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Using a new phase-contrast microscopy-based method of analysis, sedimentation has recently been demonstrated to be the major mass transport mechanism of bacteria towards substratum surfaces in a parallel plate flow chamber (J. Li, H.J. Busscher, W. Norde, J. Sjollema, Colloid Surf. B. 84 (2011)76). Here we describe a novel method for enumerating adhesion of fluorescent bacteria in a parallel plate flow chamber that allows direct imaging of the bacterial distribution along the length of the flow chamber, as caused by sedimentation. Imaging of fluorescence was done using macroscopic bio-optical imaging of the entire flow chamber, including top and bottom plates as well as of the flowing suspension in between. An algorithm is forwarded that allows to separate the fluorescence arising from the suspension and bottom plate and at the same time determines the single cell fluorescence from which the bacterial distribution over the entire bottom plate can be visualized. Enumeration of the numbers of bacteria adhering to the center of the glass bottom plate for a fluorescent Staphylococcus aureus strain was found to coincide with enumerations using phase-contrast microscopy. Moreover, due to the use of macroscopic bio-optical imaging, it was found that the number of adhering staphylococci increases linearly with distance from the inlet of the flow chamber, which could be explained from a simplified mass balance of convection, sedimentation and blocking near the bottom plate of the flow chamber.

Food Colloids: Self-Assembly and Material Science describes new developments in the theory and practice of the formulation of food emulsions, dispersions, gels and foams. Particular emphasis is placed on the self-assembly of surfactants and biopolymers in food. Topics include colloid science in food nutrition and the relationship of texture to sensory perception of food materials, the exploitation of surfactant mesophases for nanoscale encapsulation, the interfacial rheological properties of mixed interfaces, and the electrostatic interactions of proteins with polysaccharides. This authoritative book will serve as a guide and reference to researchers in the field of food colloids.

The adsorption of trypsin onto polystyrene and silica surfaces was investigated by reflectometry, spectroscopic methods, and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The affinity of trypsin for the hydrophobic polystyrene surface was higher than that for the hydrophilic silica surface, but steady-state adsorbed amounts were about the same at both surfaces. The conformational characteristics of trypsin immobilized on silica and polystyrene nanospheres were analyzed in situ by circular dichroism and fluorescence spectroscopy. Upon adsorption the trypsin molecules underwent structural changes at the secondary and tertiary level, although the nature of the structural alterations was different for silica and polystyrene surfaces. AFM imaging of trypsin adsorbed on silica showed clustering of enzyme molecules. Rinsing the silica surface resulted in 20% desorption of the originally adsorbed enzyme molecules. Adsorption of trypsin on the surface of polystyrene was almost irreversible with respect to dilution. After adsorption on silica the enzymatic activity of trypsin was 10 times lower, and adsorbed on polystyrene the activity was completely suppressed. The trypsin molecules that were desorbed from the sorbent surfaces by dilution with buffer regained full enzymatic activity.

The thermal denaturation of endo-ß-1,3-glucanase from the hyperthermophilic microorganism Pyrococcus furiosus was studied by calorimetry. The calorimetric profile revealed two transitions at 109 and 144¿°C, corresponding to protein denaturation and complete unfolding, respectively, as shown by circular dichroism and fluorescence spectroscopy data. Calorimetric studies also showed that the denatured state did not refold to the native state unless the cooling temperature rate was very slow. Furthermore, previously denatured protein samples gave well-resolved denaturation transition peaks and showed enzymatic activity after 3 and 9¿months of storage, indicating slow refolding to the native conformation over time.

The temporo-spatial development of plaque is governed by adhesive interactions between different co-aggregating bacterial strains and species. Physico-chemically, these interactions are due to attractive Lifshitz-Van der Waals and acid-base forces, and occur despite electrostatic repulsion and with a critical influence of temperature. The forces between co-aggregating and non-co-aggregating pairs have never been measured, however. The aim here, thus, is to investigate, by atomic force microscopy, whether there is a difference in interactive forces between co-aggregating and non-co-aggregating bacterial pairs at 10 degrees C, 22 degrees C, and 40 degrees C. Actinomyces naeslundii 147 was immobilized on poly-L-lysine-coated tipless AFM cantilevers, while streptococci were immobilized on poly-L-lysine-coated glass surfaces. Upon approach, a repulsive force was measured, regardless of whether a co-aggregating or non-co-aggregating pair was involved. However, upon retraction, the co-aggregating pair exhibited larger adhesive forces and energies than did the non-co-aggregating pair. Adhesive interactions between the co-aggregating pair were smallest at 40 degrees C.

The adsorption of human insulin to Teflon particles was studied with respect to conformational changes and the reversibility of adsorption was examined by total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF). Adsorption isotherms for the adsorption of human insulin indicated high affinity adsorption, even at electrostatic repulsive conditions. The plateau value for adsorption was in accordance with a protein layer consisting primarily of insulin monomers. Conformational changes of the insulin upon adsorption, was investigated by circular dicroism (CID) and fluorescence spectroscopy. The results suggested unfolding of adsorbed insulin, as observed by a decrease in alpha-helix and increase in random coil conformation. The changes in protein structure was not only related to the adsorbed species being monomeric, since CD and fluorescence results were different for adsorbed insulin compared to a monomeric analog of human insulin. Furthermore, the thermal stability in the adsorbed state was changed compared to insulin in solution. On the basis of the TIRF studies with FITC-labelled insulin it was not possible to firmly conclude whether exchange between human insulin in the adsorbed state and in solution takes place, due to the limited time range investigated. However, the desorption mechanism appeared to be different with unlabelled insulin in the bulk solution compared to phosphate buffer. (C) 2005 Elsevier B,V. All rights reserved.

Biofilm formation on biomaterials implant surfaces and subsequent infectious complications are a frequent reason for failure of many biomedical devices, such as total hip arthroplasties, vascular catheters and urinary catheters. The development of a biofilm is initiated by the formation of a conditioning film of adsorbed macromolecules, such as proteins, followed by adhesion of microorganisms, where after they grow and anchor through secretion of extracellular polymeric substances. Adhesion of microorganisms is influenced by the physico-chemical properties of the biomaterial surface. Positively charged materials stimulate bacterial adhesion, but prevent growth of adhering bacteria. The use of low surface free energy materials did not always reduce in vitro adhesion of bacteria, but has been found beneficial in in vivo applications where fluctuating shear forces prevail, like on intra-oral devices and urine catheters. Polymer brushes have shown a very high reduction in in vitro adhesion of a great variety of microorganisms. However, for clinical application, the long term stability of polymer brushes is still a limiting factor. Further effort is therefore required to enhance the stability of polymer brushes on biomaterial implant surfaces to facilitate clinical use of these promising coatings

The dynamic behavior of an endoglucanase from the hyperthermophilic microorganism Pyrococcus furiosus was investigated using elastic neutron scattering. The temperature dependence of the atomic motions was correlated with conformational. and functional characteristics of the enzyme. The onset of biological function at temperatures higher than approximately 25 degrees C (the hyperthermostable enzyme is essentially inactive at room temperature) was associated with a dynamical transition in the anharmonic motions domain. This transition from the nonactive to the enzymatically active conformation involved structurally similar conformational substates in the energy landscape. From the mean-square displacement of the protein atoms, the molecular flexibility and the effective force constants were calculated at different temperature zones. The results showed that the activity increases at higher temperatures where the intramolecular bonds are weakened and the overall rigidity of the protein is decreased. Further temperature increase resulted in significantly increased atomic fluctuations featuring heat denaturation of the protein.

The overall protein adsorption process comprises various steps or stages: transport of the protein from the bulk solution into the interfacial region, attachment of the protein at the sorbent surface and relaxation of the protein on the surface, detachment from the surface, and transport back into the solution.(1&2) Fig. 1 schematically shows the dynamics of the protein molecules moving from the solution to the surface and back: They continuously exchange between the adsorbed and the dissolved states. During relaxation, the protein-surface interactions are optimized, usually by some degree of spreading (unfolding) of the adsorbed protein molecules. The conformational changes involved in this step affect the biological functioning of the adsorbed molecules. For instance, the perturbation provoked by the sorbent surface largely modifies the activity of some enzymes(3) and antibodies(4) in the adsorbed state. Thus the occurrence of an interface and its consequences for the biological activity of proteins are of significant importance in biomedicine, food processing, environmental science, biotechnological applications, and analytical procedures. Depending on the extent of spreading the protein molecules undergo during relaxation, they may detach more or less readily from the sorbent surface. If detached, the question arises whether or not the protein molecules readopt their native conformation in solution.

Chemical and structural complexity of bacterial cell surfaces complicate accurate quantification of cell surfaces properties. The presence of fibrils, fimbriae or other surface appendages on bacterial cell surfaces largely influence those properties and would therefore play a major function in interfacial phenomena as aggregation and adhesion. The electrophoretic softness and fixed charge density in the polyelectrolyte layer of nine Streptococcus mitis strains, usually carrying long sparsely distributed fibrils, were determined by the soft particle analysis using measured electrophoretic mobilities as a function of the ionic strength. In general, S. mitis cell surfaces are electrophoretically soft (1.0-2.5 nm) with a fixed negative charge density of -1.2 to -4.3 x 10(6) Cm-3. Further, a comparison with surfaces of other bacterial strains that are reported to be soft indicates that the Ohshima soft layer model does not provide information on the surface morphology causing the softness. The most likely reason is that the electroosmotic flow occurs only in the very outer region of thick extracellular surface layers. Nevertheless, determining the surface softness is essential for proper characterization of the cell surface electrostatics.

The effect of differences in the degree of hydrophobicity of protein patches/fragments on the adsorption behaviour of the protein is investigated. The adsorption isotherm of a monoclonal mouse anti-human immunoglobulin G (isotype 2b) onto hydrophobic Teflon particles is measured using a depletion method. The adsorption-induced denaturation of the immunoglobulin as a function of the adsorbed amount is studied by differential scanning calorimetry, and the corresponding rearrangements in the secondary structure of the whole IgG molecule and its F-ab and F-c fragments are determined by circular dichroism spectroscopy. The effects of adsorption on the F-ab and F-c fragments in the intact IgG molecule occur independently. Adsorption of the whole IgG molecule leads to denaturation of the F-ab fragments, whereas the F-c fragment remains unperturbed; adsorption of the isolated fragments results in structural changes in both F-ab and F-c. The surface hydrophobicity of the isolated fragments was studied by HPLC. These experiments support the hypothesis that differences in the degree of denaturation between F-ab and F-c are due to the higher degree of hydrophobicity of the F-ab fragment. The adsorption-induced changes in the secondary structure are more prominent for the isolated fragments as compared to intact IgG. This is ascribed to the higher flexibility of the isolated fragment, as compared to the fragment in the whole molecule. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.