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Immobilization of Polyethyleneimine (PEI) on Flat Surfaces and Nanoparticles Affects Its Ability to Disrupt Bacterial Membranes

Interactions between a widely used polycationic polymer, polyethyleneimine (PEI), and a Gram-negative bacteria, E. coli, are investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM) quantitative imaging. The effect of PEI, a known membrane permeabilizer, is characterized by probing both the structure and el...

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Autores principales: Andoy, Nesha May Octavio, Patel, Meera, Lui, Ching Lam Jane, Sullan, Ruby May Arana
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8540495/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34683497
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9102176
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author Andoy, Nesha May Octavio
Patel, Meera
Lui, Ching Lam Jane
Sullan, Ruby May Arana
author_facet Andoy, Nesha May Octavio
Patel, Meera
Lui, Ching Lam Jane
Sullan, Ruby May Arana
author_sort Andoy, Nesha May Octavio
collection PubMed
description Interactions between a widely used polycationic polymer, polyethyleneimine (PEI), and a Gram-negative bacteria, E. coli, are investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM) quantitative imaging. The effect of PEI, a known membrane permeabilizer, is characterized by probing both the structure and elasticity of the bacterial cell envelope. At low concentrations, PEI induced nanoscale membrane perturbations all over the bacterial surface. Despite these structural changes, no change in cellular mechanics (Young’s modulus) was detected and the growth of E. coli is barely affected. However, at high PEI concentrations, dramatic changes in both structure and cell mechanics are observed. When immobilized on a flat surface, the ability of PEI to alter the membrane structure and reduce bacterial elasticity is diminished. We further probe this immobilization-induced effect by covalently attaching the polymer to the surface of polydopamine nanoparticles (PDNP). The nanoparticle-immobilized PEI (PDNP-PEI), though not able to induce major structural changes on the outer membrane of E. coli (in contrast to the flat surface), was able to bind to and reduce the Young’s modulus of the bacteria. Taken together, our data demonstrate that the state of polycationic polymers, whether bound or free—which greatly dictates their overall configuration—plays a major role on how they interact with and disrupt bacterial membranes.
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spelling pubmed-85404952021-10-24 Immobilization of Polyethyleneimine (PEI) on Flat Surfaces and Nanoparticles Affects Its Ability to Disrupt Bacterial Membranes Andoy, Nesha May Octavio Patel, Meera Lui, Ching Lam Jane Sullan, Ruby May Arana Microorganisms Article Interactions between a widely used polycationic polymer, polyethyleneimine (PEI), and a Gram-negative bacteria, E. coli, are investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM) quantitative imaging. The effect of PEI, a known membrane permeabilizer, is characterized by probing both the structure and elasticity of the bacterial cell envelope. At low concentrations, PEI induced nanoscale membrane perturbations all over the bacterial surface. Despite these structural changes, no change in cellular mechanics (Young’s modulus) was detected and the growth of E. coli is barely affected. However, at high PEI concentrations, dramatic changes in both structure and cell mechanics are observed. When immobilized on a flat surface, the ability of PEI to alter the membrane structure and reduce bacterial elasticity is diminished. We further probe this immobilization-induced effect by covalently attaching the polymer to the surface of polydopamine nanoparticles (PDNP). The nanoparticle-immobilized PEI (PDNP-PEI), though not able to induce major structural changes on the outer membrane of E. coli (in contrast to the flat surface), was able to bind to and reduce the Young’s modulus of the bacteria. Taken together, our data demonstrate that the state of polycationic polymers, whether bound or free—which greatly dictates their overall configuration—plays a major role on how they interact with and disrupt bacterial membranes. MDPI 2021-10-19 /pmc/articles/PMC8540495/ /pubmed/34683497 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9102176 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Andoy, Nesha May Octavio
Patel, Meera
Lui, Ching Lam Jane
Sullan, Ruby May Arana
Immobilization of Polyethyleneimine (PEI) on Flat Surfaces and Nanoparticles Affects Its Ability to Disrupt Bacterial Membranes
title Immobilization of Polyethyleneimine (PEI) on Flat Surfaces and Nanoparticles Affects Its Ability to Disrupt Bacterial Membranes
title_full Immobilization of Polyethyleneimine (PEI) on Flat Surfaces and Nanoparticles Affects Its Ability to Disrupt Bacterial Membranes
title_fullStr Immobilization of Polyethyleneimine (PEI) on Flat Surfaces and Nanoparticles Affects Its Ability to Disrupt Bacterial Membranes
title_full_unstemmed Immobilization of Polyethyleneimine (PEI) on Flat Surfaces and Nanoparticles Affects Its Ability to Disrupt Bacterial Membranes
title_short Immobilization of Polyethyleneimine (PEI) on Flat Surfaces and Nanoparticles Affects Its Ability to Disrupt Bacterial Membranes
title_sort immobilization of polyethyleneimine (pei) on flat surfaces and nanoparticles affects its ability to disrupt bacterial membranes
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8540495/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34683497
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9102176
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