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- Jass, Jana, et al.
(author)
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Physical properties of Escherichia coli P pili measured by optical tweezers
- 2004
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In: Biophysical Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 87:6, s. 4271-4283
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The mechanical behavior of individual P pili of uropathogenic Escherichia coli has been investigated using optical tweezers. P pili, whose main part constitutes the PapA rod, composed of approximately 10(3) PapA subunits in a helical arrangement, are distributed over the bacterial surface and mediate adhesion to host cells. They are particularly important in the pathogenesis of E. coli colonizing the upper urinary tract and kidneys. A biological model system has been established for in situ measurements of the forces that occur during mechanical stretching of pili. A mathematical model of the force-versus-elongation behavior of an individual pilus has been developed. Three elongation regions of pili were identified. In region I, P pili stretch elastically, up to a relative elongation of 16 +/- 3%. The product of elasticity modulus and area of a P pilus, EA, was assessed to 154 +/- 20 pN (n=6). In region II, the quaternary structure of the PapA rod unfolds under a constant force of 27 +/- 2 pN (n approximately 100) by a sequential breaking of the interactions between adjacent layers of PapA subunits. This unfolding can elongate the pilus up to 7 +/- 2 times. In region III, pili elongate in a nonlinear manner as a result of stretching until the bond ruptures.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Fällman, Erik, et al.
(author)
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Optical tweezers based force measurement system for quantitating binding interactions : system design and application for the study of bacterial adhesion
- 2004
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In: Biosensors & bioelectronics. - : Elsevier. - 0956-5663 .- 1873-4235. ; 19:11, s. 1429-1437
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- An optical force measurement system for quantitating forces in the pN range between micrometer-sized objects has been developed. The system was based upon optical tweezers in combination with a sensitive position detection system and constructed around an inverted microscope. A trapped particle in the focus of the high numerical aperture microscope-objective behaves like an omnidirectional mechanical spring in response to an external force. The particle’s displacement from the equilibrium position is therefore a direct measure of the exerted force. A weak probe laser beam, focused directly below the trapping focus, was used for position detection of the trapped particle (a polystyrene bead). The bead and the condenser focus the light to a distinct spot in the far field, monitored by a position sensitive detector. Various calibration procedures were implemented in order to provide absolute force measurements. The system has been used to measure the binding forces between Escherichia coli bacterial adhesins and galabiose-functionalized beads
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| 5. |
- Gustafsson, Jörgen, et al.
(author)
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Double modulation diode laser absorption spectrometry by simultaneous wavelength modulation and optically induced population modulation : application to trace element detection in window-equipped graphite furnaces
- 2004
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In: Spectrochimica Acta Part B - Atomic Spectroscopy. - Oxford : Pergamon P.. - 0584-8547 .- 1873-3565. ; 59:1, s. 67-92
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A new diode laser-based double modulation absorption spectrometry (DMAS) technique for detection of species in trace amounts/concentrations is presented. The new technique makes use of a simultaneous modulation of the wavelength and population in order to reduce the background signals from multiple reflections in optical components (so-called etalon effects) that normally appear in ordinary wavelength modulation absorption spectrometry (WMAS). The simultaneous wavelength and population modulation are achieved by splitting the light from a wavelength-modulated diode laser into two beams—one strong pump beam and one weak probe beam—that subsequently are overlapped in an interaction region inside a sample compartment. The objective of the pump beam is to periodically transfer population from the state with which the probe beam interacts. The modulation of the population is achieved by modulating the pump beam with a chopper. The transmission of the probe beam is detected and demodulated at a frequency that is a combination of various harmonics of the wavelength modulation and chopping frequencies. The purely optical modulation makes the new technique more generally applicable than other DMAS techniques. The new DMAS technique is thoroughly described by a Fourier series-based theoretical description that previously has shown to be powerful for description of WMAS. The theoretical description is general in the sense that it considers DMAS for a variety of modes of operation and for any sample compartment providing homogeneously broadened transitions. The experiments were carried out on the 780-nm transition in Rb in a window-equipped graphite furnace (GF) used as an atomizer for aqueous solutions of Rb in ppt concentrations. The limit of detection obtained for the DMAS technique applied to a window-equipped GF was more than an order of magnitude better than that for the ordinary WMAS technique applied to the same type of window-equipped GF, and similar to that from an ordinary WMAS instrumentation coupled to a window-less GF, i.e. approximately 10 fg. Since the analytical DMAS signal was found to be approximately one order of magnitude smaller than the corresponding WMAS signal, it could be concluded that the noise from the background signal from the DMAS technique applied to a window-equipped GF was likewise about one order of magnitude smaller than the noise from ordinary WMAS applied to an open GF system. This implies in turn that the results so far published from the ordinary GF–WMAS technique are not shot noise limited and should therefore in principle also be improvable.
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