title: Surface Characterization of Hematin Anhydride: A Comparison between Two Different Synthesis Methods.
abstract: During the intraerythrocytic stage of malaria, the parasite digests hemoglobin and aggregates the released heme as an insoluble crystalline material called hemozoin. This detoxification step is an excellent drug target for developing new antimalarials, which can bind to hemozoin surface to inhibit further growth. Although the bulk crystalline properties of hemozoin are well-known, the surface properties remain poorly defined. Here, we use a combination of spectroscopic and adsorption techniques to study the surface of synthetic hemozoin, hematin anhydride, produced by two different methods. We show that the two synthetic methods produce crystals with major differences, such as the amount of water adsorbed on the surface and surface carboxylate groups. These results imply that the methodology to produce hematin anhydride affects its surface reactivity; this information needs to be considered whenever hematin anhydride is used as a model to study host immune response or to design new antimalarials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mining and Materials Engineering, McGill University , Montreal, Quebec H3A 2B2, Canada.
authors.forename: E Danae
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Guerra
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, McGill University , Montreal, Quebec H3A 0B8, Canada.
authors.forename: D Scott
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Bohle
authors.affiliation: Department of Mining and Materials Engineering, McGill University , Montreal, Quebec H3A 2B2, Canada.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cerruti
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D060326:Chemistry Techniques, Synthetic; D006427:Hemin / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D006427:Hemin