Modulation of bacterial multicellularity via spatio-specific polysaccharide secretion.

The development of multicellularity is a key evolutionary transition allowing for differentiation of physiological functions across a cell population that confers survival benefits; among unicellular bacteria, this can lead to complex developmental behaviors and the formation of higher-order community structures. Herein, we demonstrate that in the social δ-proteobacterium Myxococcus xanthus, the secretion of a novel biosurfactant polysaccharide (BPS) is spatially modulated within communities, mediating swarm migration as well as the formation of multicellular swarm biofilms and fruiting bodies. BPS is a type IV pilus (T4P)-inhibited acidic polymer built of randomly acetylated ß-linked tetrasaccharide repeats. Both BPS and exopolysaccharide (EPS) are produced by dedicated Wzx/Wzy-dependent polysaccharide-assembly pathways distinct from that responsible for spore-coat assembly. While EPS is preferentially produced at the lower-density swarm periphery, BPS production is favored in the higher-density swarm interior; this is consistent with the former being known to stimulate T4P retraction needed for community expansion and a function for the latter in promoting initial cell dispersal. Together, these data reveal the central role of secreted polysaccharides in the intricate behaviors coordinating bacterial multicellularity.

Interfacial Characterization of Ruthenium-Based Amphiphilic Photosensitizers.

Nonreactive surfactant molecules have long been used and characterized for a wide range of applications in industries, life science, and everyday life. Recently, new types of functional amphiphilic molecules have emerged that bear another function, for example, a light-absorbing action, or catalytic properties. However, the surfactant properties of these molecules remain to date essentially unknown. In this context, we investigated here the interfacial activity of photocatalytic surfactants based on a ruthenium(II) tris-bipyridine core, functionalized with two alkyl tails. We realized a systematic characterization of the surfactant properties of these molecules at a water-air interface and studied the effect of the alkyl chain length and of the counterions (hexafluorophosphate or chloride) on these properties. Our data demonstrate that ruthenium surfactants with chloride counteranions form a denser layer at the interface, but their surfactant properties can dramatically deteriorate when the chain length of the alkyl tail increases, leading to simple hydrophobic molecules with poor surfactant properties for the longest chains (C17). These findings pave the way for a better use and understanding of photocatalytic soft interfaces.

Interfacial Properties of NTAIL, an Intrinsically Disordered Protein.

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) lack stable secondary and tertiary structure under physiological conditions in the absence of their biological partners and thus exist as dynamic ensembles of interconverting conformers, often highly soluble in water. However, in some cases, IDPs such as the ones involved in neurodegenerative diseases can form protein aggregates and their aggregation process may be triggered by the interaction with membranes. Although the interfacial behavior of globular proteins has been extensively studied, experimental data on IDPs at the air/water (A/W) and water/lipid interfaces are scarce. We studied here the intrinsically disordered C-terminal domain of the Hendra virus nucleoprotein (NTAIL) and compared its interfacial properties to those of lysozyme that is taken as a model globular protein of similar molecular mass. Adsorption of NTAIL at the A/W interface was studied in the absence and presence of phospholipids using Langmuir films, polarization modulated-infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy, and an automated drop tensiometer for interfacial tension and elastic modulus determination with oscillating bubbles. NTAIL showed a significant surface activity, with a higher adsorption capacity at the A/W interface and penetration into egg phosphatidylcholine monolayer compared to lysozyme. Whereas lysozyme remains folded upon compression of the protein layer at the A/W interface and shows a quasi-pure elastic behavior, NTAIL shows a much higher molecular area and forms a highly viscoelastic film with a high dilational modulus. To our knowledge, a new disorder-to-order transition is thus observed for the NTAIL protein that folds into an antiparallel ß-sheet at the A/W interface and presents strong intermolecular interactions.

Microbubbles with a Self-Assembled Poloxamer Shell and a Fluorocarbon Inner Gas.

The numerous applications of microbubbles in food science and medicine call for a better understanding and control of the effects of the properties of their shells on their stability and ability to resonate at chosen frequencies when submitted to an ultrasound field. We have investigated both millimetric and micrometric bubbles stabilized by an amphiphilic block copolymer, Poloxamer 188 (e.g., Pluronic F-68). Although Pluronic F-68 is routinely being used as a dispersing and foaming agent to facilitate phospholipid-based microbubble preparation, it has never been studied as a shell component per se. First, we investigated the adsorption kinetics of Pluronic F-68 at the interface between water and air, or air saturated with vapors of perfluorohexane (F-hexane), using bubble profile tensiometry analysis. F-Hexane was found to strongly accelerate the adsorption of Pluronic F-68 (at low concentrations) and decrease the interfacial tension values at equilibrium (at all concentrations). We also found that relatively stable microbubbles could unexpectedly be prepared from Pluronic F-68 in the absence of any other surfactant, but only when F-hexane was present. These bubbles showed an only limited volume increase over ∼3 h, while a 10-fold increase in size occurred within 200 s in the absence of a fluorocarbon. Remarkably, their deflation rate decreased when the Pluronic F-68 concentration decreased, suggesting that bubbles with semidilute copolymer coverage are more stable than those more densely covered by copolymer brushes. Single-bubble experiments using laser Doppler vibratometry showed that, by contrast with other surfactant-coated microbubbles, the resonance radius of the Pluronic F-68-coated microbubbles was lower than that of naked microbubbles, meaning that they are less elastic. It was also found that the bubble's vibrational displacement amplitude decreased substantially when the microbubbles were covered with Pluronic F-68, an effect that was further amplified by F-hexane.

Microfluidic thin film pressure balance for the study of complex thin films.

Investigations of free-standing liquid films enjoy an increasing popularity due to their relevance for many fundamental and applied scientific problems. They constitute soap bubbles and foams, serve as membranes for gas transport or as model membranes in biophysics. More generally, they provide a convenient tool for the investigation of numerous fundamental questions related to interface- and confinement-driven effects in soft matter science. Several approaches and devices have been developed in the past to characterise reliably the thinning and stability of such films, which were commonly created from low-viscosity, aqueous solutions/dispersions. With an increasing interest in the investigation of films made from strongly viscoelastic and complex fluids that may also solidify, the development of a new generation of devices is required to manage reliably the constraints imposed by these formulations. We therefore propose here a microfluidic chip design which allows for the reliable creation, control and characterisation of free-standing films of complex fluids. We provide all technical details and we demonstrate the device functioning for a larger range of systems via a selection of illustrative examples, including films of polymer melts and gelling hydrogels.

Transfer of orlistat through oil-water interfaces.

The transfer of radiolabelled orlistat ([14C]orlistat), a potent gastrointestinal lipase inhibitor, through an oil-water interface from a single oil droplet to an aqueous phase was investigated, using an oil drop tensiometer. The absolute transfer fluxes were found to be very low, even in the presence of micellar concentrations of bile salts, which increased their values from 0.2 to 2.5 and 6.5 pmol cm(-2) min(-1) in the presence of 0, 4 and 15 mM NaTDC, respectively. Adding either a lipid emulsion or pure human pancreatic lipase (HPL) or human serum albumin or beta-lactoglobulin had no effect on the flux of transfer of orlistat. The presence of colipase or a mixture of colipase and HPL was found, however, to reduce the flux of orlistat transfer, probably because it partly covered the single oil drop surface, even in the presence of bile salts. Using a finely emulsified system, we investigated the partitioning of orlistat between the aqueous and oil phases, in the absence or presence of bile salts above their CMC (4 mM NaTDC, final concentration). Under these emulsified conditions, orlistat was found to be mostly associated with the oil phase, since more than 98.8% of the total radioactivity was recovered after decantation with the oil phase. The low transfer rates of orlistat, as well as its partitioning coefficient between the oil and the aqueous phases, should help us to better understand the inhibitory effects of orlistat on lipid digestion in humans.

A study of dilational rheological properties of polymers at interfaces.

Viscoelastic properties of two polymers, partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide and partially hydrolyzed modified polyacrylamide, widely used in chemical flooding in the petroleum industry, were investigated at three interfaces, water-air, water-dodecane, and water-crude oil, by means of a dilational method provided by I.T. Concept, France, at 85 degrees C. Polymer solutions were prepared in brine with 10,000 mg/l sodium chloride and 2000 mg/l calcium chloride. It has been shown that the viscoelastic modulus increases with the increment of polymer concentration in the range of 0-1500 mg/l at the water-air interface. Each polymer shows different viscoelatic behavior at different interfaces. Generally speaking, values of the viscoelastic modulus (E), the real part (E'), and the imaginary part (E") at the crude oil-water interface for each polymer are lower than at the air-water or water-dodecane interface. The two polymers display different interfacial properties at the same interface. Polymer No. 2 gives more viscous interfaces than polymer No. 1. All the information obtained from this paper will be helpful in understanding the interfacial rheology of ultra-high-molecular-weight polymer solutions.