Beyond corrosion: development of a single cell-ICP-ToF-MS method to uncover the process of microbiologically influenced corrosion.

The development of the microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC)-specific inductively coupled plasma-time of flight-mass spectrometry (ICP-ToF-MS) analytical method presented here, in combination with the investigation of steel-MIC interactions, contributes significantly to progress in instrumental MIC analysis. For this, a MIC-specific staining procedure was developed, which ensures the analysis of intact cells. It allows the analysis of archaea at a single cell level, which is extremely scarce compared to other well-characterized organisms.

Mussel-Inspired Multivalent Linear Polyglycerol Coatings Outperform Monovalent Polyethylene Glycol Coatings in Antifouling Surface Properties.

Biofouling constitutes a major challenge in the application of biosensors and biomedical implants, as well as for (food) packaging and marine equipment. In this work, an antifouling surface coating based on the combination of mussel-inspired dendritic polyglycerol (MI-dPG) and an amine-functionalized block copolymer of linear polyglycerol (lPG-b-OA, OA = oligo-amine) was developed. The coating was compared to a MI-dPG surface which was postfunctionalized with commercially available amine-terminated polyethylene glycol (HO-PEG-NH) of similar molecular weight.

Atomistic Details of Chymotrypsin Conformational Changes upon Adsorption on Silica.

Adsorption of enzymes on solid surfaces may lead to conformational changes that reduce their catalytic conversion activity and are thus detrimental to the efficiency of biotechnology or biosensing applications. This work is a joint theoretical and experimental endeavor in which we identify and quantify the conformational changes that chymotrypsin undergoes when in contact with the surface of amorphous silica nanoparticles. For this purpose, we use circular dichroism spectroscopy, standard molecular dynamics, and advanced-sampling methods.