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  • Low-THz Vibrations of Biological Membranes

    work
    Creator:
    Luyet, Chloe, Elvati, Paolo, Vinh, Jordan, and Violi, Angela
    Description:
    A growing body of work has linked key biological activities to the mechanical properties of cellular membranes, and as a means of identification. Here, we present a computational approach to simulate and compare the vibrational spectra in the low-THz region for mammalian and bacterial membranes, investigating the effect of membrane asymmetry and composition, as well as the conserved frequencies of a specific cell. We find that asymmetry does not impact the vibrational spectra, and the impact of sterols depends on the mobility of the components of the membrane. We demonstrate that vibrational spectra can be used to distinguish between membranes and, therefore, could be used in identification of different organisms. The method presented, here, can be immediately extended to other biological structures (e.g., amyloid fibers, polysaccharides, and protein-ligand structures) in order to fingerprint and understand vibrations of numerous biologically-relevant nanoscale structures.
    Keyword:
    molecular dynamics, membranes, mechanical vibration, bacterial identification, and Staphylococcus aureus
    Citation to related publication:
    Luyet C, Elvati P, Vinh J, Violi A. Low-THz Vibrations of Biological Membranes. Membranes. 2023; 13(2):139.  https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13020139
    Discipline:
    Engineering

  • Molecular Architecture and Helicity of Bacterial Amyloid Nanofibers: Implications for the Design of Nanoscale Antibiotics

    work
    Creator:
    Elvati, Paolo, Luyet, Chloe, Wang, Yichun, Liu, Changjiang, VanEpps, J. Scott, Kotov, Nicholas A., and Violi, Angela
    Description:
    Amyloid nanofibers are abundant in microorganisms and are integral components of many biofilms, serving various purposes, from virulent to structural. Nonetheless, the precise characterization of bacterial amyloid nanofibers has been elusive, with incomplete and contradicting results. The present work focuses on the molecular details and characteristics of PSMa1-derived functional amyloids present in Staphylococcus aureus biofilms, using a combination of computational and experimental techniques, to develop a model that can aid the design of compounds to control amyloid formation. Results from molecular dynamics simulations, guided and supported by spectroscopy and microscopy, show that PSMa1 amyloid nanofibers present a helical structure formed by two protofilaments, have an average diameter of about 12 nm, and adopt a left-handed helicity with a periodicity of approximately 72 nm. The chirality of the self-assembled nanofibers, an intrinsic geometric property of its constituent peptides, is central to determining the fibers' lateral growth.
    Keyword:
    molecular self-assembly, computational nanotechnology, nanobiotechnology, and structural properties
    Citation to related publication:
    Paolo Elvati, Chloe Luyet, Yichun Wang, Changjiang Liu, J. Scott VanEpps, Nicholas A. Kotov, and Angela Violi ACS Applied Nano Materials 2023 6 (8), 6594-6604 DOI: 10.1021/acsanm.3c00174
    Discipline:
    Engineering and Science