New insight into the aptamer conformation and aptamer/protein interaction by surface-enhanced Raman scattering and multivariate statistical analysis.

We study the interaction between one aptamer and its analyte (the MnSOD protein) by the combination of surface-enhanced Raman scattering and multivariate statistical analysis. We observe the aptamer structure and its evolution during the interaction under different experimental conditions (in air or in buffer). Through the spectral treatment by principal component analysis of a large set of SERS data, we were able to probe the aptamer conformations and orientations relative to the surface assuming that the in-plane nucleoside modes are selectively enhanced.

Conformational Changes and Charge Transfer in Biomolecules Resolved Using Dynamic Enhanced Raman Correlation Spectroscopy.

In this contribution, we report that conformational changes of molecules that are often buried in a wide-distributed Gaussian distribution can be discerned by analyzing the dynamics of specific Raman lines. We investigate the pertinence of the auto- and cross-correlation functions applied to the dynamics of three Raman lines of an amino acid, the tryptophan. The cross-correlation between intensity and the Raman band is an indicator of the charge transfer during the diffusion limited reaction of tryptophan and the gold surface.

Spectral pointillism of enhanced Raman scattering for accessing structural and conformational information on single protein.

In this contribution, we provide new insights on the temporal fluctuations of surface enhanced Raman spectra (SERS) of large single molecules such as proteins. Because they can only fit partly into small active volume, SERS analysis is referred to spectral pointillism where only protein subdomains are shined and the whole protein landscape is built from the dynamics of successive individual spectra. By applying our approach on bovine serum albumin, we show that single protein subdomains are mostly comprised of three distinct amino acids.

Sorting of Single Biomolecules based on Fourier Polar Representation of Surface Enhanced Raman Spectra.

Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy becomes increasingly used in biosensors for its capacity to detect and identify single molecules. In practice, a large number of SERS spectra are acquired and reliable ranking methods are thus essential for analysing all these data. Supervised classification strategies, which are the most effective methods, are usually applied but they require pre-determined models or classes.

Combined atomic force microscopy and spectroscopic ellipsometry applied to the analysis of lipid-protein thin films.

Pulmonary surfactant is a complex mixture of phospholipids and proteins and forms a thin film at the lung alveolar interface separating air from liquid environment. The film reduces the work of breathing during repeatable compressions of the alveoli which form a characteristic multilayer upon compression. In this work, we investigated the structure of bovine lipid extract surfactant (BLES).

Influence of the number of nanoparticles on the enhancement properties of surface-enhanced Raman scattering active area: sensitivity versus repeatability.

In the present work, the combination of chemical immobilization with electron beam lithography enables the production of sensitive and reproducible SERS-active areas composed of stochastic arrangements of gold nanoparticles. The number of nanoparticles was varied from 2 to 500. Thereby a systematic analysis of these SERS-active areas allows us to study SERS efficiency as a function of the number of nanoparticles.

Effect of cholesterol on electrostatics in lipid-protein films of a pulmonary surfactant.

We report the changes in the electrical properties of the lipid-protein film of pulmonary surfactant produced by excess cholesterol. Pulmonary surfactant (PS) is a complex lipid-protein mixture that forms a molecular film at the interface of the lung's epithelia. The defined molecular arrangement of the lipids and proteins of the surfactant film gives rise to the locally highly variable electrical surface potential of the interface, which becomes considerably altered in the presence of cholesterol.

Tuning of an optical dimer nanoantenna by electrically controlling its load impedance.

Optical antennas are elementary units used to direct optical radiation to the nanoscale. Here we demonstrate an active control over individual antenna performances by an external electrical trigger. We find that by an in-plane command of an anisotropic load medium, the electromagnetic interaction between individual elements constituting an optical antenna can be controlled, resulting in a strong polarization and tuning response.

Measurement of Mechanical Properties of Cantilever Shaped Materials.

Microcantilevers were first introduced as imaging probes in Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) due to their extremely high sensitivity in measuring surface forces. The versatility of these probes, however, allows the sensing and measurement of a host of mechanical properties of various materials. Sensor parameters such as resonance frequency, quality factor, amplitude of vibration and bending due to a differential stress can all be simultaneously determined for a cantilever.

Atomic force microscopy to study interacting forces in phospholipid bilayers containing general anesthetics.

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) can be used to reveal intimate details about the effect of anesthetics on phospholipid bilayers. In AFM, surfaces are probed using a tip revealing lateral structural features at 10-20-nm resolution and height features at 0.5-nm resolution.

Measurements of thickness dispersion in biolayers by scanning force microscopy and comparison with spectroscopic ellipsometry analysis.

Measuring the thickness of biological films remains a difficult task when using differential measurements by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The use of microstructured substrates combined with a selective adsorption constitutes an alternative to tribological measurements. The statistical thickness analysis of biological layers, especially via the dispersion measurements, can provide a way to quantify the molecular orientation.

Adhesive interaction measured between AFM probe and lung epithelial type II cells.

The toxicity of inhaled nanoparticles entering the body through the lung is thought to be initially defined by the electrostatic and adhesive interaction of the particles with lung's wall. Here, we investigated the first step of the interaction of nanoparticles with lung epithelial cells using atomic force microscope (AFM) as a force apparatus. Nanoparticles were modeled by the apex of the AFM tip and the forces of interaction between the tip and the cell analyzed over time.

Effect of cholesterol on the physical properties of pulmonary surfactant films: atomic force measurements study.

Atomic force measurements were performed on supported pulmonary surfactant (PS) films to address the effect of cholesterol on the physical properties of lung surfactant films. We recently found that cholesterol in excess of a physiological proportion abolishes surfactant function, and is the reason that surfactant fails to lower the surface tension upon compression. In this study, we investigated how the loss of mechanical stability observed earlier is related to the local mechanical properties of the film by local force measurements.

DNA nanofilm thickness measurement on microarray in air and in liquid using an atomic force microscope.

The measurement of the thickness of DNA films on microarray as a function of the medium (liquid, air) is gaining importance for understanding the signal response of biosensors. Thiol group has been used to attach DNA strands to gold micropads deposited on silicon surface. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was employed in its height mode to measure the change in the pad thickness and in its force mode to measure the indentation depth of the nanofilm.

Mapping the 3D-surface strain field of patterned tensile stainless steels using atomic force microscopy.

The quantification of microstructural strains at the surface of materials is of major importance for understanding the reactivity of solids. The present paper aims at demonstrating the potentialities of the atomic force microscopy (AFM) for mapping the three-dimensional surface strain field on patterned tensile specimens. Electron beam (e-beam) lithography has been used to deposit 16 x 16 arrays of gold-squared pads.

Surface plasmon near-field imaging of very thin microstructured polymer layers.

We report on the near-field imaging of microstructured polymer layers deposited on an homogeneous metal thin film on which a surface plasmon mode is excited. The microstructures in the polymer layers are designed by electron beam lithography, and the near-field imaging is performed with a photon scanning tunneling microscope (PSTM). We show that, despite their very small height, the microstructures can be conveniently imaged with a PSTM thanks to the field enhancement at the surface of the metal thin film supporting the surface plasmon.

Direct measurement of the melting temperature of supported DNA by electrochemical method.

The development of biosensors based on DNA hybridization requires a more precise knowledge of the thermodynamics of the hybridization at a solid interface. In particular, the selectivity of hybridization can be affected by a lot of parameters such as the single-strand (ss)DNA density, the pH, the ionic strength or the temperature. The melting temperature, T(m), is in part a function of the ionic strength and of the temperature and therefore provides a useful variable in the control of the selectivity and sensitivity of a DNA chip.

Performance of interdigitated nanoelectrodes for electrochemical DNA biosensor.

An electrochemical methodology for bio-molecule sensing using an array of well-defined nanostructures is presented. We describe the fabrication by e-beam lithography of nanoelectrodes consisting of a 100 micro m x 50 micro m area containing interdigitated electrodes of 100 nm in width and interelectrode distance of 200 nm. Sensitivity and response time of the nanoelectrodes are compared to the responses of macro- and microelectrodes.

Monitoring the chemical changes in Pd induced by hydrogen absorption using microcantilevers.

The reactivity of the palladium shaped as a microcantilever is investigated as a function of the hydrogen stoichiometry. A small cell holding the microcantilever is designed to monitor the deflection and the flexural resonance response from high vacuum to a hydrogen gas pressure of several bars. The measurements show that the Young's modulus is accurate if the cantilever is thick enough to be described by a continuum mechanics approach.

Effects of temperature and pressure on microcantilever resonance response.

The variation in resonance response of microcantilevers was investigated as a function of pressure (10(-2)-10(6)Pa) and temperature (290-390K) in atmospheres of helium (He) and dry nitrogen (N(2)). Our results for a silicon cantilever under vacuum show that the frequency varies in direct proportion to the temperature. The linear response is explained by the decrease in Young's modulus with increasing the temperature.