Structural characterization of the interaction of the polyene antibiotic Amphotericin B with DODAB bicelles and vesicles

Amphotericin B (AmB) is widely used in the treatment of systemic fungal infections, despite its toxic effects. Nephrotoxicity, ascribed as the most serious toxic effect, has been related to the state of aggregation of the antibiotic. In search of the increase in AmB antifungal activity associated with low toxicity, several AmB-amphiphile formulations have been proposed. This work focuses on the structural characterization of a specific AmB formulation: AmB associated with sonicated dioctadecyl dimethylammonium bromide (DODAB) aggregates. Here, it was confirmed that sonicated DODAB dispersion is constituted by DODAB bicelles, and that monomeric AmB is much more soluble in bicelles than in DODAB vesicles. A new optical parameter is proposed for the estimation of the relative amount of amphiphile-bound monomeric AmB. With theoretical simulations of the spectra of spin labels incorporated in DODAB bicelles it was possible to prove that monomeric AmB binds preferentially to lipids located at the edges of DODAB bicelles, rigidifying them, and decreasing the polarity of the region. That special binding of monomeric AmB along the borders of bicelles, where the lipids are highly disorganized, could be used in the formulation of other carriers for the antibiotic, including mixtures of natural lipids which are known to form bicelles. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Characterization of DODAB/DPPC vesicles

Dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DODA B)/dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) large and cationic vesicles obtained by vortexing a lipid film in aqueous solution and above the mean phase transition temperature (T-m) are characterized by means of determination of phase behaviour, size distribution, zeta-potential analysis and colloid stability. The effect of increasing % DODAB over the 0-100% range was a nonmonotonic phase behaviour. At 50% DODAB, the mean phase transition temperature and the colloid stability were at maximum. There is an intimate relationship between stability of the bilayer structure and colloid stability. In 1, 50 and 150 mM NaCl, the colloid stability for pure DPPC or pure DODAB vesicles was very low as observed by sedimentation or flocculation, respectively. In contrast, at 50% DODAB, remarkable colloid stability was achieved in 1, 50 or 150 mM NaCl for the DODAB/DPPC composite vesicles. Vesicle size decreased but the zeta-potential remained constant with % DODAB, due to a decrease of counterion binding with vesicle size. This might be important for several biotechnological applications currently being attempted with cationic bilayer systems. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of Sonication on the Thermotropic Behavior of DODAB Vesicles Studied by Fluorescence Probe Solubilization

The effect of sonication on fluorescence probe solubilization in cationic vesicles of dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DODAB) was investigated by steady-state fluorescence of pyrene (Py), trans-diphenylpolyenes-diphenylbutadiene (DPB), diphenylhexatriene (DPH), and their corresponding 4,4'-dialkyl derivatives 4B4A and 4H4A fluorescence probes. The data indicate that sonication affects the bilayer polarity, the melting temperature (T (m)), and the cooperativity of the melting process due to changes in vesicle morphology. The effect of temperature on the fluorescence intensity and yielding I broken vertical bar(f) and anisotropy < r > shows that the ionizable probes 4B4A and 4H4A are solubilized close to the vesicle interfaces, whereas the non-ionizable DPH and DPB are deeper in the bilayers. Py solubilization indicates that sonicated vesicles exhibit less densely packed bilayers.

Interaction between Pluronic F127 and Dioctadecyldimethylammonium Bromide (DODAB) Vesicles Studied by Differential Scanning Calorimetry

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

DODAB and DODAC bilayer-like aggregates in the micromolar surfactant concentration domain

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

The role of counterion on the thermotropic phase behavior of DODAB and DODAC vesicles

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Tuning the nanostructure of DODAB/nickel tetrasulfonated phthalocyanine bilayers in LbL films

Nanostructured films of dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DODAB) and nickel tetrasulfonated phthalocyanine (NiTsPc) were layer-by-layer (LbL) assembled to achieve a synergistic effect considering the distinct properties of both materials. Prior to LbL growth, the effect of NiTsPc on the structure of DODAB vesicles in aqueous medium was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Therefore, DODAB/NiTsPc LbL films were prepared using NiTsPc at concentrations below and above the limit concentration of vesicle formation according to our DSC experiments. As a result, LbL films with distinct nanostructures were obtained, which were studied at micro and nanoscales by micro-Raman and atomic force microscopy, respectively. A linear growth of the LbL films was observed by ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy. However, the bilayer thickness and the surface morphology of the LbL films were radically affected depending on NiTsPc concentration. The electrostatic interaction between DODAB and NiTsPc was identified via Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) absorption spectroscopy as the main driving force responsible for LbL growth. Because LbL films have been widely applied as transducers in sensing devices, DODAB/NiTsPc LbL films having distinct nanostructures were tested as proof-of-principle in preliminary sensing experiments toward dopamine detection using impedance spectroscopy (e-tongue system). The real capacitance vs. dopamine concentration curves were treated using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and an equivalent electric circuit, revealing the role played by the LbL film nanostructure and the possibility of building calibration curves. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Fabricação e caracterização morfológica de filmes layer-by-layer de DODAB/FTALOCIANINA de níquel

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Interaction of gramicidin with DPPC/DODAB bilayer fragments

The interaction between the antimicrobial peptide gramicidin (Gr) and dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC)/dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DODAB) 1:1 large unilamellar vesicles (LVs) or bilayer fragments (BFs) was evaluated by means of several techniques. The major methods were: 1) Gr intrinsic fluorescence and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy; 2) dynamic light scattering for sizing and zeta-potential analysis; 3) determination of the bilayer phase transition from extrinsic fluorescence of bilayer probes; 4) pictures of the dispersions for evaluation of coloidal stability over a range of time and NaCl concentration. For Gr in LVs, the Gr dimeric channel conformation is suggested from: 1) CD and intrinsic fluorescence spectra similar to those in trifluoroethanol (TFE); 2) KCl or glucose permeation through the LVs/Gr bilayer. For Gr in BFs, the intertwined dimeric, non-channel Gr conformation is evidenced by CD and intrinsic fluorescence spectra similar to those in ethanol. Both LVs and BFs shield Gr tryptophans against quenching by acrylamide but the Stern-Volmer quenching constant was slightly higher for Gr in BFs confirming that the peptide is more exposed to the water phase in BFs than in LVs. The DPPC/DODAB/Gr supramolecular assemblies may predict the behavior of other antimicrobial peptides in assemblies with lipids. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

模拟生物膜的电化学研究

本文简要介绍了生物膜的组成、结构和一些基本性质，详细描述了各种生物膜模型（支撑磷脂双层膜、非支撑磷脂双层膜、泡囊等等）的制备方法。概要地总结了模拟生物膜的各个领域的研究情况，着重评述了模拟生物膜在电化学、生物传感器、膜片钳、图案化领域的研究进展。采用电化学、各种谱学以及扫描探针显微镜等方法对支撑双层磷脂膜、磷脂浇铸膜等不同的模拟生物膜体系进行了研究。主要结果如下：1．将一种支撑磷脂膜一杂化双层膜（Hbrid bilayerer membrane，HBM）首次用于钙离子与磷脂作用的研究，以Fe（CN）63-为探针，发现钙离子可诱导HBM产生离子通道，且通道的打开与关闭能反复运转，并用STM观察这一现象。2.Ru（bPy）32+的电化学发光法和电催化法被首先用于研究支持脂质双层膜（sBLM）的离子通道行为。高氯酸根可以诱导DODAB（dimethyldioctadecylammonium）产生离子通道行为。离子通道的产生存在着一个闺值，当高氯酸根阴离子的浓度超过0.1μM时离子通道打开，当浓度低于0.1μM时离子通道关闭。当高氯酸根离子浓度高于0.1μM时，被打开的离子通道的数量随着高氯酸根阴离子浓度的增加而增加，在1200μM时达到平衡。离子通道的打开和关闭行为是可逆的。在此基础上，研制了一种用于检测高氯酸根离子的传感器。3，用循环伏安法和交流阻抗法研究了稀土离子与支撑磷脂双层膜的相互作用．稀土离子可以影响支撑磷脂双层膜的结构，使之产生一些小孔，通过这些小孔Fe（CN）63/4可以到达电极表面，显示其电化学行为。Fe（CN）63／4-的氧化还原电流随着稀土离子的浓度的增加而变大，对于E矿＋当浓度达到1．2卿时，电流不再增加。发现三种稀土离子与膜作用的能力如下：Eu3+＞Th3＋＞La3＋。4．铁氰酸根离子通常被用来作离子通道传感器的标记物。在本项工作中，我们首次发现铁氰酸根离子本身也可以作为一种刺激物来控制玻碳电极上DDAB（一种合成磷脂）制备出的支撑双层磷脂膜的通透性。我们利用循环伏安、交流阻抗的方法来研究这种现象。支撑双层磷脂膜与铁氰化物的反应与时间有关。进一步地，我们研制了一种铁氰酸根离子传感器。这种离子通道响应灵敏度较高，它可以检测的铁氰化物的最小浓度为5μM。5．稳定的磷脂浇铸膜是通过把含磷脂的氯仿溶液浇铸到玻碳电极上制备的。我们把一种新的媒介质一去甲肾上腺素嵌入到这种磷脂浇铸膜中。磷脂浇铸膜可以被视为一种生物膜模型。用这个体系对抗坏血酸进行电催化氧化，与在裸玻碳电极上相比，阳极过电位降低了约250 mV。浇铸膜内去甲肾上腺素的电化学行为是受扩散控制的，其扩散系数是1.87×10-5cm2／s。在浓度为0.5-10 mmol／L的范围内，催化电流随抗坏血酸的浓度增大而呈线性增加。在同时含有抗坏血酸和尿酸的溶液中，我们用循环伏安法可以同时侧得两个峰，这两个峰之间的峰位差大约为147mV。6．卵磷脂泡囊和血红蛋白在热解石墨电极上制备的薄膜内，血红蛋白可以实现其直接电化学。血红蛋白在薄膜内表现出薄层电化学行为。其式电位E0在pH 3.5-7.0内随pH值直线变化，斜率为-46.4 mV/pH。磷脂膜内的血红蛋白对H2O2显示了很好的催化还原行为。基于此，研制了无媒介体的H2O2传感器。7．我们合成了一种人工磷脂（二甲基二（十二烷基）澳化钱，DDAB）保护的金纳米粒子。在这些金纳米粒子的促进下，血红蛋白可以表现出直接电子转移（DET）反应，其式电位位于-169mVvs Ag/AgCl参比电极。光谱数据表明电极上的血红蛋白没有变性。这种磷脂保护的金纳米粒子很稳定（至少8个月），它们的平均直径是6.42nm。这是首次应用单层膜保护的纳米粒子去实现蛋白质的直接电化学反应。8．我们在一种新的基底一碳电极上构建了杂化双层膜（HBM）。这是对其它基底上构建的HBM的一种扩展。首先，通过电化学扫描将烷基胺修饰在碳电极表面，使之在电极上形成单层膜。由于烷基链部分向外，因此所构筑的界面是疏水的。然后在碳电极的疏水表面铺展一层磷脂单层膜。所生成的HBM通过电化学和ATR-FTIR技术来表征。根据ATR-FTIR的结果，脂质的有序常数（S）为0.73。这种杂化膜具有磷脂／烷基硫醇HBM的优点。这种HBM在生物传感面具有潜在的应用。

Cationic Lipid Bilayer Coated Gold Nanoparticles-mediated Transfection of Mammalian Cells

Here, we demonstrated dimethyldioctadecylammonium bromide (DODAB), a cationic lipid, bilayer coated Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) could efficiently deliver two types of plasmid DNA into human embryonic kidney cells (HEK 293) in the presence of serum. The transfection efficiency of AuNPs was about five times higher than that of DODAB. The interaction of AuNPs with DNA was characterized with dye intercalation assay and agarose gel electrophoresis. The morphology of the complex of AuNPs with DNA was observed with scanning electron microscope (SEM). The intracellular trafficking of the complex was monitored with transmission electron microscope (TEM).

The effect of nocodazole on the transfection efficiency of lipid-bilayer coated gold nanoparticles

Nonviral vectors are safer than viral systems for gene therapy applications. However, the limited efficacy always prevents their being widely used in clinical practice. Aside from searching new gene nonviral vectors, many researchers focus on finding out new substances to improve the transfection efficiency of existent vectors. In this work, we found a transfection enhancer, nocodazole (NCZ), for dimethyldioctadecylammonium (DODAB, a cationic lipid) bilayer coated gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) mediated gene delivery. It was found that NCZ produces 3-fold transfection enhancement to HEK 293T cells assessed by flow cytometry (FCM). The result was further confirmed by luciferase assay, in which NCZ induced more than 5 times improvement in transfection efficiency after 48 h of transfection. The results from the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and FCM showed that NCZ did not affect the internalization of DODAB-AuNPs/DNA complexes. The trafficking of the complexes by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicated that the interrupted transportation of the complexes to the lysosomes contributed greatly to the transfection enhancement.

Growth of cationic lipid toward bilayer, lipid membrane by solution spreading: scanning probe microscopy study

The growth of cationic lipid dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DODAB) toward bilayer lipid membrane (BLM) by solution spreading on cleaved mica surface was studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Bilayer of DODAB was formed by exposing mica to a solution of DODAB in chloroform and subsequently immersing into potassium chloride solution for film developing. AFM studies showed that at the initial stage of the growth, the adsorbed molecules exhibited the small fractal-like aggregates. These aggregates grew up and expanded laterally into larger patches with time and experienced from monolayer to bilayer, finally a close-packed bilayer film (5.4 +/- 0.2 nm) was approached. AFM results of the film growth process indicated a growth mechanism of nucleation, growth and coalescence of dense submonolayer, it revealed the direct information about the film morphology and confirmed that solution spreading was an effective technique to prepare a cationic bilayer in a short time.

The lipid composition of a cell membrane modulates the interaction of an antiparasitic peptide at the air-water interface

The antiparasitic property of peptides is believed to be associated with their interactions with the protozoan membrane, which calls for research on the identification of membrane sites capable of peptide binding. In this study we investigated the interaction of a lipophilicglutathioine peptide known to be effective against the African Sleeping Sickness (ASS - African Trypanosomiasis) and cell membrane models represented by Langmuir monolayers. It is shown that even small amounts of the peptide affect the monolayers of some phospholipids and other lipids, which points to a significant interaction. The latter did not depend on the electrical charge of the monolayer-forming molecules but the peptide action was particularly distinctive for cholesterol + sphingomyelin monolayers that roughly resemble rafts on a cell membrane. Using in situ polarization-modulated infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS), we found that the orientation of the peptide is affected by the phospholipids and dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DODAB), but not in monolayers comprising cholesterol + sphingomyelin. In this mixed monolayer resembling rafts, the peptide still interacts and has some induced order, probably because the peptide molecules are fitted together into a compact monolayer. Therefore, the lipid composition of the monolayer modulates the interaction with the lipophilic glutathioine peptide, and this may have important implications in understanding how the peptide acts on specific sites of the protozoan membrane. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Novel immunoadjuvants based on cationic lipid: Preparation, characterization and activity in vivo

The interactions between three different protein antigens and dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DODAB) dispersed in aqueous solutions from probe sonication or adsorbed its one bilayer onto particles was comparatively investigated. The three model proteins were bovine serum albumin (BSA), purified 18 kDa/14 kDa antigens from Taenia crassiceps (18/14-Tcra) and a recombinant, heat-shock protein hsp-18 kDa from Mycobacterium leprae. Protein-DODAB complexes in water solution were characterized by dynamic light scattering for sizing and zeta-potential analysis. Cationic complexes (80-100 nm of mean hydrodynamic diameter) displayed sizes similar to those of DODAB bilayer fragments (BF) in aqueous solution and good colloid stability over a range of DODAB and protein concentrations. The amount of cationic lipid required for attaining zero of zeta-potential at a given protein amount depended on protein nature being smaller for 18 kDa/14 kDa antigens than for BSA. Mean diameters for DODAB/protein complexes increased, whereas zeta-potentials decreased with NaCl or protein concentration. In mice, weak IgG production but significant cellular immune responses were induced by the complexes in comparison to antigens alone or carried by aluminum hydroxide as shown from IgG in serum determined by ELISA, delayed type hypersensitivity reaction from footpad swelling tests and cytokines analysis. The novel cationic adjuvant/protein complexes revealed good colloid stability and potential for vaccine design at a reduced DODAB concentration. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.