Igal Szleifer

Protein Adsorption on Surfaces with Grafted Polymers: A Theoretical Approach

A general theoretical framework for studying the adsorption of protein molecules on surfaces with grafted polymers is presented. The approach is a generalization of the single-chain mean-field theory, in which the grafted polymer-protein-solvent layer is assumed to be inhomogeneous in the direction perpendicular to the grafting surface. The theory enables the calculation of the adsorption isotherms of the protein as a function of the surface coverage of grafted polymers, concentration of protein in bulk, and type of solvent molecules. The potentials of mean force of the protein with the surface are calculated as a function of polymer surface coverage and amount of protein adsorbed. The theory is applied to model lysozyme on surfaces with grafted polyethylene oxide. The protein is modeled as spherical in solution, and it is assumed that the protein-polymer, protein-solvent, and polymer-solvent attractive interactions are all equal. Therefore, the interactions determining the structure of the layer (beyond the bare polymer-surface and protein-surface interactions) are purely repulsive. The bare surface-protein interaction is taken from atomistic calculations by Lee and Park. For surfaces that do not have preferential attractions with the grafted polymer segments, the adsorption isotherms of lysozyme are independent of the polymer length for chains with more than 50 ethylene oxide units. However, the potentials of mean force show strong variations with grafted polymer molecular weight. The competition between different conformations of the adsorbed protein is studied in detail. The adsorption isotherms change qualitatively for surfaces with attractive interactions with ethylene oxide monomers. The protein adsorption is a function of chain length--the longer the polymer the more effective it is in preventing protein adsorption. The structure of the layer and its deformation upon protein adsorption are very important in determining the adsorption isotherms and the potentials of mean force.

Molecular theory of curvature elasticity in surfactant films

We develop a microscopic‐level formulation for the curvature elasticity of monolayer and bilayer systems of typical surfactant molecules. It is argued that both the bending and saddle‐splay force constants k and k are determined primarily by the conformational entropy of the flexible hydrocarbon chain rather than by the electrostatic interactions associated with hydrophilic head groups. A priori estimates of the chain contributions are made for the first time, without the use of any adjustable parameters. Both k and k are shown to be calculable wholly from the conformational statistics describing the planar film. In particular, these constants are expressed in terms of the derivatives and moments of the lateral pressure profile characterizing chain packing in the unbent layers. By considering the dependence of the curvature elasticity on chain length, area per molecule, and composition in mixed films, we are able to account for the order‐of‐magnitude variations in k observed in a variety of different su...

Biocompatible nanoscale dispersion of single-walled carbon nanotubes minimizes in vivo pulmonary toxicity.

Excitement surrounding the attractive physical and chemical characteristics of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) has been tempered by concerns regarding their potential health risks. Here we consider the lung toxicity of nanoscale dispersed SWCNTs (mean diameter approximately 1 nm). Because dispersion of the SWCNTs increases their aspect ratio relative to as-produced aggregates, we directly test the prevailing hypothesis that lung toxicity associated with SWCNTs compared with other carbon structures is attributable to the large aspect ratio of the individual particles. Thirty days after their intratracheal administration to mice, the granuloma-like structures with mild fibrosis in the large airways observed in mice treated with aggregated SWCNTs were absent in mice treated with nanoscale dispersed SWCNTs. Examination of lung sections from mice treated with nanoscale dispersed SWCNTs revealed uptake of the SWCNTs by macrophages and gradual clearance over time. We conclude that the toxicity of SWCNTs in vivo is attributable to aggregation of the nanomaterial rather than the large aspect ratio of the individual nanotubes. Biocompatible nanoscale dispersion provides a scalable method to generate purified preparations of SWCNTs with minimal toxicity, thus allowing them to be used safely in commercial and biomedical applications.

How and Why Nanoparticle’s Curvature Regulates the Apparent pKa of the Coating Ligands

Dissociation of ionizable ligands immobilized on nanopaticles (NPs) depends on and can be regulated by the curvature of these particles as well as the size and the concentration of counterions. The apparent acid dissociation constant (pK(a)) of the NP-immobilized ligands lies between that of free ligands and ligands self-assembled on a flat surface. This phenomenon is explicitly rationalized by a theoretical model that accounts fully for the molecular details (size, shape, conformation, and charge distribution) of both the NPs and the counterions.

Polymers and proteins: Interactions at interfaces

Abstract The ability of polymer molecules attached at one end to a surface to prevent or enhance protein adsorption has been studied experimentally and theoretically. Recent systematic studies show that surface density seems to be the most important property of the tethered layer that determines its ability to prevent protein adsorption. Theoretical studies predict that the interactions of the polymer layer with the proteins and the adsorption behavior do not depend in the same way on polymer molecular weight and on the type of interaction of the polymer with the surface.

Chain organization and thermodynamics in micelles and bilayers. I. Theory

Starting from the partition function of a micellar aggregate, the various assumptions involved in decomposing the aggregate’s standard chemical potential into surface and core terms are explicitly stated and discussed. The conformational statistics of the amphiphiles’ hydrocarbon chains (tails) composing the hydrophobic core is assumed to be governed by the hard core repulsive interactions between chain segments. The density within the core is assumed uniform and liquid‐like. By appropriate expansion of the aggregate’s configurational integral, explicit expressions are derived for the (singlet) distribution function of chain conformations and the chain’s conformational partition function (free energy). These quantities depend on the thickness and curvature (geometry) of the hydrophobic core via the lateral pressures representing the geometric packing constraints. (The same distribution function has been previously derived by us using the maximal entropy formalism.) It is argued that the variations in the ...

Prompting physicians to address a daily checklist and process of care and clinical outcomes: A single-site study

RATIONALE Checklists may reduce errors of omission for critically ill patients. OBJECTIVES To determine whether prompting to use a checklist improves process of care and clinical outcomes. METHODS We conducted a cohort study in the medical intensive care unit (MICU) of a tertiary care university hospital. Patients admitted to either of two independent MICU teams were included. Intervention team physicians were prompted to address six parameters from a daily rounding checklist if overlooked during morning work rounds. The second team (control) used the identical checklist without prompting. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS One hundred and forty prompted group patients were compared with 125 control and 1,283 preintervention patients. Compared with control, prompting increased median ventilator-free duration, decreased empirical antibiotic and central venous catheter duration, and increased rates of deep vein thrombosis and stress ulcer prophylaxis. Prompted group patients had lower risk-adjusted ICU mortality compared with the control group (odds ratio, 0.36; 95% confidence interval, 0.13-0.96; P = 0.041) and lower hospital mortality compared with the control group (10.0 vs. 20.8%; P = 0.014), which remained significant after risk adjustment (odds ratio, 0.34; 95% confidence interval, 0.15-0.76; P = 0.008). Observed-to-predicted ICU length of stay was lower in the prompted group compared with control (0.59 vs. 0.87; P = 0.02). Checklist availability alone did not improve mortality or length of stay compared with preintervention patients. CONCLUSIONS In this single-site, preliminary study, checklist-based prompting improved multiple processes of care, and may have improved mortality and length of stay, compared with a stand-alone checklist. The manner in which checklists are implemented is of great consequence in the care of critically ill patients.

Kinetics and Thermodynamics of Protein Adsorption: A Generalized Molecular Theoretical Approach

The thermodynamics and kinetics of protein adsorption are studied using a molecular theoretical approach. The cases studied include competitive adsorption from mixtures and the effect of conformational changes upon adsorption. The kinetic theory is based on a generalized diffusion equation in which the driving force for motion is the gradient of chemical potentials of the proteins. The time-dependent chemical potentials, as well as the equilibrium behavior of the system, are obtained using a molecular mean-field theory. The theory provides, within the same theoretical formulation, the diffusion and the kinetic (activated) controlled regimes. By separation of ideal and nonideal contributions to the chemical potential, the equation of motion shows a purely diffusive part and the motion of the particles in the potential of mean force resulting from the intermolecular interactions. The theory enables the calculation of the time-dependent surface coverage of proteins, the dynamic surface tension, and the structure of the adsorbed layer in contact with the approaching proteins. For the case of competitive adsorption from a solution containing a mixture of large and small proteins, a variety of different adsorption patterns are observed depending upon the bulk composition, the strength of the interaction between the particles, and the surface and size of the proteins. It is found that the experimentally observed Vroman sequence is predicted in the case that the bulk solution is at a composition with an excess of the small protein, and that the interaction between the large protein and the surface is much larger than that of the smaller protein. The effect of surface conformational changes of the adsorbed proteins in the time-dependent adsorption is studied in detail. The theory predicts regimes of constant density and dynamic surface tension that are long lived but are only intermediates before the final approach to equilibrium. The implications of the findings to the interpretation of experimental observations is discussed.

Responsive Polymers End-Tethered in Solid-State Nanochannels: When Nanoconfinement Really Matters

Solid state nanochannels modified with supramolecular architectures are a new and interesting class of stimuli-responsive nanofluidic element. Their fundamental understanding requires describing the behavior of soft-materials in confined geometries and its responses to changes in solution conditions. Here, a nanochannel modified with a polyelectrolyte brush is studied with a molecular theory that incorporates the conformational behavior of the polymers, electrostatic, van der Waals, and repulsive interactions coupled with the ability of the polymer segments to regulate their charge through acid-base equilibrium. The theory predicts pH-dependent ionic conductivity in excellent agreement with experimental observations. The polymer chains undergo large conformational changes triggered by variations in the outer solution environment and the conductivity of the device is shown to be controlled by the charge state of the polymer. The degree of polymer charge is largely affected by charge regulation and nanoconfinement effects. The molecular calculations show that the apparent pK(a) inside the pore departs from that in solution when increasing the curvature of the nanochannel.

Tethered polymer layers: phase transitions and reduction of protein adsorption

The structural and thermodynamic properties of tethered polymer layers formed by spreading diblock copolymers at a solid surface or at a fluid-fluid interface are studied using a molecular mean-field theory. The role of the anchoring block in determining the properties of the tethered polymer layer is studied in detail. It is found that both the anchoring and the tethered blocks are very important in determining the phase behavior of the polymer layer. The structures of the coexisting phases, the phase boundaries and the stability of the layer are found to depend on the ratio of molecular weight between the two blocks, the polymer-interface (surface) interactions and the strength of the interactions between the two blocks. The different phase transitions found are related to experimental observations. The properties of the polymer layers at coexistence reflect the block that is the dominant driving force for phase separation. The ability of the tethered polymer layers, under different conditions, to control protein adsorption to surfaces is also studied. It is found that the most important factors determining the ability of a polymer layer to reduce the equilibrium amount of proteins adsorbed to a surface are the surface coverage of polymer and the surface-polymer interactions. The polymer chain length plays only a secondary role. For the kinetic control, however, it is found that the potential of mean-force, and thus the early stages of adsorption, depends strongly on polymer molecular weight. Further, it is found that the molecular factors determining the ability of the tethered polymer layer to reduce the equilibrium amount of protein adsorption are different than those that control the kinetic behavior. Comparisons with experimental observations are presented. The predictions of the theory are in very good agreement with the measured adsorption isotherms. Guidelines for building optimal surface protection for protein adsorption, both kinetic and thermodynamic, are discussed.