genotoxic interaction of MV with ctDNA is under the electrostatic binding mode. MV had strong toxic interaction with ctDNA at 4.0 x 10(-5) mol L(-1) MV and pH 6.5. The toxic interaction of MV with ctDNA can result in the formation of massive aggregates and change of the ctDNA conformation, which showed a significant linear dose-response relationship.

The sensitive determination of nucleic acids using fluorescence enhancement of Eu3+-benzoylacetone-cetyltrimethylammonium bromide-nucleic acid system

A new quantitative method for micro amounts of nucleic acids in aqueous solution is proposed using Eu3+-benzoylacetone (BA) complex as fluorescent probe in the presence of cetyltrimethyl-ammonium bromide (CTMAB). Under the optimum condition, the ratio of the fluorescence intensities with and without nucleic acids is proportional to the concentration of nucleic acid in the range of 1.0x10(-9) to 5.0x10(-6) g/mL for herring sperm DNA (hsDNA), 3.0x10(-9) to 1.0x10(-6) g/mL for calf thymus DNA(ctDNA) and 8.0x10(-9) to 1.0x10(-6) g/mL for yeast RNA (yRNA), and their detection limits are 0.33, 0.21 and 0.99 ng/mL, respectively. Actual sample (DNA of Arabidopsis thaliana) was determined satisfactorily. In addition, the interaction mechanism is also investigated.

The second-order scattering study of the Tb(III)-RNA and determination of RNA

The second-order scattering technique (SOS), using a common spectrofluorometer, was first developed as a sensitive instrumental analysis method for determination of the ribonucleic acid (RNA). The results indicate that RNA had a weak SOS peak and the Tb(III) ion can greatly enhance the SOS intensity of RNA with the maximum peak located at 612.0 nm. Mechanism study shows that the peak results from the long-range assembly of Tb(III) ion on the molecular surface of RNA. At the pH 7.50 and with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTMAB) (6.0 x 10(-5)M), the enhanced SOS intensity was in proportion to the concentration of RNA in the range of 2.0 x 10(-8) to 2.0 x 10(-5)g/ml. The detection limit was 1.96 ng/ml. The relative standard deviation (five replicates) was within +/-5% in the linear range. This method has been used satisfactorily for the determination of both synthetic and real samples. In comparison with most other methods for the determination of ribonucleic acids, this method is more sensitive.