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Assembling the Bacillus subtilis Spore Coat Basement Layer on Spherical Supported Lipid Bilayers

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The Bacterial Cell Wall

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2727))

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Abstract

Micro- and nanoparticles are often designed by mimicking naturally occurring structures. Bacterial spores are dormant cells elaborated by some Gram-positive bacteria during poor growth conditions to protect their genetic material from harsh environmental stresses. In Bacillus subtilis, this protection is, in part, conferred by a proteinaceous shell, the “coat”, which is composed of ~80 different proteins. The basement layer of the coat contains two unusual proteins, which we have recently reconstituted around silica beads to generate synthetic spore-like particles termed “SSHELs”. Here, we describe the protocol for generating SSHEL particles, and describe the procedure to covalently link molecules of interest (in this case an anti-HER2 affibody) to SSHEL surfaces. SSHELs therefore represent a versatile platform for the display of ligands or antigens for the site-specific delivery of cargo or vaccines.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Center for Cancer Research (C.C.R.), and a C.C.R. FLEX Synergy Award.

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Author notes

  1. Taylor B. Updegrove and Domenico D’Atri both are equally contributed

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Molecular Biology, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Taylor B. Updegrove, Domenico D’Atri & Kumaran S. Ramamurthi

Authors
  1. Taylor B. Updegrove
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  2. Domenico D’Atri
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  3. Kumaran S. Ramamurthi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kumaran S. Ramamurthi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Oral & Systemic Health Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Hung Ton-That

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© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

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Updegrove, T.B., D’Atri, D., Ramamurthi, K.S. (2024). Assembling the Bacillus subtilis Spore Coat Basement Layer on Spherical Supported Lipid Bilayers. In: Ton-That, H. (eds) The Bacterial Cell Wall. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2727. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3491-2_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3491-2_17

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-3490-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-3491-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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