Publications by authors named "Debora Martino"

The antimicrobial photodynamic activity (aPDA) in fungal and bacterial strains of supramolecular adducts formed between the anionic photosensitizer (PS) Rose Bengal (RB) and aromatic polycations derived from (-vinylbenzyl)triethylammonium chloride was evaluated. Stable supramolecular adducts with dissociation constants ≈ 5 μM showed photosensitizing properties suitable for generating singlet oxygen (Φ = 0.5 ± 0.

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DNA - bioinspired polyelectrolytes poly[vinylbenzylthymine (VBT)-4-vinylbenzyltriethylammonium chloride (VBA)] and poly[vinylbenzylthymine (VBT)-4-vinylphenylsufonate (VPS)] were used for the preparation of hollow microcapsules (HMC) using the layer-by-layer method and CaCO microspheres as removable molds. Stable aqueous suspensions of spherical-shaped HMCs with a shell composed of six layers of VBA-based polyelectrolytes were obtained, of approximately (7.0±1.

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Atomistic molecular dynamic simulations were performed to study the structure of isolated VBT-VBA (vinylbenzylthymine-vinylbenzyltriethylammonium chloride) copolymer chains in water at different monomeric species ratios (1:1 and 1:4). The geometric parameters of the structure that the copolymers form in equilibrium together with the basic interactions that stabilize them were determined. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements of dried diluted concentrations of the two copolymers onto highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) substrates were carried out to study their aggregation arrangement.

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A series of glucose bioelectrodes were prepared by glucose oxidase (GOx) immobilization into laponite hydrogel films containing DNA bioinspired polycations made of vinylbenzyl thymine (VBT) and vinylbenzyl triethylammonium chloride (VBA) with general formulae (VBT)m(VBA)n](n+)≈25 with m=0, 1 and n=2, 4, 8, deposited onto glassy carbon electrode. The bioelectrodes were characterized by chronoamperometry, cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Results indicated that the electrochemical properties of the laponite hydrogel films were largely improved by the incorporation of thymine-based polycations, being proportional to the positive charge density of the polycation molecule.

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A meaningful characterization of the photo-induced curing process of materials based on styrene monomers functionalized with thymine and charged ionic groups was accomplished using FT-IR spectroscopy in combination with second-order multivariate calibration algorithms. The polymer composition as well as the irradiation dose effects on the photo-crosslinking of copolymer films was experimentally determined. Each FT-IR absorption spectra was decomposed into the contribution of individual species by means of chemometric algorithms.

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The Escherichia coli ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) catalyzes the conversion of nucleoside diphosphates to deoxynucleotides and requires a diferric-tyrosyl radical cofactor for catalysis. RNR is composed of a 1:1 complex of two homodimeric subunits: alpha and beta. Incubation of the E441Q-alpha mutant RNR with substrate CDP and allosteric effector TTP results in loss of the tyrosyl radical and formation of two new radicals on the 200 ms to min time scale.

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Here, we report a sensitization study on a family of water-soluble photopolymers based on thymine. The goal of this study was to determine whether the presence of sensitizer molecules would promote photocrosslinking/immobilization of the polymers using low-energy irradiation (520 nm) as compared to the UV irradiation (approximately 280 nm) necessary for the standard photoinduced process to take place. With the aid of Eosin Y Spirit Soluble (EY) as a sensitizer, water-soluble polystyrene copolymers of vinylbenzylthymine-vinylbenzyltriethylammonium chloride (VBT-VBA) were immobilized after exposure to visible irradiation.

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