Bioinspired systems Applied on the Interaction and Sensing Studies of Xanthene Derivatives

• Grant number: 10/17965-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: March 01, 2011
• End date: November 30, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Condensed Matter Physics
• Principal Investigator: Carlos José Leopoldo Constantino
• Grantee: Pedro Henrique Benites Aoki
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia (FCT). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Presidente Prudente. Presidente Prudente , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 12/01610-4 - Production of phospholipid giant vesicles for application as biomembrane mimetic systems, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

In this PhD project, ultrathin films (nanometers of thickness) of phospholipids will be manufactured using the Layer-by-Layer (LbL) and Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) techniques, in order to obtain films with different molecular architectures. Anionic and zwitterionic phospholipids will be employed and the main objectives are: i) explore the effectiveness of these different molecular architectures for detecting xanthenes derivatives in dilute solutions (environmental aspect); ii) investigate the chemical interactions between xanthenes and thin films of phospholipids, as mimetic systems of biological membranes (pharmacological aspects). The thin films are deposited onto Pt interdigitated electrodes composing sensing units to be characterized via impedance spectroscopy (detection) by dipping them into aqueous solutions containing different xanthenes concentrations, being phospholipids the elements responsible for the signal transduction. The Raman scattering and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) techniques will be used as the main tool for analysis of xanthene/phospholipid interactions, complemented by infrared absorption spectroscopy (FTIR). The growth of LbL and LB films will be monitored via ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy (UV-Vis) and micro-crystal quartz balance (QCM). The micrometer-scale morphology will be determined via micro-Raman technique, at nanometer-scale via atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy with field emission (FEG-SEM). This PhD project is designed within the research line of the FAPESP Research Grant 2009/16021-1 developed at DFQB FCT / UNESP and will be co-supervised by Professor Dr. Wilker Caetano from UEM/Maringá, whose expertise is molecular biophysics. It will also count with the collaboration of professors Drs. Antonio Riul Jr. (UFSCAR / Sorocaba), specialist in sensors for liquid medium ("electronic tongue") and Noboru Hioka (UEM / Maringá), specialist in molecular spectroscopy and photochemistry.

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

AOKI, Pedro Henrique Benites. Bioinspired systems applied on the interaction and sensing studies of xanthene derivatives. 2014. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Faculdade de Ciências. Bauru Bauru.