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Results for “pore-formation”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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Solubility of hydrogen in metals and its effect of pore-formation and embrittlement

The effect of alloying elements on hydrogen solubility were determined by evaluating solubility equations and interaction coefficients. The solubility of dry hydrogen at one atmosphere was investigated in liquid aluminum, Al-Ti, Al-Si, Al-Fe, liquid gold, Au-Cu, and Au-Pd. The design of rapid heating and high pressure casting furnaces used in meta foam experiments is discussed as well as the mechanism of precipitation of pores in melts, and the effect of hydrogen on the shrinkage porosity of Al-Cu and Al-Si alloys. Hydrogen embrittlement in iron base alloys is also examined.

Shahani, H. R.↗

Self-Assembling and Pore-Forming Peptoids as Antimicrobial Biomaterials

Bacterial infections have been a serious threat to mankind throughout history. Natural antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and their membrane-disruption mechanism have generated an immense interest in the design and development of synthetic mimetics that could overcome the intrinsic drawbacks of AMPs, such as their susceptibility to proteolytic degradation. Herein, by exploiting the self-assembly and pore-forming capabilities of sequence-defined peptoids, we discovered a new family of low molecular weight peptoid antibiotics that exhibit excellent broad-spectrum activity and high selectivity toward a panel of clinically significant Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains, including vancomycin-resistant E. faecalis (VREF), methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), methicillin-resistant S. epidermidis (MRSE), E. coli, P. aeruginosa, and K. pneumoniae. Tuning peptoid sidechain chemistry and structure enabled us to tune the efficacy of antimicrobial activity. Mechanistic studies using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), bacterial membrane depolarization and lysis, and time-kill kinetics assays along with molecular dynamics simulations reveal that these peptoids kill both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria through a membrane-disruption mechanism. In conclusion, these robust and biocompatible peptoid-based antibiotics can provide a valuable tool for combating the emerging drug resistance.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Biomimetic antibiotics based on amphiphilic peptoids and their self-assembly

Bacterial infections pose a serious threat to mankind. Inspired by antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and their membrane-disruption mechanism, there is immense interest in the design and development of synthetic mimetics for antibacterial applications, overcoming the intrinsic drawbacks of AMPs (e.g. susceptibility to proteolytic degradation). Herein, by exploiting the self-assembly and pore-forming capabilities of sequence-defined peptoids, we discovered a new family of low molecular weight peptoid antibiotics that exhibited excellent broad-spectrum activity and high selectivity toward a panel of clinically significant Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains. Tuning peptoid sidechain chemistry and structure enabled us to tune the efficacy of antimicrobial activity and study the structure–activity relationship. These findings offer a novel approach to identify new families of antimicrobial peptoids and correlate the pore-forming capability of self-assembling peptoids with their antimicrobial activities. Because peptoids are highly robust and biocompatible, we exhibit these peptoid-based antibiotics will be significant for combating the emerging drug resistance.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗