Flattened-Top Domical Water Drops Formed through Self-Organization of Hydrophobin Membranes: A Structural and Mechanistic Study Using Atomic Force Microscopy

Hydrophobin Bilayer as Water Impermeable Protein Membrane

One of the most important properties of membranes is their permeability to water and other small molecules. A targeted change in permeability allows the passage of molecules to be controlled. Vesicles made of membranes with low water permeability are preferable for drug delivery, for example, because they are more stable and maintain the drug concentration inside. This study reports on the very low water permeability of pure protein membranes composed of a bilayer of the amphiphilic protein hydrophobin HFBI. Using a droplet interface bilayer setup, we demonstrate that HFBI bilayers are essentially impermeable to water. HFBI bilayers withstand far larger osmotic pressures than lipid membranes. Only by disturbing the packing of the proteins in the HFBI bilayer is a measurable water permeability induced. To investigate possible molecular mechanisms causing the near-zero permeability, we used all-atom molecular dynamics simulations of various HFBI bilayer models. The simulations suggest that the experimental HFBI bilayer permeability is compatible neither with a lateral honeycomb structure, as found for HFBI monolayers, nor with a residual oil layer within the bilayer or with a disordered lateral packing similar to the packing in lipid bilayers. These results suggest that the low permeabilities of HFBI and lipid bilayers rely on different mechanisms. With their extremely low but adaptable permeability and high stability, HFBI membranes could be used as an osmotic pressure-insensitive barrier in situations where lipid membranes fail such as desalination membranes.

Flattened and Wrinkled Encapsulated Droplets: Shape Morphing Induced by Gravity and Evaporation

We report surprising morphological changes of suspension droplets (containing class II hydrophobin protein HFBI from Trichoderma reesei in water) as they evaporate with a contact line pinned on a rigid solid substrate. Both pendant and sessile droplets display the formation of an encapsulating elastic film as the bulk concentration of solute reaches a critical value during evaporation, but the morphology of the droplet varies significantly: for sessile droplets, the elastic film ultimately crumples in a nearly flattened area close to the apex while in pendant droplets, circumferential wrinkling occurs close to the contact line. These different morphologies are understood through a gravito-elastocapillary model that predicts the droplet morphology and the onset of shape changes, as well as showing that the influence of the direction of gravity remains crucial even for very small droplets (where the effect of gravity can normally be neglected). The results pave the way to control droplet shape in several engineering and biomedical applications.

Quantifying biomolecular hydrophobicity: Single molecule force spectroscopy of class II hydrophobins

Hydrophobins are surface-active proteins produced by filamentous fungi. The amphiphilic structure of hydrophobins is very compact, containing a distinct hydrophobic patch on one side of the molecule, locked by four intramolecular disulfide bridges. Hydrophobins form dimers and multimers in solution to shield these hydrophobic patches from water exposure. Multimer formation in solution is dynamic, and hydrophobin monomers can be exchanged between multimers. Unlike class I hydrophobins, class II hydrophobins assemble into highly ordered films at the air-water interface. In order to increase our understanding of the strength and nature of the interaction between hydrophobins, we used atomic force microscopy for single molecule force spectroscopy to explore the molecular interaction forces between class II hydrophobins from Trichoderma reesei under different environmental conditions. A genetically engineered hydrophobin variant, NCys-HFBI, enabled covalent attachment of proteins to the apex of the atomic force microscopy cantilever tip and sample surfaces in controlled orientation with sufficient freedom of movement to measure molecular forces between hydrophobic patches. The measured rupture force between two assembled hydrophobins was ∼31 pN, at a loading rate of 500 pN/s. The results indicated stronger interaction between hydrophobins and hydrophobic surfaces than between two assembling hydrophobin molecules. Furthermore, this interaction was stable under different environmental conditions, which demonstrates the dominance of hydrophobicity in hydrophobin-hydrophobin interactions. This is the first time that interaction forces between hydrophobin molecules, and also between naturally occurring hydrophobic surfaces, have been measured directly at a single-molecule level.

Comparative Study of Structural Changes of Polylactide and Poly(ethylene terephthalate) in the Presence of Trichoderma viride

Plastic pollution is one of the crucial global challenges nowadays, and biodegradation is a promising approach to manage plastic waste in an environment-friendly and cost-effective way. In this study we identified the strain of fungus Trichoderma viride GZ1, which was characterized by particularly high pectinolytic activity. Using differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy techniques, and viscosity measurements we showed that three-month incubation of polylactide and polyethylene terephthalate in the presence of the fungus lead to significant changes of the surface of polylactide. Further, to gain insight into molecular mechanisms underneath the biodegradation process, western blot hybridization was used to show that in the presence of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) in laboratory conditions the fungus produced hydrophobin proteins. The mycelium adhered to the plastic surface, which was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy, possibly due to the presence of hydrophobins. Further, using atomic force microscopy we demonstrated for the first time the formation of hydrophobin film on the surface of aliphatic polylactide (PLA) and PET by T. viride GZ1. This is the first stage of research that will be continued under environmental conditions, potentially leading to a practical application.

A Rapid and Ultrasensitive Thrombin Biosensor Based on a Rationally Designed Trifunctional Protein

Rapid and sensitive detection of thrombin is imperative for the early diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of thrombin-related diseases. Here, an ultrasensitive and rapid thrombin biosensor is developed based on rationally designed trifunctional protein HTs, comprising three functional units, including a far-red fluorescent protein smURFP, hydrophobin HGFI, and a thrombin cleavage site (TCS). smURFP is used as a detection signal to eliminate any interference from the autofluorescence of sample matrix to increase detection sensitivity. HGFI serve as an adhesive unit to allow rapid immobilization of HTs on a multiwall plate. The TCS linking HGFI and smURFP function as a sensing element to recognize and detect thrombin. HTs immobilization is symmetrically optimized and characterized. Thrombin assay reveals the specific recognition of active thrombin in samples and the hydrolysis of the immobilized HTs, resulting in a decrease in the fluorescence intensity of the sample in a thrombin concentration-dependent manner. The limit of detection (LOD) is as low as 0.2 am in the serum. To the authors' knowledge, this is the lowest LOD ever reported for any thrombin biosensor. This study sheds light on the engineering of multifunctional proteins for biosensing.

Mechanically robust crystalline monolayer assemblies of oligosaccharide-based amphiphiles on water surfaces

Cellulose oligomers with a terminal alkyl group at the reducing end formed mechanically robust crystalline monolayers via self-assembly against water surfaces from aqueous solutions in air.

Single-Molecule Force Spectroscopy Reveals Self-Assembly Enhanced Surface Binding of Hydrophobins

Hydrophobins have raised lots of interest as powerful surface adhesives. However, it remains largely unexplored how their strong and versatile surface adhesion is linked to their unique amphiphilic structural features. Here, we develop an AFM-based single-molecule force spectroscopy assay to quantitatively measure the binding strength of hydrophobin to various types of surfaces both in isolation and in preformed protein films. We find that individual class II hydrophobins (HFBI) bind strongly to hydrophobic surfaces but weakly to hydrophilic ones. After self-assembly into protein films, they show much stronger binding strength to both surfaces due to the cooperativity of different interactions at nanoscale. Such self-assembly enhanced surface binding may serve as a general design principle for synthetic bioactive adhesives.

Effective Bioactivity Retention of Low-Concentration Antibodies on HFBI-Modified Fluorescence ICTS for Sensitive and Rapid Detection of PSA

Nowadays, increasing analytical sensitivity is still a big challenge in constructing membrane-based fluorescence immunochromatography test strips (FICTS). However, the bioactivity of antibody (Ab) immobilized on the test line (T line) of porous nitrocellulose membrane (PNM), which directly influences the analytical sensitivity, is less studied. In this work, a novel amphiphilic hydrophobin (HFBI) protein was introduced to modify the T line to effectively retain the Abs' bioactivity. The results indicated that HFBI could self-assemble on the PNM and immobilize the Abs in the "stand-up" orientation. Compared with the conventional FICTS, the HFBI-modified FICTS with only 0.2 mg/mL of monoclonal Abs on T line enable more accurate quantitative detection and better sensitivity (0.06 ng/mL for prostate specific antigen), which is more than 2 orders of magnitude lower than that of the conventional FICTS with the same concentration of monoclonal Abs on T line. Furthermore, the accuracy of this HFBI-modified FICTS was investigated by testing 150 clinical serum samples and the detection results were coincident with those by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. Our results provide a novel and promising strategy of Ab immobilization on FICTS for near-patient and point-of-care application.

Flat Drops, Elastic Sheets, and Microcapsules by Interfacial Assembly of a Bacterial Biofilm Protein, BslA

Protein adsorption and assembly at interfaces provide a potentially versatile route to create useful constructs for fluid compartmentalization. In this context, we consider the interfacial assembly of a bacterial biofilm protein, BslA, at air-water and oil-water interfaces. Densely packed, high modulus monolayers form at air-water interfaces, leading to the formation of flattened sessile water drops. BslA forms elastic sheets at oil-water interfaces, leading to the production of stable monodisperse oil-in-water microcapsules. By contrast, water-in-oil microcapsules are unstable but display arrested rather than full coalescence on contact. The disparity in stability likely originates from a low areal density of BslA hydrophobic caps on the exterior surface of water-in-oil microcapsules, relative to the inverse case. In direct analogy with small molecule surfactants, the lack of stability of individual water-in-oil microcapsules is consistent with the large value of the hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB number) calculated based on the BslA crystal structure. The occurrence of arrested coalescence indicates that the surface activity of BslA is similar to that of colloidal particles that produce Pickering emulsions, with the stability of partially coalesced structures ensured by interfacial jamming. Micropipette aspiration and flow in tapered capillaries experiments reveal intriguing reversible and nonreversible modes of mechanical deformation, respectively. The mechanical robustness of the microcapsules and the ability to engineer their shape and to design highly specific binding responses through protein engineering suggest that these microcapsules may be useful for biomedical applications.

Molecular Structure of Hydrophobins Studied with Site-Directed Mutagenesis and Vibrational Sum-Frequency Generation Spectroscopy

Hydrophobins are surface-active fungal proteins that adsorb to the water-air interface and self-assemble into amphiphilic, water-repelling films that have a surface elasticity that is an order of magnitude higher than other molecular films. Here we use surface-specific sum-frequency generation spectroscopy (VSFG) and site-directed mutagenesis to study the properties of class I hydrophobin (HFBI) films from Trichoderma reesei at the molecular level. We identify protein specific HFBI signals in the frequency region 1200-1700 cm-1 that have not been observed in previous VSFG studies on proteins. We find evidence that the aspartic acid residue (D30) next to the hydrophobic patch is involved in lateral intermolecular protein interactions, while the two aspartic acid residues (D40, D43) opposite to the hydrophobic patch are primarily interacting with the water solvent.

Reversible Shape Transformation of Ultrathin Polydopamine-Stabilized Droplet

Here we report on the flattening of water droplets using an ultrathin membrane of autopolymerized polydopamine at the air/water interface. This has only been previously reported with the use of synthetic or extracted peptides, two-dimensional designed synthetic peptide thin films with thicknesses of several tens of nanometers. However, in the previous study, the shape of the water droplet was changed irreversibly and the phenomenon was observed only at the air/water interface. In the present study, an ultrathin polydopamine membrane-stabilized droplet induced the flattening of a water droplet at the air/liquid and liquid/liquid interfaces because a polydopamine membrane was spontaneously formed at these interfaces. Furthermore, a reversible transformation of the droplet to flat and dome shape droplets were discovered at the liquid/liquid interface. These are a completely new system because the polydopamine membrane is dynamically synthesized at the interface and the formation speed of the polydopamine membrane overcomes the flattening time scale. These results will provide new insight into physical control of the interfacial shapes of droplets.