Wechselwirkungen lipid-basierter Oberflächen

Interactions involving biological interfaces such as lipid-based membranes are of paramount importance for all life processes. The same also applies to artificial interfaces to which biological matter is exposed, for example the surfaces of drug delivery systems or implants. This thesis deals with the two main types of interface interactions, namely (i) interactions between a single interface and the molecular components of the surrounding aqueous medium and (ii) interactions between two interfaces. Each type is investigated with regard to an important scientific problem in the fields of biotechnology and biology: 1.) The adsorption of proteins to surfaces functionalized with hydrophilic polymer brushes; a process of great biomedical relevance in context with harmful foreign-body-response to implants and drug delivery systems. 2.) The influence of glycolipids on the interaction between lipid membranes; a hitherto largely unexplored phenomenon with potentially great biological relevance. Both problems are addressed with the help of (quasi-)planar, lipid-based model surfaces in combination with x-ray and neutron scattering techniques which yield detailed structural insights into the interaction processes. Regarding the adsorption of proteins to brush-functionalized surfaces, the first scenario considered is the exposure of the surfaces to human blood serum containing a multitude of protein species. Significant blood protein adsorption was observed despite the functionalization, which is commonly believed to act as a protein repellent. The adsorption consists of two distinct modes, namely strong adsorption to the brush grafting surface and weak adsorption to the brush itself. The second aspect investigated was the fate of the brush-functionalized surfaces when exposed to aqueous media containing immune proteins (antibodies) against the brush polymer, an emerging problem in current biomedical applications. To this end, it was found that antibody binding cannot be prevented by variation of the brush grafting density or the polymer length. This result motivates the search for alternative, strictly non-antigenic brush chemistries. With respect to the influence of glycolipids on the interaction between lipid membranes, this thesis focused on the glycolipids’ ability to crosslink and thereby to tightly attract adjacent membranes. This adherence is due to preferential saccharide-saccharide interactions occurring among the glycolipid headgroups. This phenomenon had previously been described for lipids with special oligo-saccharide motifs. Here, it was investigated how common this phenomenon is among glycolipids with a variety of more abundant saccharide-headgroups. It was found that glycolipid-induced membrane crosslinking is equally observed for some of these abundant glycolipid types, strongly suggesting that this under-explored phenomenon is potentially of great biological relevance.Wechselwirkungen, die von biologischen Grenzflächen wie Lipidmembranen eingegangen werden, haben tiefgreifende Auswirkungen auf alle Lebensprozesse. Dasselbe trifft auf alle künstlichen Grenzflächen zu, die in Kontakt mit biologischer Materie treten. Die Oberflächen von Wirkstoffverabreichungssystemen oder Implantaten sind hierfür prominente Beispiele. Diese Dissertationsschrift behandelt zwei Hauptkategorien von Grenzflächen-Wechselwirkungen: Zum einen die Wechselwirkung zwischen einzelnen Grenzflächen und den molekularen Komponenten des wässrigen Umfelds; zum anderen die Wechselwirkung zwischen zwei Grenzflächen. Jede dieser beiden Wechselwirkungskategorien wurde unter Bezugnahme auf eine wichtige wissenschaftliche Fragestellung aus den Bereichen der Biologie und Biotechnologie untersucht: 1.) Die Adsorption von Proteinen an Oberflächen die mit hydrophilen Polymerbürsten funktionalisiert sind; diese Anlagerung von biologischem Material stellt einen Prozess von äußerster biomedizinischer Relevanz dar, der beispielsweise beim Auftreten der schädlichen Fremdkörperabstoßung von Implantaten oder Wirkstoffverabreichungssystemen eine entscheidende Rolle spielt. 2.) Der Einfluss von Glykolipiden auf Wechselwirkungen zwischen Lipidmembranen, einem bislang größtenteils unerforschten Phänomen von potentiell herausragender biologischer Bedeutung. Die Bearbeitung beider Fragestellungen erfolgte unter Verwendung (quasi-)planarer, lipid-basierter Modellsysteme in Kombination mit Röntgen- oder Neutronenstreuung, welche detaillierte strukturelle Einblicke von Wechselwirkungsprozessen liefern. In Bezug auf die Adsorption von Proteinen an polymer-funktionalisierte Oberflächen wurde zunächst ein Szenario behandelt, bei dem die Oberflächen menschlichem Blutserum ausgesetzt sind, welches eine Vielzahl verschiedener Proteinspezies enthält. Die verwendete Funktionalisierung gilt gemeinhin als proteinabstoßend. Anders als erwartet zeigte sich dennoch signifikante Adsorption von Blutproteinen auf der Oberfläche. Die gemessene Adsorption weist zwei unterschiedliche Arten auf: Starke Adsorption an die Oberfläche, an die die Polymere kovalent gebunden sind, und schwache Adsorption an die Polymerbürste selbst. Der zweite Aspekt, der beleuchtet wurde, sind die Folgen von Antikörpern gegen die Bürstenpolymere. Deren zunehmendes Vorkommen stellt ein Problem für biomedizinische Anwendungen dar. Die Ergebnisse der Arbeit zeigen, dass die starke Adsorption von Antikörpern nicht durch die Veränderung von Bürstenparametern, wie Anbindungsdichte oder Polymerisationsgrad, aufgehalten werden kann. Diese Erkenntnis motiviert die Suche nach alternativen, nicht-antigenen Bürstenmaterialien. In der zweiten Wechselwirkungskategorie, dem Einfluss von Glykolipiden auf Wechselwirkungen zwischen Lipidmembranen, wurde die Fähigkeit der Glykolipide zur Membran-Adhäsion und der damit einhergehenden starken Anziehung von aneinander liegenden Membranen beleuchtet. Die Kohäsion erfolgt dabei über anziehende Saccharid-Saccharid-Wechselwirkungen der Kopfgruppen. Dieses Verhalten wurde schon für Lipide mit speziellen Oligosaccharid-Motiven beschrieben. Daher wurde bei der Untersuchung der Adhäsionsfähigkeit besonders die Verbreitung des Phänomens unter Glykolipiden mit häufig vorkommenden Saccharid-Kopfgruppen fokussiert. Es zeigte sich, dass die von Glykolipiden hervorgerufene Adhäsion auch für einige dieser häufig vorkommenden Glykolipidtypen beobachtet werden kann. Dies deutet darauf hin, dass dieses Phänomen von weitreichender Bedeutung für die Biologie ist und daher weiterhin intensiv erforscht werden sollte

Cross-linking reactions in Langmuir monolayers of specially designed aminolipids – a toolbox for the customized production of amphiphilic nanosheets

Synthetic amino lipids, already known as highly efficient gene therapy tool, are used in a novel way to create cross-linked stable one-molecule-thin films envisioned for future (bio)-materials applications. The films are prepared as Langmuir monolayers at the air/water interface and cross-linked ‘in situ’ via dynamic imine chemistry. The cross-linking process and the film characteristics are monitored by various surface-sensitive techniques such as grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, X-ray reflectivity, and infrared reflection–absorption spectroscopy. After transfer onto carbon grids, the cross-linked films are investigated by transmission and scanning electron microscopy. The obtained micrographs display mechanically self-supported nanosheets with area dimensions over several micrometers and, thus, an undeniable visual proof of successful cross-linking. The cross-linking process at the air/water interface allows to obtain Janus-faced sheets with a hydrophobic side characterized by aliphatic alkyl chains and a hydrophilic side characterized by nucleophilic groups like amines, hydroxyl groups and imine

Headgroup-ordered Monolayers of Uncharged Glycolipids Exhibit Selective Interactions with Ions

Selective interactions of ions with charge-neutral saccharides can have far-reaching consequences in biological and wet-technological contexts but have so far been observed only indirectly. Here, we directly quantify by total-reflection x-ray fluorescence the preferential accumulation of ions near uncharged saccharide surfaces in the form of glycolipid Langmuir monolayers at air/water interfaces exhibiting different levels of structural ordering. Selective interactions with ions from the aqueous subphase are observed for monolayers featuring crystalline ordering of the saccharide headgroups, as determined by grazing-incidence x-ray diffraction. The attracted ion species depend on the structural motifs displayed by the ordered saccharide layer. Our results may constitute a basis to understand the salt-specific swelling of wood materials and various phenomena in membrane biophysics

Neutron Reflectometry Elucidates Protein Adsorption from Human Blood Serum onto PEG Brushes

Poly­(ethylene glycol) (PEG) brushes are reputed for their ability to prevent undesired protein adsorption to material surfaces exposed to biological fluids. Here, protein adsorption out of human blood serum onto PEG brushes anchored to solid-supported lipid monolayers was characterized by neutron reflectometry, yielding volume fraction profiles of lipid headgroups, PEG, and adsorbed proteins at subnanometer resolution. For both PEGylated and non-PEGylated lipid surfaces, serum proteins adsorb as a thin layer of approximately 10 Å, overlapping with the headgroup region. This layer corresponds to primary adsorption at the grafting surface and resists rinsing. A second diffuse protein layer overlaps with the periphery of the PEG brush and is attributed to ternary adsorption due to protein–PEG attraction. This second layer disappears upon rinsing, thus providing a first observation of the structural effect of rinsing on protein adsorption to PEG brushes

Multi-scale thermal stability of a hard thermoplastic protein-based material

Although thermoplastic materials are mostly derived from petro-chemicals, it would be highly desirable, from a sustainability perspective, to produce them instead from renewable biopolymers. Unfortunately, biopolymers exhibiting thermoplastic behaviour and which preserve their mechanical properties post processing are essentially non-existent. The robust sucker ring teeth (SRT) from squid and cuttlefish are one notable exception of thermoplastic biopolymers. Here we describe thermoplastic processing of squid SRT via hot extrusion of fibres, demonstrating the potential suitability of these materials for large-scale thermal forming. Using high-resolution in situ X-ray diffraction and vibrational spectroscopy, we elucidate the molecular and nanoscale features responsible for this behaviour and show that SRT consist of semi-crystalline polymers, whereby heat-resistant, nanocrystalline β-sheets embedded within an amorphous matrix are organized into a hexagonally packed nanofibrillar lattice. This study provides key insights for the molecular design of biomimetic protein- and peptide-based thermoplastic structural biopolymers with potential biomedical and 3D printing applications