Biomedical subjects

M G Miguel

Publications and source records attributed to M G Miguel.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Polyion adsorption onto catanionic surfaces. A Monte Carlo study.

The adsorption of a single and negatively charged polyion with varying flexibility onto a surface carrying both negative and positive charges representing a charged membrane surface has been investigated by using a simple model employing Monte Carlo simulations. The polyion was represented by a sequence of negatively charged hard spheres connected with harmonic bonds. The charged surface groups were also represented by charged hard spheres, and they were positioned on a hard surface slightly protruding into the solution. The surface charges were either frozen in a liquidlike structure or laterally mobile. With a large excess of positive surface charges, the classical picture of a strongly adsorbed polyion with an extended and flat configuration emerged. However, adsorption also appeared at a net neutral surface or at a weakly negatively charged surface, and at these conditions the adsorption was stronger with a flexible polyion as compared to a semiflexible one, two features not appearing in simpler models containing homogeneously charged surfaces. The presence of charged surface patches (frozen surface charges) and the ability of polarization of the surface charges (mobile surface charges) are the main reasons for the enhanced adsorption. The stronger adsorption with the flexible chain is caused by its greater ability to spatially correlate with the surface charges.

Adsorption↗

PubMed2005

Self-assembly of a hydrophobically modified naphthalene-labeled poly(acrylic acid) polyelectrolyte in water: organic solvent mixtures followed by steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence.

The solution properties of two water-soluble polymers, poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), covalently labeled with the fluorescent hydrophobic dye naphthalene (Np), have been investigated in water:organic solvent mixtures. The naphthalene chromophores have been randomly attached, onto the polymer, with two different degrees of labeling. Fluorescence measurements (steady-state and time-resolved) have been used to follow the photophysical behavior of the polymers and consequently report on the self-association of the polymers in the mixed organic (methanol or dioxane):aqueous solutions. The emission spectra of the high-labeled Np PAA reveal the presence of monomer and excimer bands whereas with the low-labeled polymer only monomer emission is observed. The excitation spectra collected at the monomer and excimer emission bands show significant differences, depending on the water content of the mixture, which indicate the simultaneous presence of preformed and dynamic dimers as routes to excimer formation. The time-resolved data decay profiles of the high-labeled polymer in the mixtures were always triple exponential whereas in pure methanol and dioxane they follow biexponential laws. The data in the mixtures are consistent with two types of monomers and one excimer. Both monomers are able to give rise to excimer in the excited state, one type involving the movement of long distant Np chromophores and the other involving a local reorientation of adjacent Np chromophores. These correspond to different decay times: (1) a long which corresponds to the long distant approach of non-neighboring Np chromophores forming an excimer and (2) a short corresponding to the fast adjustment of two neighboring Np chromophores in order to have the adequate parallel geometry. An additional decay time corresponding to the excimer decay was found to be present at all wavelengths. All the decay times were dependent on the water content of the mixture. An estimation of the two excimer forming rate constants values is made for the mixed media considered in this work. On the whole, using both steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence parameters, and by comparing data for a polymer with a small number of hydrophobes with a more highly modified one, it is possible in great detail to demonstrate how association is controlled by solvent quality for the hydrophobes and by the distance between hydrophobes.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of the volatile components of Teucrium lusitanicum and Teucrium algarbiensis.

The essential oils from four samples of Teucrium lusitanicum and one sample of Teucrium algarbiensis, grown in Algarve (southern Portugal) were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). Seventy-one volatile compounds were identified. Major compounds of T. algarbiensis oil were alpha-pinene (8.3%), sabinene (7.2%), beta-pinene (10.2%), limonene (11.8%) and germacrene D (7.6%). Concerning T. lusitanicum, some quantitative differences were found with regards to the major constituents of the oils from four populations: alpha-pinene (0.8-8.5%), sabinene (2.1-9.6%), beta-pinene (2.5-11.9%), limonene (1.2-11.5%) and elemol (2.6-12.0%).

Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry↗

PubMed2003

Antimicrobial activity of essential oils isolated from Portuguese endemic species of Thymus.

AIMS: Thymus species are wild species mostly found in the arid lands of Portugal. Possible antimicrobial properties of Thymus essential oils have been investigated. The chemical composition of the essential oils and the antimicrobial activity of Thymus mastichina (L) L. subsp. mastichina, T. camphoratus and T. lotocephalus from different regions of Portugal were analysed. METHODS AND RESULTS: Hydrodistillation was used to isolate the essential oils and the chemical analyses were performed by gas chromatography (GC) and GC coupled to mass spectrometry. The antimicrobial activity was tested by the disc agar diffusion technique against Candida albicans, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Proteus mirabilis, Salmonella spp. and Staphylococcus aureus. Pure linalool, 1,8-cineole and a mixture (1 : 1) of these compounds were included. Linalool, 1,8-cineole or linalool/1,8-cineole and linalool/1,8-cineole/linalyl acetate were the major components of the essential oils, depending on the species or sampling place. The essential oils isolated from the Thymus species studied demonstrated antimicrobial activity but the micro-organisms tested had significantly different sensitivities. CONCLUSIONS: The antimicrobial activity of essential oils may be related to more than one component. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Portuguese endemic species of Thymus can be used for essential oil production for food spoilage control, cosmetics and pharmaceutical use. Further studies will be required to elucidate the cell targets of the essential oil components.

Acyclic Monoterpenes↗

PubMed2001

Association of surfactants and polymers studied by luminescence techniques.

Light emission spectroscopy has unique possibilities for the study of central issues of surfactants and associating polymers. With the help of luminescent probes, information may be obtained on matters such as molecular association, microstructure, and molecular dynamics; this constitutes an important contribution to the understanding and control of macroscopic properties, as well as biological function and technical applications. Important aspects of these systems considered in this review are: formation of micelles and hydrophobic microdomains; aggregation numbers of surfactants; shape of molecular aggregates; size of droplets in water or in oil in microemulsions; formation and stability of vesicles; intra- vs. intermolecular association in polymers; conformational changes in polymers; polymer-surfactant association; surfactant organization in adsorbed layers; kinetic aspects regarding the formation and disintegration of self-assembly structures; residence times of molecules in microdomains and migration of active molecules.

DNA↗

PubMed2001

Applications and limitations of uranyl ion as a photophysical probe.

Uranyl ion has a long-lived luminescent excited state, which can be used as a probe for the aggregation behaviour in a variety of surfactant and polymeric systems. The general spectroscopy and photophysics of this species are discussed, and the applications to specific micellar, microemulsion, vesicular and liquid crystalline systems presented. It is shown that both dynamic and structural information can be obtained from spectral and kinetic data. Examples of applications of uranyl probe studies to technologically important mesoscopic and mesoporous systems involving metal oxides, or their salts, and to humic acids and soils will also be reviewed. Emphasis will be given to both the advantages and restrictions on the use of this useful photophysical probe.

Cations, Divalent↗

PubMed1999

DNA conformational dynamics in the presence of catanionic mixtures.

DNA conformational behavior in the presence of non-stoichiometric mixtures of two oppositely charged surfactants, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and sodium octyl sulfate, was directly visualized in an aqueous solution with the use of a fluorescence microscopy technique. It was found that in the presence of cationic-rich catanionic mixtures, DNA molecules exhibit a conformational transition from elongated coil to compact globule states. Moreover, if the catanionic mixtures form positively charged vesicles, DNA is adsorbed onto the surface of the vesicles in a collapsed globular form. When anionic-rich catanionic mixtures are present in the solution, no change in the DNA conformational behavior was detected. Cryogenic transmission electron microscopy, as well as measurements of translational diffusion coefficients of individual DNA chains, supported our optical microscopy observations.

Anions↗