Size dependence of gold nanoparticle interactions with a supported lipid bilayer: A QCM-D study.

Knowledge of nanoparticle (NP)-membrane interactions is important to advances in nanomedicine as well as for determining the safety of NPs to humans and the ecosystem. This study focuses on a unique mechanism of cytotoxicity, cell membrane destabilization, which is principally dependent on the nanoparticle nature of the material rather than on its molecular properties. We investigated the interactions of 2, 5, 10, and 40nm gold NPs with supported lipid bilayer (SLB) of L-α-phosphatidylcholine using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D).

Differentiating antimicrobial peptides interacting with lipid bilayer: Molecular signatures derived from quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring.

Many antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) kill bacteria by disrupting the lipid bilayer structure of their inner membrane. However, there is only limited quantitative information in the literature to differentiate between AMPs of differing molecular properties, in terms of how they interact with the membrane. In this study, we have used quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) to probe the interactions between a supported bilayer membrane of egg phosphatidylcholine (egg PC) and four structurally different AMPs: alamethicin, chrysophsin-3, indolicidin, and sheep myeloid antimicrobial peptide (SMAP-29).

Antimicrobial peptide alamethicin insertion into lipid bilayer: a QCM-D exploration.

Alamethicin is a 20-amino-acid, α-helical antimicrobial peptide that is believed to kill bacteria through pore formation in the inner membranes. We used quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) to explore the interactions of alamethicin with a supported lipid bilayer. Changes in frequency (Δf) and dissipation (ΔD) measured at different overtones as a function of peptide concentration were used to infer peptide-induced changes in the mass and rigidity of the membrane as well as the orientation of the peptide in the bilayer.

Characterization of supported lipid bilayer disruption by chrysophsin-3 using QCM-D.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are naturally occurring polymers that can kill bacteria by destabilizing their membranes. A quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) was used to better understand the action of the AMP chrysophsin-3 on supported lipid bilayers (SLB) of phosphatidylcholine. Interaction of the SLB with chrysophsin-3 at 0.