title: The influence of quarternary salt on hyaluronan conformation and particle size in solution.
abstract: Interaction of hyaluronan (NaHy) with the quaternary salt, benzalkonium chloride (BAC), was studied. Based on the DLS experiments, viscometry and surface tension measurements executed on hyaluronan samples with two molecular weights of Mw=1.8 MDa and Mw=0.35 MDa, the hypothesis was proposed suggesting that at certain BAC concentrations, hyaluronan can form aggregates, which lead to increase of the polymer coil size measured as z-average diameter. Moreover, it was confirmed that within the whole range of BAC concentrations, repeated variations in size and conformations of polymer coils occur, being connected with the critical micellar concentration of BAC and with hydrophobic interactions of non-polar segments of BAC with hyaluronan hydrophobic domains. Tensiometry, DLS and viscometry data support the assumption that variations of thermodynamical "favourability" of BAC-BAC or NaHy-BAC interactions take place in hyaluronan solutions, based on the BAC concentration.
authors.affiliation: Tomas Bata University in Zlín, Faculty of Technology, Department of Physics and Material Engineering, nám. T.G. Masaryka 275, 760 01 Zlín, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Lenka
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gřundělová
authors.forename: Aleš
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mráček
authors.forename: Věra
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kašpárková
authors.forename: Antonín
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Minařík
authors.forename: Petr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Smolka
mesh_terms: D001548:Benzalkonium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D002236:Carbohydrate Conformation; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D008823:Micelles; D010316:Particle Size; D012492:Salts / Q000737:chemistry*; D012996:Solutions; D013500:Surface Tension
chemical_list: D001548:Benzalkonium Compounds; D008823:Micelles; D012492:Salts; D012996:Solutions; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid
keywords: Critical micellar concentration; Dynamic light scattering; Hyaluronan; Hyaluronan conformation; Hyaluronan hydrophobic interactions; Quarternary salts