TY - JOUR
T1 - Interaction of graphene oxide with bacterial cell membranes
T2 - Insights from force spectroscopy
AU - Romero-Vargas Castrillón, Santiago
AU - Perreault, François
AU - De Faria, Andreia Fonseca
AU - Elimelech, Menachem
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 American Chemical Society.
PY - 2015/4/14
Y1 - 2015/4/14
N2 - Understanding the interactions of graphene oxide (GO) with biological membranes is crucial for the evaluation of GO's health and environmental impacts, its bactericidal activity, and to advance graphene-based biological and environmental applications. In an effort to understand graphene-induced bacterial inactivation, we studied the interaction of GO with bacterial (Escherichia coli) cell membranes using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Toward this goal, we devised a polydopamine-assisted experimental protocol to functionalize an AFM probe with GO nanosheets, and used AFM-based force spectroscopy to measure cell membrane-GO interaction forces. Our results show that GO-cell interactions are predominantly repulsive, with only sporadic adhesion forces being measured upon probe pull-off, which we attribute to lipopolysaccharide bridging. We provide evidence of the acellular oxidation of glutathione by GO, underscoring the role of oxidative pathways in GO-mediated bacterial cell inactivation. Our force spectroscopy results suggest that physicochemical interactions do not underlie the primary mode of action of GO in bacteria.
AB - Understanding the interactions of graphene oxide (GO) with biological membranes is crucial for the evaluation of GO's health and environmental impacts, its bactericidal activity, and to advance graphene-based biological and environmental applications. In an effort to understand graphene-induced bacterial inactivation, we studied the interaction of GO with bacterial (Escherichia coli) cell membranes using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Toward this goal, we devised a polydopamine-assisted experimental protocol to functionalize an AFM probe with GO nanosheets, and used AFM-based force spectroscopy to measure cell membrane-GO interaction forces. Our results show that GO-cell interactions are predominantly repulsive, with only sporadic adhesion forces being measured upon probe pull-off, which we attribute to lipopolysaccharide bridging. We provide evidence of the acellular oxidation of glutathione by GO, underscoring the role of oxidative pathways in GO-mediated bacterial cell inactivation. Our force spectroscopy results suggest that physicochemical interactions do not underlie the primary mode of action of GO in bacteria.
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U2 - 10.1021/acs.estlett.5b00066
DO - 10.1021/acs.estlett.5b00066
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84969219457
SN - 2328-8930
VL - 2
SP - 112
EP - 117
JO - Environmental Science and Technology Letters
JF - Environmental Science and Technology Letters
IS - 4
ER -