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Gerelli Y, Camerin F, Bochenek S, Schmidt MM, Maestro A, Richtering W, Zaccarelli E, Scotti A. Softness matters: effects of compression on the behavior of adsorbed microgels at interfaces. SOFT MATTER 2024; 20:3653-3665. [PMID: 38623629 DOI: 10.1039/d4sm00235k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/17/2024]
Abstract
Deformable colloids and macromolecules adsorb at interfaces as they decrease the interfacial energy between the two media. The deformability, or softness, of these particles plays a pivotal role in the properties of the interface. In this study, we employ a comprehensive in situ approach, combining neutron reflectometry with molecular dynamics simulations, to thoroughly examine the profound influence of softness on the structure of microgel Langmuir monolayers under compression. Lateral compression of both hard and soft microgel particle monolayers induces substantial structural alterations, leading to an amplified protrusion of the microgels into the aqueous phase. However, a critical distinction emerges: hard microgels are pushed away from the interface, in stark contrast to the soft ones, which remain firmly anchored to it. Concurrently, on the air-exposed side of the monolayer, lateral compression induces a flattening of the surface of the hard monolayer. This phenomenon is not observed for the soft particles as the monolayer is already extremely flat even in the absence of compression. These findings significantly advance our understanding of the key role of softness on both the equilibrium phase behavior of the monolayer and its effect when soft colloids are used as stabilizers of responsive interfaces and emulsions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuri Gerelli
- Italian National Research Council - Institute for Complex Systems (CNR-ISC) and Department of Physics, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 2, 00185 Rome, Italy.
| | - Fabrizio Camerin
- Division of Physical Chemistry, Lund University, P. O. Box 124, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden.
| | - Steffen Bochenek
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, Landoltweg 2, 52056 Aachen, Germany
| | - Maximilian M Schmidt
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, Landoltweg 2, 52056 Aachen, Germany
| | - Armando Maestro
- Centro de Física de Materiales (CSIC, UPV/EHU) - Materials Physics Center MPC, Paseo Manuel de Lardizabal 5, E-20018 San Sebastián, Spain
- IKERBASQUE-Basque Foundation for Science, Plaza Euskadi 5, Bilbao, 48009, Spain
- Institut Laue-Langevin, 71 Avenue des Martyrs, 38042 Grenoble, France
| | - Walter Richtering
- Institute of Physical Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, Landoltweg 2, 52056 Aachen, Germany
| | - Emanuela Zaccarelli
- Italian National Research Council - Institute for Complex Systems (CNR-ISC) and Department of Physics, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 2, 00185 Rome, Italy.
| | - Andrea Scotti
- Department of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Health and Society, Malmö University, SE-205 06 Malmö, Sweden.
- Biofilms - Research Center for Biointerfaces, Malmö University, SE-205 06 Malmö, Sweden
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Corucci G, Batchu KC, Luchini A, Santamaria A, Frewein MPK, Laux V, Haertlein M, Yamaryo-Botté Y, Botté CY, Sheridan T, Tully M, Maestro A, Martel A, Porcar L, Fragneto G. Developing advanced models of biological membranes with hydrogenous and deuterated natural glycerophospholipid mixtures. J Colloid Interface Sci 2023; 645:870-881. [PMID: 37178564 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.04.135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2022] [Revised: 04/03/2023] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Cellular membranes are complex systems that consist of hundreds of different lipid species. Their investigation often relies on simple bilayer models including few synthetic lipid species. Glycerophospholipids (GPLs) extracted from cells are a valuable resource to produce advanced models of biological membranes. Here, we present the optimisation of a method previously reported by our team for the extraction and purification of various GPL mixtures from Pichia pastoris. The implementation of an additional purification step by High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Evaporative Light Scattering Detector (HPLC-ELSD) enabled for a better separation of the GPL mixtures from the neutral lipid fraction that includes sterols, and also allowed for the GPLs to be purified according to their different polar headgroups. Pure GPL mixtures at significantly high yields were produced through this approach. For this study, we utilised phoshatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylserine (PS) and phosphatidylglycerol (PG) mixtures. These exhibit a single composition of the polar head, i.e., PC, PS or PG, but contain several molecular species consisting of acyl chains of varying length and unsaturation, which were determined by Gas Chromatography (GC). The lipid mixtures were produced both in their hydrogenous (H) and deuterated (D) versions and were used to form lipid bilayers both on solid substrates and as vesicles in solution. The supported lipid bilayers were characterised by quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) and neutron reflectometry (NR), whereas the vesicles by small angle X-ray (SAXS) and neutron scattering (SANS). Our results show that despite differences in the acyl chain composition, the hydrogenous and deuterated extracts produced bilayers with very comparable structures, which makes them valuable to design experiments involving selective deuteration with techniques such as NMR, neutron scattering or infrared spectroscopy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giacomo Corucci
- Institut Laue-Langevin, 71 avenue des Martyrs, CS 20156, 38042 Grenoble, France; École doctorale de Physique, Université Grenoble Alpes, 38400 Saint-Martin-d'Héres, France
| | | | - Alessandra Luchini
- European Spallation Source ERIC, P.O. Box 176, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden; Department of Physics and Geology, University of Perugia, Via Alessandro Pascoli, 06123 Perugia, Italy
| | - Andreas Santamaria
- Institut Laue-Langevin, 71 avenue des Martyrs, CS 20156, 38042 Grenoble, France; Departamento de Química Física, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Moritz Paul Karl Frewein
- Institut Laue-Langevin, 71 avenue des Martyrs, CS 20156, 38042 Grenoble, France; Institute of Molecular Biosciences, University of Graz, NAWI Graz, Graz, 8010, Austria
| | - Valèrie Laux
- Institut Laue-Langevin, 71 avenue des Martyrs, CS 20156, 38042 Grenoble, France
| | - Michael Haertlein
- Institut Laue-Langevin, 71 avenue des Martyrs, CS 20156, 38042 Grenoble, France
| | - Yoshiki Yamaryo-Botté
- ApicoLipid Team & GEMELI Lipidomics Platform, Institute for Advanced Biosciences, CNRS UMR5309, INSERM (-National Institute for Health and Medical Research) U1209, Université Grenoble Alpes, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Cyrille Y Botté
- ApicoLipid Team & GEMELI Lipidomics Platform, Institute for Advanced Biosciences, CNRS UMR5309, INSERM (-National Institute for Health and Medical Research) U1209, Université Grenoble Alpes, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Thomas Sheridan
- University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Dublin, Ireland; AbbVie, Clonshaugh, Dublin 7, Co. Dublin, Ireland
| | - Mark Tully
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), 71 avenue des Martyrs, CS 40220, 38043, Grenoble, France
| | - Armando Maestro
- Centro de Física de Materiales (CSIC, UPV/EHU) - Materials Physics Center MPC, Paseo Manuel de Lardizabal 5, E-20018 San Sebastián, Spain; IKERBASQUE - Basque Foundation for Science, Plaza Euskadi 5, E-48009 Bilbao, Spain
| | - Anne Martel
- Institut Laue-Langevin, 71 avenue des Martyrs, CS 20156, 38042 Grenoble, France
| | - Lionel Porcar
- Institut Laue-Langevin, 71 avenue des Martyrs, CS 20156, 38042 Grenoble, France
| | - Giovanna Fragneto
- Institut Laue-Langevin, 71 avenue des Martyrs, CS 20156, 38042 Grenoble, France; École doctorale de Physique, Université Grenoble Alpes, 38400 Saint-Martin-d'Héres, France; European Spallation Source ERIC, P.O. Box 176, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden.
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Biswas S, Melton LD, Nelson ARJ, Le Brun AP, Heinrich F, McGillivray DJ, Xu AY. The Assembly Mechanism and Mesoscale Architecture of Protein-Polysaccharide Complexes Formed at the Solid-liquid Interface. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2022; 38:12551-12561. [PMID: 36194692 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.2c02003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Protein-polysaccharide composite materials have generated much interest due to their potential use in medical science and biotechnology. A comprehensive understanding of the assembly mechanism and the mesoscale architecture is needed for fabricating protein-polysaccharide composite materials with desired properties. In this study, complex assemblies were built on silica surfaces through a layer-by-layer (LbL) approach using bovine beta-lactoglobulin variant A (βLgA) and pectin as model protein and polysaccharide, respectively. We demonstrated the combined use of quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) and neutron reflectometry (NR) for elucidating the assembly mechanism as well as the internal architecture of the protein-polysaccharide complexes formed at the solid-liquid interface. Our results show that βLgA and pectin interacted with each other and formed a cohesive matrix structure at the interface consisting of intertwined pectin chains that were cross-linked by βLgA-rich domains. Although the complexes were fabricated in an LbL fashion, the complexes appeared to be relatively homogeneous with βLgA and pectin molecules spatially distributed within the matrix structure. Our results also demonstrate that the density of βLgA-pectin complex assemblies increased with both the overall and local charge density of pectin molecules. Therefore, the physical properties of the protein-polysaccharide matrix structure, including density and level of hydration, can be tuned by using polysaccharides with varying charge patterns, thus promoting the development of composite materials with desired properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shanta Biswas
- Department of Chemistry, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana70803, United States
| | - Laurence D Melton
- School of Chemical Sciences, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland1142, New Zealand
| | - Andrew R J Nelson
- Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering, ANSTO, Locked Bag 2001, Kirrawee DC, New South Wales2232, Australia
| | - Anton P Le Brun
- Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering, ANSTO, Locked Bag 2001, Kirrawee DC, New South Wales2232, Australia
| | - Frank Heinrich
- Department of Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania15213, United States
- NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Mail Stop 6102, Gaithersburg, Maryland20899, United States
| | - Duncan J McGillivray
- School of Chemical Sciences, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland1142, New Zealand
| | - Amy Y Xu
- Department of Chemistry, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana70803, United States
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Abstract
Caffeine is not only a widely consumed active stimulant, but it is also a model molecule commonly used in pharmaceutical sciences. In this work, by performing quartz-crystal microbalance and neutron reflectometry experiments we investigate the interaction of caffeine molecules with a model lipid membrane. We determined that caffeine molecules are not able to spontaneously partition from an aqueous environment, enriched in caffeine, into a bilayer. Caffeine could be however included in solid-supported lipid bilayers if present with lipids during self-assembly. In this case, thanks to surface-sensitive techniques, we determined that caffeine molecules are preferentially located in the hydrophobic region of the membrane. These results are highly relevant for the development of new drug delivery vectors, as well as for a deeper understanding of the membrane permeation role of purine molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Letizia Tavagnacco
- CNR-ISC and Department of Physics, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale A. Moro 2, 00185 Rome, Italy
| | - Giacomo Corucci
- Institut Laue-Langevin, 71 avenue des Martyrs, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Yuri Gerelli
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Marche Polytechnic University, Via Brecce Bianche, 60121 Ancona, Italy
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Unravelling the structural complexity of protein-lipid interactions with neutron reflectometry. Biochem Soc Trans 2021; 49:1537-1546. [PMID: 34240735 DOI: 10.1042/bst20201071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2021] [Revised: 06/02/2021] [Accepted: 06/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Neutron reflectometry (NR) is a large-facility technique used to examine structure at interfaces. In this brief review an introduction to the utilisation of NR in the study of protein-lipid interactions is given. Cold neutron beams penetrate matter deeply, have low energies, wavelengths in the Ångstrom regime and are sensitive to light elements. High differential hydrogen sensitivity (between protium and deuterium) enables solution and sample isotopic labelling to be utilised to enhance or diminish the scattering signal of individual components within complex biological structures. The combination of these effects means NR can probe buried structures such as those at the solid-liquid interface and encode molecular level structural information on interfacial protein-lipid complexes revealing the relative distribution of components as well as the overall structure. Model biological membrane sample systems can be structurally probed to examine phenomena such as antimicrobial mode of activity, as well as structural and mechanistic properties peripheral/integral proteins within membrane complexes. Here, the example of the antimicrobial protein α1-purothionin binding to a model Gram negative bacterial outer membrane is used to highlight the utilisation of this technique, detailing how changes in the protein/lipid distributions across the membrane before and after the protein interaction can be easily encoded using hydrogen isotope labelling.
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Porcar L, Gerelli Y. On the lipid flip-flop and phase transition coupling. SOFT MATTER 2020; 16:7696-7703. [PMID: 32789357 DOI: 10.1039/d0sm01161d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
We measured the passive lipid flip-flop of 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) in solid supported lipid bilayers across their main gel to fluid (Lβ → Lα) phase transition. By performing time and temperature resolved neutron reflectometry experiments, we demonstrated that asymmetric systems prepared in the gel phase are stable for at least 24 hours. Lipid flip-flop was found to be intrinsically linked to the amount of lipid molecules in the fluid phase. Moreover, the increase of this amount during the broad phase transition was found to be the main key factor for the timing of the flip-flop process. By measuring different temperature scan rate, we could demonstrate that, in the case of supported bilayers and for the temperature investigated, the lipid flip flop is characterised by an activation energy of 50 kJ mol-1 and a timescale on the order of few hours. Our results demonstrate the origin on the discrepancies between passive flip-flop in bulk systems and at interfaces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lionel Porcar
- Institut Laue-Langevin, avenue des Martyrs, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Yuri Gerelli
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy.
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