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Permeability enhancement of Escherichia coli by single‐walled carbon nanotube treatment
Author(s) -
Mosleh Abdollah,
Heintz Anna,
Lim KiTaek,
Kim JinWoo,
Beitle Robert
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
biotechnology progress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.572
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1520-6033
pISSN - 8756-7938
DOI - 10.1002/btpr.2443
Subject(s) - carbon nanotube , escherichia coli , intracellular , permeability (electromagnetism) , transmission electron microscopy , recombinant dna , biophysics , chemistry , chemical engineering , materials science , microbiology and biotechnology , nanotechnology , biochemistry , biology , membrane , engineering , gene
This research investigated the use of single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) as an additive to increase the permeability of a bacterial cell wall. Recombinant Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) that expressed β‐lactamase were exposed to SWNTs under various levels of concentration and agitation. Activity of β‐lactamase in the culture fluid and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to determine the amount of released protein, and visually examine the permeability enhancement of the cells. It was found that β‐lactamase release in the culture fluid occurred in a dose‐dependent manner with treatment by SWNTs and was also dependent on agitation rate. Based on TEM, this treatment successfully caused an increase in permeability without significant damage to the cell wall. Consequently, SWNTs can be used as an enhancement agent to cause the release of intracellular proteins. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 33:654–657, 2017