Publications by authors named "Ewa Oblak"

Newly synthesized gemini quaternary ammonium salts (QAS) with different counterions (bromide, hydrogen chloride, methylcarbonate, acetate, lactate), chain lengths (C12, C14, C16) and methylene linker (3xCH) were tested. Dihydrochlorides and dibromides with 12 carbon atoms in hydrophobic chains were characterized by the highest biological activity against planktonic forms of yeast and yeast-like fungi. The tested gemini surfactants also inhibited the production of filaments by C.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Quaternary ammonium salts (QAS) are widely used in medicine, industry and agriculture as disinfectants, biocides, and fungicides. QAS have the ability to coat various surfaces, prevent adhesion of microorganisms to them and inhibit the formation of biofilm. A group of surfactants derived from benzoic acid with different chemical structures was tested: monomeric QAS with different alkyl chain lengths (C, C, C), gemini QAS containing 12-carbon alkyl chains and linkers of various lengths (3,4,6 methylene groups), as well as multifunctional QAS.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Quaternary ammonium salts (QAS) commonly occur as active substances in disinfectants. QAS have the important property of coating abiotic surfaces, which prevents adhesion of microorganisms, thus inhibiting biofilm formation. In this study, a group of nine monomeric QAS, differing in the structure and length of the aliphatic chain (C12, C14, C16) and the counterion (methylcarbonate, acetate, bromide), were investigated.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Our research aims to expand the knowledge on relationships between the structure of cationic dicephalic surfactants-N,N-bis[3,3_-(dimethylamine)propyl]alkylamide dihydrochlorides and N,N-bis[3,3_-(trimethylammonio)propyl]alkylamide dibromides (alkyl: n-C9H19, n-C11H23, n-C13H27, n-C15H31)-and their antifungal mechanism of action on Candida albicans. The mentioned groups of amphiphilic substances are characterized by the presence of a weak, hydrochloride cationic center readily undergoing deprotonation, as well as a stable, strong quaternary ammonium group and alkyl chains capable of strong interactions with fungal cells. Strong fungicidal properties and the role in creation and eradication of biofilm of those compounds were discussed in our earlier works, yet their mechanism of action remained unclear.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Quaternary ammonium salts (QASs) are ubiquitous in nature, being found in organisms ranging from microorganisms to vertebrates (e.g., glycine betaine, carnitine) where they have important cellular functions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Hypothesis: The excellent performance of zwitterionic alkylamide-type surfactants may be tuned by slight modifications of their structures, especially concerning linking groups between hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties and the moderation of strong NH hydrogen bonds via the introduction of a methyl group attached to the nitrogen.

Experiments: The influence of the structure of alkylamidehydroxysulfobetaine-type surfactants on their adsorption and micellization, lime soap dispersing ability, wettability, as well as antimicrobial and hemolytic activities was studied in this work. We synthesized a series of novel surfactants with labile CON(Me)CH or CHN(Me) CO spacers that were adjacent to the hydrophobic tail CH and separated from the zwitterionic hydroxysulfobetaine headgroup by CH or CH linkers, i.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Quaternary ammonium salts (QAS), as the surface active compounds, are widely used in medicine and industry. Their common application is responsible for the development of microbial resistance to QAS. To overcome, this issue novel surfactants, including gemini-type ones, were developed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We investigated the influence of the quaternary ammonium salt (QAS) called IM (N-(dodecyloxycarboxymethyl)- N,N,N-trimethyl ammonium chloride) on yeast cells of the parental strain and the IM-resistant mutant (EO25 IMR) growth. The phenotype of this mutant was pleiotropic. The IMR mutant exhibited resistance to ethanol, osmotic shock and oxidative stress, as well as increased sensitivity to UV.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The antibacterial activity of alanine-derived gemini quaternary ammonium salts (chlorides and bromides) with various spacer and alkyl chain lengths was investigated. The studied compounds exhibited a strong bactericidal effect, especially bromides with 10 and 12 carbon alkyl chains and 3 carbon spacer groups (TMPAL-10 Br and TMPAL-12 Br), with a short contact time. Both salts dislodged biofilms of and , and were lethal to adherent cells of Bromide with 2 carbon spacer groups and 12 carbon alkyl chains (TMEAL-12 Br) effectively reduced microbial adhesion by coating polystyrene and silicone surfaces.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A group of biodegradable alanine-derived gemini quaternary ammonium salts (bromides and chlorides) with various alkyl chains and spacer lengths was tested for anti-adhesive and anti-biofilm activity. The strongest antifungal activity was exhibited by bromides with 10 and 12 carbon atoms within hydrophobic chains (N,N'-bis(1-decyloxy-1-oxopronan-2-yl)-N,N,N',N'-tetramethylpropane-1,3-diammonium dibromide and N,N'-bis(1-dodecyloxy-1-oxopronan-2-yl)-N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethane-1,2-diammonium dibromide). It was also demonstrated that these gemini surfactants enhanced the sensitivity of Candida albicans to azoles (itraconazole and fluconazole) and polyenes (amphotericin B and nystatine).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Pleiotropic drug resistance is a complex phenomenon that involves many proteins that together create a network. One of the common mechanisms of multidrug resistance in eukaryotic cells is the active efflux of a broad range of xenobiotics through ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is often used as a model to study such activity because of the functional and structural similarities of its ABC transporters to mammalian ones.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A series of gemini quaternary ammonium salts (chlorides and bromides), with various hydrocarbon chain and spacer lengths, were tested. These compounds exhibited antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and were not mutagenic. The strongest antibacterial effect was observed for TMPG-10 Cl (against Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853) and TMPG-12 Br (against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538 and Escherichia coli ATCC 11229 and clinical ESBL(+) isolate 434) surfactants.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A series of gemini quaternary ammonium chlorides and bromides with various alkyl chain and spacer lengths was synthesized. The most active compounds against fungi were chlorides with 10 carbon atoms within the hydrophobic chain. Among these compounds were few with no hemolytic activity at minimal inhibitory concentrations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Changes in environmental conditions might be a stress factor for yeast cells. There are several mechanisms of stress tolerance, developed by the cell, which activate when the stress appears. Different transcription factors coordinate the expression of stress response genes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Multidrug resistance is a major problem in the treatment of infectious diseases caused by bacteria and fungi. One of the basic mechanisms of resistance is active efflux of distinct drugs from cells. Export of toxic compounds from bacterial cells is mediated by proteins of 5 distinct families: MF, SMR, ABC, RND and MATE.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Lysosomotropic agents have antitumor, antifungal and antimicrobial properties. These small, amphiphilic compounds, as weak bases, readily penetrate the lipid bilayer and diffuse into acidic subcellular compartments such as lysosomes or vacuoles. The mechanism of action of lysosomotropic compounds can be distinct, depending on their chemical structure and/or the kind of cells influenced.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Quaternary ammonium salts (QASs), especially those of cationic surfactant character, are applied as antibacterial and antifungal disinfectants. QASs affect lipid-enveloped viruses, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV), but not non-enveloped viruses. These compounds are extensively used in domestic (as ingredients of shampoos, hair conditioners), agricultural (as fungicides, pesticides, insecticides), healthcare (as medications), and industrial applications (as biocides, fabric softeners, corrosion inhibitors).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
[Gemini surfactants as gene carriers].

Postepy Hig Med Dosw (Online)

March 2010

Gemini surfactants are a new class of amphiphilic compounds built from two classic surfactant moieties bound together by a special spacer group. These compounds appear to be excellent for creating complexes with DNA and are effective in mediating transfection. Thanks to their construction, DNA carrier molecules built from gemini surfactants are able to deliver genes to cells of almost any DNA molecule size, unattainable when using viral gene delivery systems.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We investigated the action of the quaternary ammonium salt (QAS) called IM (N-(dodecyloxycarboxymethyl)-N,N,N-trimethyl ammonium chloride) on Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cells. Changes in the yeast cell ultrastructure were confirmed by electron microscopy. We treated resistant mutant cells with QAS, and confirmed destruction of the mutant cytoplasm, an increase in the thickness of the cell wall, separation of the cell wall from the cytoplasm, and the accumulation of numerous lipid droplets.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A set of oxalates of alpha-dimethylamino fatty acids n-alkyl esters (MEM-ns and n-MEM-8s) and n-dodecyl-N,N-dimethylalaninate (DMAL-12s) were synthesized. Their activities on the growth, transport, and ATPases from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae were compared. The compounds differ in the number of carbon atoms in their aliphatic chain and in the position of that chain in their molecular structure.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A series of cytotoxic neutral dicarboxylatoplatinum(II) complexes containing D(+), L(-) or DL-malate dianion and ethylenediamine or 1-ethylimidazole as ligands were examined using ATPase activity assays and the proton extrusion test. ATPase activity assays in vitro on plasma membrane H+-ATPase and on mitochondrial ATPase were carried out. The concentrations of compounds inhibiting enzyme activity to 50 per cent (J50) was determined.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Quaternary ammonium salts inhibited the growth of yeast especially at pH higher (pH 8) than optimal. It was postulated that compounds integrate with the cell membrane and interfere with its functions. The yeast cell ultrastructure investigated under an electron microscope confirms this hypothesis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A set of n-alkyl esters of N,N-dimethylglycine (DMG-n) and their methobromides (DMGM-n) was synthesized, and their activities on yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae were compared. The compounds differ in the number of carbon atoms in the aliphatic chain. Aminoesters with 12 carbon atoms appeared to be most active.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF