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Fluorescence resonance energy transfer confirms the bacterial-induced conformational transition in highly-branched poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide with vancomycin end groups on binding to Staphylococcus aureus

No / We describe a series of experiments designed to investigate the conformational transition that highly-branched polymers with ligands undergo when interacting with bacteria, a process that may provide a new sensing mechanism for bacterial detection. Fluorescent highly-branched poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide)s (HB-PNIPAM) were prepared by sequential self-condensing radical copolymerizations, using anthrylmethyl methacrylate (AMMA) and fluorescein-O-acrylate (FA) as fluorescent comonomers and 4-vinylbenzyl pyrrole carbodithioate as a branch forming monomer. Differences in reactivity necessitated to first copolymerize AMMA then react with FA in a separate sequential monomer feed step. Modifications of the chain ends produced vancomycin-functional derivatives (HB-PNIPAM-Van). The AMMA and FA labels allow probing of the conformational behaviour of the polymers in solution via fluorescence non-radiative energy transfer experiments. It was shown that interaction of this polymer's end groups with Staphylococcus aureus induced a macromolecular collapse. The data thus provide conclusive evidence for a conformational transition that is driven by binding to a bacterium. / EPSRC

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/11361
Date13 June 2014
CreatorsSwanson, L., Rimmer, Stephen, MacNeil, S., MacNeil, S., Douglas, C.W.I., Swindells, K., Sarker, P.
Source SetsBradford Scholars
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeArticle, No full-text in the repository

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