Marek Antonin, Voinov Maxim A, Smirnov Alex I
Department of Chemistry, North Carolina State University, 2620 Yarbrough Drive, Raleigh, NC, 27695-8204, USA.
Cell Biochem Biophys. 2017 Jun;75(2):211-226. doi: 10.1007/s12013-017-0787-4. Epub 2017 Mar 7.
Known since the ancient times, cotton continues to be one of the essential materials for the human civilization. Cotton fibers are almost pure cellulose and contain both crystalline and amorphous nanodomains with different physicochemical properties. While understanding of interactions between the individual cellulose chains within the crystalline phase is important from a perspective of mechanical properties, studies of the amorphous phase lead to characterization of the essential transport parameters, such as solvent diffusion, dyeing, drug release, and toxin absorption, as well as more complex processes of enzymatic degradation. Here, we describe the use of spin probe electron paramagnetic resonance methods to study local polarity and heterogeneous viscosity of two types of unprocessed cotton fibers, G. hirsutum and G. barbadense, harvested in the State of North Carolina, USA. These fibers were loaded with two small molecule nitroxide probes that differ in polarity-Tempo and its more hydrophilic derivative Tempol-using a series of polar and non-polar solvents. The electron paramagnetic resonance spectra of the nitroxide-loaded cotton fibers were analyzed both semi-empirically and by least-squares simulations using a rigorous stochastic theory of electron paramagnetic resonance spectra developed by Freed and coworkers. A software package and least-squares fitting protocols were developed to carry out automatic simulations of multi-component electron paramagnetic resonance spectra in both first-derivative and the absorption forms at multiple resonance frequencies such as X-band (9.5 GHz) and W-band (94.3 GHz). The results are compared with the preceding electron paramagnetic resonance spin probe studies of a commercial bleached cotton sheeting carried out by Batchelor and coworkers. One of the results of this study is a demonstration of a co-existence of cellulose nanodomains with different physicochemical properties such as polarity and microviscosity that are affected by solvents and temperature. Spin labeling studies also revealed a macroscopic heterogeneity in the domain distribution along the cotton fibers and a critical role the cuticular layer is playing as a barrier for spin probe penetration. Finally but not lastly, the simultaneous multi-component least-squares simulation method of electron paramagnetic resonance spectra acquired at different resonant frequencies and the display forms (e.g., absorption and first-derivative displays) and the strategy of spectral parameter sharing could be potentially applicable to other heterogeneous biological systems in addition to the cotton fibers studies here.
棉花自古以来便为人所知,至今仍是人类文明的重要材料之一。棉纤维几乎是纯纤维素,包含具有不同物理化学性质的结晶和非晶纳米域。虽然从机械性能的角度理解结晶相中单个纤维素链之间的相互作用很重要,但对非晶相的研究有助于表征基本的传输参数,如溶剂扩散、染色、药物释放和毒素吸收,以及酶促降解等更复杂的过程。在此,我们描述了使用自旋探针电子顺磁共振方法来研究在美国北卡罗来纳州收获的两种未加工棉纤维——陆地棉和海岛棉的局部极性和非均相粘度。这些纤维使用一系列极性和非极性溶剂负载了两种极性不同的小分子氮氧化物探针——四甲基哌啶氧化物(Tempo)及其更亲水的衍生物Tempol。通过半经验方法以及使用由弗里德及其同事开发的严格的电子顺磁共振光谱随机理论进行最小二乘模拟,对负载氮氧化物的棉纤维的电子顺磁共振光谱进行了分析。开发了一个软件包和最小二乘拟合协议,以在多个共振频率(如X波段(9.5 GHz)和W波段(94.3 GHz))下对一阶导数和吸收形式的多组分电子顺磁共振光谱进行自动模拟。将结果与巴彻勒及其同事对商业漂白棉布进行的先前电子顺磁共振自旋探针研究进行了比较。这项研究的结果之一是证明了具有不同物理化学性质(如极性和微粘度)的纤维素纳米域共存,这些性质会受到溶剂和温度的影响。自旋标记研究还揭示了沿棉纤维的域分布存在宏观非均质性,以及表皮层作为自旋探针渗透屏障所起的关键作用。最后但同样重要的是,在不同共振频率和显示形式(如吸收和一阶导数显示)下获取的电子顺磁共振光谱的同步多组分最小二乘模拟方法以及光谱参数共享策略,除了本文的棉纤维研究外,可能还适用于其他非均相生物系统。