Regensburg 2013 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 2: Proteins
BP 2.4: Talk
Monday, March 11, 2013, 10:30–10:45, H44
Influence of surface and subsurface properties on the structure and activity of adsorbed lysozyme — •Christian Spengler1, Stéphane Mesnage2, Hendrik Hähl1, Peter Loskill1, Simon J. Foster2, and Karin Jacobs1 — 1Saarland University, Experimental Physics, 66041 Saarbrücken — 2University of Sheffield, The Krebs Institute, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Sheffield S10 2TN, United Kingdom
Protein adsorption is the first step in biofilm formation: Protein films serve as a conditioning layer that enables and affects the attachment of bacteria and other organisms. Hence, the understanding and control of protein layers is an important task that is relevant to life sciences and engineering. Previous studies revealed that the structure of adsorbed proteins and the adhesion force of bacteria depend on both the surface properties and the subsurface composition of the adsorbent material [1,2]. These findings raise the question whether or not the activity and effectivity of adsorbed proteins are also influenced by the properties of the underlying material. In this study, we investigate how the activity -the bactericidal effect- of adsorbed lysozyme is affected by surface and subsurface properties. The activity is thereby characterized by measuring the turbidity of a very sensitive protein assay containing purified peptidoglycan.
[1] Hähl et al., Langmuir 28 (2012) 7747-7756
[2] Loskill et al., Langmuir 28 (2012) 7242-7248