The role of water in reactions catalysed by hydrolases under conditions of molecular crowding.

Under macromolecular crowding (MC) conditions such as cellular, extracellular, food and other environments of biotechnological interest, the thermodynamic activity of the different macromolecules present in the system is several orders of magnitude higher than in dilute solutions. In this state, the diffusion rates are affected by the volume exclusion induced by the crowders. Immiscible liquid phases, which may arise in MC by liquid-liquid phase separation, may induce a dynamic confinement of reactants, products and/or enzymes, tuning reaction rates.

Nanoarchitectonic approaches for measuring the catalytic behavior of a membrane anchored enzyme. From Langmuir-Blodgett to a novel Langmuir-Schaefer based nanofilm building device.

Self-organized lipid monolayers at the air-water interface (Langmuir films, LF) are commonly used for measuring the catalytic properties of membrane-bound enzymes. This methodology allows to provide a consistent flat topography molecular density, packing defects and thickness. The aim of the present work was to show the methodological advantages of using the horizontal transfer method (Langmuir-Schaefer) with respect to the vertical transfer method (Langmuir-Blodgett) when mounting a device to measure catalytic activity of membrane enzymes.

Combined in-silico and in-vitro experiments support acid-base equilibrium as a tool to estimate the localization depth of 4-nitrophenol within a phospholipid bilayer.

The interaction and location of 4-nitrophenol (PNP) in biomembranes are relevant in the bioaccumulation and potentiation of the intensive toxic effects of this persistent organic pollutant. In this work, in-silico analyses predicted that, in a fluid phospholipid bilayer, the minimum energy of the protonated (PNPH) and deprotonated (PNP) species is located within the glycerol and choline region, respectively. This was experimentally confirmed by acid-base equilibrium experiments and theory, allowing the estimation of the mean location of PNP within a bilayer region with a dielectric constant D = 50.

Sensing molecular organizational changes through the catalytic activity of acetylcholinesterase from erythrocyte membranes in Langmuir-Blodgett films.

Langmuir films prepared from bovine erythrocyte membranes (LF) were studied and transferred to alkylated glasses (Langmuir-Blodgett films, LB) in order to assess the effects of membrane molecular packing on Bovine Erythrocyte Acetylcholinesterase (BEA) catalytic activity. Surface pressure (π) vs Area isotherms showed three 2D-transitions at ~7, ~18 and ~44 mN/m and a collapse pressure at π = 49 mN/m. The 0-12-0 mN/m compression-decompression cycles resulted reversible while those 0-40-0 mN/m exhibited a significant hysteresis.

Molecular features of nonionic detergents involved in the binding kinetics and solubilization efficiency, as studied in model (Langmuir films) and biological (Erythrocytes) membranes.

The effect of the nonionic detergents Brij-98 and Brij-58 over human erythrocytes was studied through quantitative hemolysis and in Langmuir films. Hemolytic tests revealed that Brijs are stronger membrane solubilizers than Triton X-100 (TX-100), with effective detergent/lipid ratios of 0.18 and 0.

Langmuir films of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylethanolamine grafted poly(ethylene glycol). In-situ evidence of surface aggregation at the air-water interface.

The molecular packing-dependent interfacial organization of polyethylene glycol grafted dipalmitoylphosphatidylethanolamine (PE-PEGs) Langmuir films was studied. The PEG chains covered a wide molecular mass range (350, 1000 and 5000Da). In surface pressure-area (π-A), isotherms PE-PEG and PE-PEG showed transitions (midpoints at π∼11mN/m, "t1"), which appeared as a long non-horizontal line region.

Water and membrane dynamics in suspensions of lipid vesicles functionalized with poly(ethylene glycol)s.

The present work was aimed at studying the molecular dynamics at different levels of model membranes having a simulated glycoclix, with focus on the molecular crowding conditions at the lipid-water interfacial region. Thus, binary mixtures of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (dpPC) and a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG(n)) derivative of dipalmitoylphosphatidylethanolamine (PE) (where n = 350, 1000, and 5000, respectively, refer to PEG molecular masses) were submitted to (1)H spin-lattice relaxation time (T1) and (31)P NMR spectra analysis. (1)H NMR relaxation times revealed two contributing components in each proton system (PEG, phospholipids, and water), for all the mixtures studied, exhibiting values of T1 with very different orders of magnitude.

1H and 2H NMR spin-lattice relaxation probing water: PEG molecular dynamics in solution.

Nuclear magnetic resonance spin-lattice relaxation times (T(1)) measurements were performed in aqueous solutions of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) of 6000 Da molecular mass to study the dynamical relation between PEG and water molecules at different solute concentrations. (1)H-T(1) experiments were carried on at a low magnetic field in the time domain (20 MHz) and at a high field (400 MHz) to obtain spectral resolution. Two contributing components were identified in each proton system, PEG and water, presenting values of T(1) with very different orders of magnitude.

Langmuir films from human placental membranes: preparation, rheology, transfer to alkylated glasses, and sigmoidal kinetics of alkaline phosphatase in the resultant Langmuir-Blodgett film.

In the present study, we studied the activity of human placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP) constraint in a planar surface in controlled molecular packing conditions. For the first time, Langmuir films (LFs) were prepared by the spreading of purified placental membranes (PPM) on the air-water interface and their stability and rheological properties were studied. LFs exhibited a collapse pressure pi(C) = 48 mN/m, hysteresis during the compression-decompression cycle (C-D), indicating a plastic deformation, and a compressibility modulus (K) compatible with liquid-expanded phases.

Molecular packing tunes the activity of Kluyveromyces lactis beta-galactosidase incorporated in Langmuir-Blodgett films.

Functional consequences of constraining beta-Gal in bidimensional space were studied at defined molecular packing densities and constant topology. Langmuir-Blodgett films, LB15 and LB35 composed of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine and K. lactis beta-Gal, were obtained by transferring Langmuir films (L) initially packed at 15 and 35 mN/m, respectively, to alkylated glasses.

The lipid-mediated hypothesis of fumonisin B1 toxicodynamics tested in model membranes.

The disruption of lipidic metabolism was considered a good candidate to explain FB1 toxicity mechanism. In the present work we investigated molecular organizational changes induced by FB1-biomembrane interaction possibly involved in mycotoxic effects. FB1 was self-aggregated with a critical micellar concentration of 1.