Quartz crystal microbalance in soft and biological interfaces.

Applications of quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation to studying soft and biological interfaces are reviewed. The focus is primarily on data analysis through viscoelastic modeling and a model-free approach focusing on the acoustic ratio. Current challenges and future research and development directions are discussed.

Effect of Noise on Determining Ultrathin-Film Parameters from QCM-D Data with the Viscoelastic Model.

Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) is a well-established technique for studying soft films. It can provide gravimetric as well as nongravimetric information about a film, such as its thickness and mechanical properties. The interpretation of sets of overtone-normalized frequency shifts, ∆/, and overtone-normalized shifts in half-bandwidth, ΔΓ/, provided by QCM-D relies on a model that, in general, contains five independent parameters that are needed to describe film thickness and frequency-dependent viscoelastic properties.

A Multichannel Microfluidic Sensing Cartridge for Bioanalytical Applications of Monolithic Quartz Crystal Microbalance.

Integrating acoustic wave sensors into lab-on-a-chip (LoC) devices is a well-known challenge. We address this challenge by designing a microfluidic device housing a monolithic array of 24 high-fundamental frequency quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (HFF-QCMD) sensors. The device features six 6-µL channels of four sensors each for low-volume parallel measurements, a sealing mechanism that provides appropriate pressure control while assuring liquid confinement and maintaining good stability, and provides a mechanical, electrical, and thermal interface with the characterization electronics.

An ultrafast quartz crystal microbalance based on a frequency comb approach delivers sub-millisecond time resolution.

Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCMD) is a simple and versatile sensing technique with applications in a wide variety of academic and industrial fields, most notably electrochemistry, biophysics, quality control, and environmental monitoring. QCMD is limited by a relatively poor time resolution, which is of the order of seconds with conventional instrument designs at the noise level usually required. In this work, we present a design of an ultrafast QCMD with submillisecond time resolution.

BloodSurf 2017: News from the blood-biomaterial frontier.

From stents and large-diameter vascular grafts, to mechanical heart valves and blood pumps, blood-contacting devices are enjoying significant clinical success owing to the application of systemic antiplatelet and anticoagulation therapies. On the contrary, research into material and device hemocompatibility aimed at alleviating the need for systemic therapies has suffered a decline. This research area is undergoing a renaissance fueled by recent fundamental insights into coagulation and inflammation that are offering new avenues of investigation, the growing recognition of the limitations facing existing therapeutic approaches, and the severity of the cardiovascular disorders epidemic.

Pegylated poly(anhydride) nanoparticles for oral delivery of docetaxel.

The aim of this work was to investigate the potential of pegylated poly(anhydride) nanoparticles to enhance the oral bioavailability of docetaxel (DTX). Nanoparticles were prepared after the incubation between the copolymer of methyl vinyl ether and maleic anhydride (Gantrez® AN), poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG2000 or PEG6000) and docetaxel (DTX). The oral administration of a single dose of pegylated nanoparticles to mice provided sustained and prolonged therapeutic plasma levels of docetaxel for up 48-72 h.

When a transmembrane channel isn't, or how biophysics and biochemistry (mis)communicate.

Annexins are a family of soluble proteins that bind to acidic phospholipids such as phosphatidylserine in a calcium-dependent manner. The archetypical member of the annexin family is annexin A5. For many years, its function remained unknown despite the availability of a high-resolution structure.

Lipid phase behavior studied with a quartz crystal microbalance: A technique for biophysical studies with applications in screening.

Quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) is emerging as a versatile tool for studying lipid phase behavior. The technique is attractive for fundamental biophysical studies as well applications because of its simplicity, flexibility, and ability to work with very small amounts of material crucial for biomedical studies. Further progress hinges on the understanding of the mechanism, by which a surface-acoustic technique such as QCM, senses lipid phase changes.

Stirred, shaken, or stagnant: What goes on at the blood-biomaterial interface.

There is a widely recognized need to improve the performance of vascular implants and external medical devices that come into contact with blood by reducing adverse reactions they cause, such as thrombosis and inflammation. These reactions lead to major adverse cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes. Currently, they are managed therapeutically.

Platelet Immobilization on Supported Phospholipid Bilayers for Single Platelet Studies.

The worldwide cardiovascular disease (CVD) epidemic is of grave concern. A major role in the etiology of CVDs is played by the platelets (thrombocytes). Platelets are anuclear cell fragments circulating in the blood.

Subpopulations in purified platelets adhering on glass.

Understanding how platelet activation is regulated is important in the context of cardiovascular disorders and their management with antiplatelet therapy. Recent evidence points to different platelet subpopulations performing different functions. In particular, procoagulant and aggregating subpopulations have been reported in the literature in platelets treated with the GPVI agonists.

Differences in intracellular calcium dynamics cause differences in α-granule secretion and phosphatidylserine expression in platelets adhering on glass and TiO2.

In this study, the activation of purified human platelets due to their adhesion on glass and TiO2 in the absence of extracellular calcium was investigated. Differences in α-granule secretion between platelets adhering on the two surfaces were detected by examining the expression and secretion of the α-granule markers P-selectin (CD62P) and β-thromboglobulin. Similarly, differences in the expression of phosphatidylserine (PS), and in the activation of the major integrin GPIIb/IIIa, on the surfaces of the adhering platelets, were also observed.

New horizons in platelet research: understanding and harnessing platelet functional diversity.

Recent years have been ripe with discoveries of non-haemostatic platelet functions. This led to the appreciation of the significant, previously unknown, role played by the platelets in various pathologies and regenerative processes. As a result, exciting opportunities for clinical applications in fields as diverse as regenerative medicine and cancer treatment are emerging.

The sweeter aspects of platelet activation: A lectin-based assay reveals agonist-specific glycosylation patterns.

Background: The diversity of platelet functions implies multiple activation states arising in response to different stimuli. Distinguishing between these states has been challenging.

Methods: We used fluorescently labelled carbohydrate binding proteins lectins to investigate agonist-induced changes in platelet surface glycosylation.

Nanoscale departures: excess lipid leaving the surface during supported lipid bilayer formation.

The behavior of small liposomes on surfaces of inorganic oxides remains enigmatic. Under appropriate conditions it results in the formation of supported lipid bilayers (SLBs). During this process, some lipids leave the surface (desorb).

Label-free characterization of biomembranes: from structure to dynamics.

We review recent progress in the study of the structure and dynamics of phospholipid membranes and associated proteins, using novel label-free analytical tools. We describe these techniques and illustrate them with examples highlighting current capabilities and limitations. Recent advances in applying such techniques to biological and model membranes for biophysical studies and biosensing applications are presented, and future prospects are discussed.

Hemocompatibility study of a bacterial cellulose/polyvinyl alcohol nanocomposite.

Bacterial cellulose (BC) has been suggested to be a suitable biomaterial for the development of cardiovascular grafts. The combination of BC with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) results in nanocomposites with improved properties. Surprisingly, there are very few studies on the BC-blood interaction.

Unraveling supported lipid bilayer formation kinetics: osmotic effects.

Solid-supported lipid bilayers are used as cell membrane models and form the basis of biomimetic and biosensor platforms. The mechanism of their formation from adsorbed liposomes is not well-understood. Using membrane-permeable solute glycerol, impermeable solutes sucrose and dextran, and a pore forming peptide melittin, we studied experimentally how osmotic effects affect the kinetics of the adsorbed liposome-to-bilayer transition.

Time-dependent release of growth factors from implant surfaces treated with plasma rich in growth factors.

Plasma rich in growth factors (PRGFs) technology is an autologous platelet-rich plasma approach that provides a pool of growth factors and cytokines that have been shown to increase tissue regeneration and accelerate dental implant osseointegration. In this framework, the spatiotemporal release of growth factors and the establishment of a provisional fibrin matrix are likely to be key aspects governing the stimulation of the early phases of tissue regeneration around implants. We investigated the kinetics of growth factor release at implant surfaces functionalized either with PRGFs or platelet-poor plasma and correlated the results obtained with the morphology of the resulting interfaces.

Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry with principal component analysis of titania-blood plasma interfaces.

Treatment of osseoimplant surfaces with autologous platelet-rich plasma prepared according to the plasma rich in growth factors (PRGF-Endoret) protocol prior to implantation yields promising results in the clinic. Our objective is to understand the organization of complex interfaces between blood plasma preparations of various compositions and model titania surfaces. Here we present the results of the morphological and chemical characterization of TiO(2) surfaces incubated with four types of blood plasma preparations devoid of leukocytes and red blood cells: either enriched in platelets (PRGF-Endoret) or platelet-depleted, and either activated with CaCl(2) to induce clotting, or not.

Platelet activation profiles on TiO2: effect of Ca2+ binding to the surface.

Surface ion equilibrium is hypothesized to play an important role in defining the interactions between foreign materials and biological systems. In this study, we compare two surfaces with respect to their ability to activate adhering platelets. One is a commonly used implant material TiO(2), which binds Ca(2+), and the other one is glass, which does not.

Adsorbed liposome deformation studied with quartz crystal microbalance.

Deformation of surface-adsorbed liposomes is an important parameter that governs the kinetics of their transformations, but one that is very difficult to measure in the case of nm-size liposomes. We investigate the deformation of dimyristoyl phosphatidyl choline liposomes by quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) as a function of temperature and show that it follows the dependence of this lipid's bending modulus on temperature, as expected from theoretical considerations. To corroborate our approach, we model QCM response from adsorbed liposomes by explicitly considering their shape and mechanical properties.