Anchoring of Nematic Liquid Crystals on Viruses with Different Envelope Structures

Abstract

The ordering of synthetic liquid crystals near surfaces is known to be dependent on the nanoscopic structure and chemical functionality of surfaces. In this letter, we report that the orientational ordering of synthetic liquid crystals on surfaces decorated with viruses is also dependent on the structures of the viruses. Each of the four virions investigated had diameters of approximately 100 nm, but three of the viruses (influenza virus, La Crosse virus, and vesicular stomatitis virus) were enveloped in a lipid bilayer, whereas one virus (adenovirus) was not. We observed that lipid bilayer-enveloped viruses induce homeotropic (perpendicular) ordering of a nematic liquid crystal upon contact with the liquid crystal. In contrast, nonenveloped virus (adenovirus)-treated surfaces caused a near-planar orientation of the liquid crystal. We conclude that the homeotropic ordering of liquid crystals is a signature of the presence of enveloped viruses present on surfaces. These results suggest new approaches to the design of nanostructured materials that incorporate viruses as well as suggest methods that can be used to amplify the presence of nanoscopic virions into micrometer-sized domains of liquid crystal that can be optically probed.

Liquid Crystal-based Imaging of Biomolecular Interactions at Roller Printed Protein Surfaces

“…[1][2][3] They can be used to image receptor-mediated binding of proteins at surfaces with submicrometer spatial resolution. 4,5 This method is potentially useful because it does not require the use of enzymatic or fluorescent labels, which largely complicate surface-based assays and prevent high levels of multiplexing. 6,7 In addition, this approach does not require the use of complex instrumentation 8 or laborious techniques.…”

Optical birefringence of liquid crystals for label-free optical biosensing diagnosis

“…[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] What makes LCs useful mainly stems from its optical anisotropy properties such as optical birefringence, which arises from the different refractive indices along two molecular axes of LCs, ie, n o and n e along the ordinary and the extraordinary axes, respectively. The orientations of LCs dominate changes in optical birefringence of LCs, and its control forms a basis of electro-optical switching and LC-based optical biosensors.…”

Liquid Crystal Based Optical Sensor for Imaging Trypsin Activity at Interfaces Between Aqueous Phases and Thermotropic Liquid Crystals

“…[4][5][6] One of the most important advantages of LCs-based sensors is that the orientational properties of LCs enable the sensitive amplification and transduction of a series of interactions into optical outputs that are visible to the naked eye between crossed polarizers due to the birefringence of LCs. [7][8][9] When compared with traditional analytical methods, LCs based sensors have many advantages including that they do not require labeling of substrates, complex instrumentations, or tedious sequences of actions. 4,5 Previous studies have shown that the orientational transition of LCs could be coupled to a range of biomolecular interactions such as specific-binding events and enzyme activities at planar interfaces between LCs and the aqueous phases.…”