Carbon nanotube compared with carbon black: effects on bacterial survival against grazing by ciliates and antimicrobial treatments.

The ingestion and digestion of Escherichia coli by the ciliated protozoan, Tetrahymena thermophila, was investigated after an initial exposure to either water-soluble single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) or to carbon black (CB). Both SWNT and CB were internalised and visible in food vacuoles of ciliates. When presented with E. coli expressing green-fluorescent protein (GFP), these ciliates internalised bacteria as well. However, ciliates that had first internalised SWNT but not CB subsequently externalised or egested vesicle-like structures with fluorescent bacteria inside. These egested bacteria were viable and less susceptible than planktonic E. coli to killing either by the antibiotic, chloramphenicol or the disinfectant, glutaraldehyde. These results suggest that SWNT can alter the intracellular trafficking of vesicles within ciliates, leading to bacterial prey being packaged externally and protected for a time from environmental killing, which could have implications for sewage treatment and for public health.

Study of amyloid ß-peptide (Aß12-28-Cys) interactions with Congo red and ß-sheet breaker peptides using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.

A surface-based approach is presented to study the interactions of Aß12-28-Cys assembled on gold surfaces with Congo red (CR) and a ß-sheet breaker (BSB) peptide. The various aspects of the peptide film have been examined using different electrochemical and surface analytical techniques. Cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) results using redox probes [Fe(CN)(6)](3-/4-) show that Aß12-28-Cys on gold forms a stable and reproducible blocking film. EIS analysis shows that CR and BSB have different effects on the electrochemical properties of Aß12-28-Cys films, presumably due to changes in the interactions between the film and CR and BSB. EIS results indicate that in the case of CR film resistance decreases significantly presumably due to better penetration of the solution-based redox probe into the film, whereas in the case of BSB, the film resistance increases. We interpret this difference to BSB being able to interact with the Aß12-28-Cys on the surface and presumably forming a film that presents a higher resistance for electron transfer from the redox probe to the solution.

The Influence of Molecular Dipole Moment on the Redox-Induced Reorganization of α-Helical Peptide Self-Assembled Monolayers: An Electrochemical SPR Investigation.

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of ferrocene-labeled α-helical peptides were prepared on gold surfaces and studied using electrochemical surface plasmon resonance (EC-SPR). The leucine-rich peptides were synthesized with a cysteine sulfhydryl group either at the C- or N-terminus, enabling their immobilization onto gold surfaces with control of the direction of the molecular dipole moment. Two electroactive SAMs were studied, one in which all of the peptide dipole moments are oriented in the same direction (SAM1), and the other in which the peptide dipole moment of one peptide is aligned in the opposite direction to that of its surrounding peptide molecules (SAM2). Cyclic voltammetry combined with SPR measurements revealed that SAM reorientations concomitant with the oxidation of the ferrocene label were more significant in SAM2 than in SAM1. The substantially greater change in the peptide film thickness in the case of SAM2 is attributed to the electrostatic repulsion between the electrogenerated ferrocinium moiety and the positively charged gold surface. The greater permeability of SAM1 to electrolyte anions, on the other hand, appears to effectively neutralize this electrostatic repulsion. The film thickness change in SAM2 was estimated to be 0.25 ± 0.05 nm using numerical simulation. The timescale of the redox-induced SPR changes was established by chronoamperometry and time-resolved SPR measurements, followed by fitting of the SPR response to a stretched exponential function. The time constants measured for the anodic process were 16 and 6 ms for SAM1 and SAM2 respectively, indicating that the SAM thickness changes are notably fast.

Study of electron transfer in ferrocene-labeled collagen-like peptides.

This study describes the electron transfer (ET) phenomenon through a series of (Pro-Hyp-Gly) repeat units containing collagen mimics. The peptides contain redox-active ferrocene (Fc) and thiol-functionalized cystein (Cys) at the N- and C-terminals, respectively. Peptide films were prepared on gold surfaces and characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ellipsometry, and Fourier transform-reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy (FT-RAIRS). Electrochemical investigations of the films showed a linear but weakly distance-dependent ET. The importance of H-bonding was realized, and the possibility of a conformationally gated ET mechanism has been discussed.