Karolina Kędra-Królik

Probing size-dependent electrokinetics of hematite aggregates

Aqueous particle suspensions of many kinds are stabilized by the electrostatic potential developed at their surfaces from reaction with water and ions. An important and less well understood aspect of this stabilization is the dependence of the electrostatic surface potential on particle size. Surface electrostatics are typically probed by measuring particle electrophoretic mobilities and quantified in the electrokinetic potential (ζ), using commercially available Zeta Potential Analyzers (ZPA). Even though ZPAs provide frequency-spectra (histograms) of electrophoretic mobility and hydrodynamic diameter, typically only the maximal-intensity values are reported, despite the information in the remainder of the spectra. Here we propose a mapping procedure that inter-correlates these histograms to extract additional insight, in this case to probe particle size-dependent electrokinetics. Our method is illustrated for a suspension of prototypical iron (III) oxide (hematite, α-Fe2O3). We found that the electrophoretic mobility and ζ-potential are a linear function of the aggregate size. By analyzing the distribution of surface site types as a function of aggregate size we show that site coordination increases with increasing aggregate diameter. This observation explains why the acidity of the iron oxide particles decreases with increasing particle size.

Blood Serum Calorimetry Indicates the Chemotherapeutic Efficacy in Lung Cancer Treatment

Chemotherapy is a primary treatment for the metastatic lung cancer patients. To select the most effective combination of drugs, we need an efficient way of assessing tumor response. Here, we showed that differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis of blood serum proteins could reveal the patient response to the treatment. If chemotherapy is effective, serum proteins DSC curve of non-small cellular lung cancer (NSCLC) case is similar to the those of the healthy individuals. If treatment fails, notable changes occur in the DSC profile of NSCLC patient’s blood serum. Our preliminary work illustrates how thermal analysis of changes in the heat capacity of blood serum proteins can provide an insight into patient response to chemotherapy – the essential information for any successive lung cancer treatment.

Comparative study of molecular recognition of folic acid subunits with cyclodextrins

The complexation of pteroic acid and pterine, subunits of folic acid, with native cyclodextrins (α‒, β‒, and γ‒CDs) was studied in solution (UV-vis), and in the solid state (thermal analysis, IR and Raman). UV-vis titrations at pH = 7.4 provided data regarding stoichiometry of the formed complexes as well as their associations constants. Stability of the complexes increases in the series: γ‒CD < β‒CD << α‒CD for pterine, and γ‒CD < α‒CD << β‒CD for pteroic acid. The mode of complexation was further exploited by molecular modeling studies (docking studies, PM6) showing additionally changes in conformation of pteroic acid upon complexation. Comparison of the association constants of the complexes of pterine and pteroic acid with native cyclodextrins with data obtained for analogous complexes with folic acid shows that all folic acid complexes are less stable than those formed from its subunits.