The Bacterial Hydrophobin BslA is a Switchable Ellipsoidal Janus Nanocolloid

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• 作者：Giovanni B. Brandani ; Marieke Schor ; Ryan Morris ; Nicola Stanley-Wall ; Cait E. MacPhee ; Davide Marenduzzo ; Ulrich Zachariae
• 刊名：Langmuir
• 出版年：2015
• 出版时间：October 27, 2015
• 年：2015
• 卷：31
• 期：42
• 页码：11558-11563
• 全文大小：384K
• ISSN：1520-5827

文摘

BslA is an amphiphilic protein that forms a highly hydrophobic coat around Bacillus subtilis biofilms, shielding the bacterial community from external aqueous solution. It has a unique structure featuring a distinct partition between hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces. This surface property is reminiscent of synthesized Janus colloids. By investigating the behavior of BslA variants at water-cyclohexane interfaces through a set of multiscale simulations informed by experimental data, we show that BslA indeed represents a biological example of an ellipsoidal Janus nanoparticle, whose surface interactions are, moreover, readily switchable. BslA contains a local conformational toggle, which controls its global affinity for, and orientation at, water鈥搊il interfaces. This adaptability, together with single-point mutations, enables the fine-tuning of its solvent and interfacial interactions, and suggests that BslA could be a basis for biotechnological applications.