Redox-labelled electrochemical aptasensors with nanosupported cancer cells

The transfer of redox-labelled bioelectrochemical sensors from proteins to cells is not straightforward because of the cell downward force issue on the surface of the sensors. In this paper, 20-nm-thick nanopillars are introduced to overcome this issue, in a well-controlled manner. We show on both molecular dynamics simulations and experiments that suspending cells a few nanometers above an electrode surface enables redox-labelled tethered DNA aptamer probes to move freely, while remaining at an interaction distance from a target membrane protein, i. e. epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM), which is typically overexpressed in cancer cells. By this nanopillar configuration, the interaction of aptamer with cancer cells is clearly observable, with 13 cells as the lower limit of detection. Nanoconfinement induced by the gap between the electrode surface and the cell membrane appears to improve the limit of detection and to lower the melting temperature of DNA aptamer hairpins, offering an additional degree of freedom to optimize molecular recognition mechanisms. This novel nanosupported electrochemical DNA cell sensor scheme including Brownian-fluctuating redox species opens new opportunities for the design of all-electrical sensors using redox-labelled probes.

Detection of single DNA mismatches by force spectroscopy in short DNA hairpins

Identification of defective DNA structures is a difficult task, since small differences in base-pair bonding are hidden in the local structural variability of a generally random base-pair sequence. Defects, such as base mismatches, missing bases, crosslinks, and so on, occur in DNA with high frequency and must be efficiently identified and repaired to avoid dire consequences such as genetic mutations. Here, we focus on the detection of base mismatches, which is local deviations from the ideal Watson-Crick pairing rule, which may typically originate from DNA replication process, foreign chemical attack, or ionizing radiation. Experimental detection of a mismatch defect demands the ability to measure slight deviations in the free energy and molecular structure. We introduce different mismatches in short DNA hairpins (10 or 20 base pairs plus a 4-base loop) sandwiched between dsDNA handles to be used in single-molecule force spectroscopy with optical tweezers. We perform both hopping and force-pulling experiments to measure the excess free energies and deduce the characteristic kinetic signatures of the mismatch from the force-distance curves. All-atom molecular dynamics simulations lend support to the detailed interpretation of the experimental data. Such measurements, at the lowest sensitivity limits of this experimental technique, demonstrate the capability of identifying the presence of mismatches in a random complementary dsDNA sequence and provide lower bounds for the ability to distinguish different structural defects.

Deformation Localization in Molecular Layers Constrained between Self-Assembled Au Nanoparticles

The localized deformation of molecular monolayers constrained between the spherical surfaces of Au nanoparticles is studied by means of molecular dynamics simulations. Alkyl or polyethylene glycol long-chain molecules were homogeneously distributed over the curved Au surface, pushed against each other by repeated cycles of force relaxation and constant-volume equilibration at temperatures increasing from 50 to 300 K before being slowly quenched to near-zero temperature. Plots of minimum configurational energy can be obtained as a function of the nanoparticle distance, according to different directions of approach; therefore, such simulations describe a range of deformations, from perfectly uniaxial compression to a combination of compression and shear. Despite the relative rigidity of molecular backbones, the deformation is always found to be localized at the interface between the opposing molecular monolayers. We find that shorter ligands can be more densely packed on the surface but do no interdigitate upon compression; they respond to the applied force by bending and twisting, thus changing their conformation while remaining disjointed. On the contrary, longer ligands attain lower surface densities and can interprenetrate when the nanoparticles are compressed against each other; such molecules remain rather straight and benefit from the increased overlap to maximize the adhesion by dispersion forces. The apparent Young's and shear moduli of a dense nanostructure, composed of a triangular arrangement of identical MUDA-decorated Au nanoparticles, are found to be smaller than estimates indirectly deduced by atomic-force experiments but quite close to previous computer simulations of molecular monolayers on flat surfaces and of bulk nanoparticle assemblies.

A biophysical model of cell evolution after cytotoxic treatments: Damage, repair and cell response

We present a theoretical agent-based model of cell evolution under the action of cytotoxic treatments, such as radiotherapy or chemotherapy. The major features of cell cycle and proliferation, cell damage and repair, and chemical diffusion are included. Cell evolution is based on a discrete Markov chain, with cells stepping along a sequence of discrete internal states from 'normal' to 'inactive'. Probabilistic laws are introduced for each type of event a cell can undergo during its life: duplication, arrest, senescence, damage, reparation, or death. We adjust the model parameters on a series of cell irradiation experiments, carried out in a clinical LINAC, in which the damage and repair kinetics of single- and double-strand breaks are followed. Two showcase applications of the model are then presented. In the first one, we reconstruct the cell survival curves from a number of published low- and high-dose irradiation experiments. We reobtain a very good description of the data without assuming the well-known linear-quadratic model, but instead including a variable DSB repair probability. The repair capability of the model spontaneously saturates to an exponential decay at increasingly high doses. As a second test, we attempt to simulate the two extreme possibilities of the so-called 'bystander' effect in radiotherapy: the 'local' effect versus a 'global' effect, respectively activated by the short-range or long-range diffusion of some factor, presumably secreted by the irradiated cells. Even with an oversimplified simulation, we could demonstrate a sizeable difference in the proliferation rate of non-irradiated cells, the proliferation acceleration being much larger for the global than the local effect, for relatively small fractions of irradiated cells in the colony.

Turning carbon nanotubes from exceptional heat conductors into insulators

Thermal conductivity (kappa) of isolated carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is higher than the kappa of diamond; however, in this Letter we show that the kappa of a packed bed of three-dimensional random networks of single and multiwall CNTs is smaller than that of thermally insulating amorphous polymers. The thermoelectric power (Sigma) of the random network of CNTs was also measured. The Sigma of a single wall nanotube network is very similar to that of isolated nanotubes and, in contrast with kappa, Sigma shows a strong dependence on the tube diameter.

Atomic scale origin of crack resistance in brittle fracture

We investigate the physical meaning of the intrinsic crack resistance in the Griffith theory of brittle fracture by means of atomic-scale simulations. By taking cubic SiC as a typical brittle material, we show that the widely accepted identification of intrinsic crack resistance with the free surface energy underestimates the energy-release rate. The strain dependence of the Young modulus and surface energy, as well as allowance for lattice trapping, improve the estimate of the crack resistance. In the smallest scale limit, crack resistance can be fitted by an empirical elastoplastic model.