title: Unique aggregation of anthrax (Bacillus anthracis) spores by sugar-coated single-walled carbon nanotubes.
abstract: There has been significant interest in the binding of anthrax spores by molecular species, but with only limited success. Proteins and more recently peptides were used. However, despite the known presence of carbohydrates on the spore surface, carbohydrate-carbohydrate interactions have hardly been explored likely because of the lack of required specific platform for synthetic carbohydrates. We report the successful use of single-walled carbon nanotubes as a truly unique scaffold for displaying multivalent monosaccharide ligands that bind effectively to anthrax spores with divalent cation mediation to cause significant spore aggregation. The work should have far-reaching implications in development of countermeasure technologies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Laboratory for Emerging Materials and Technology, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634-0973, USA.
authors.forename: Haifang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Lingrong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Fushen
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Mohammed J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Meziani
authors.forename: Pengju G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Ya-Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001408:Bacillus anthracis / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000502:physiology*; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000737:chemistry*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002241:Carbohydrates; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon