Person:
Cruz Rodríguez, Antonio

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First Name
Antonio
Last Name
Cruz Rodríguez
Affiliation
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Faculty / Institute
Ciencias Químicas
Department
Bioquímica y Biología Molecular
Area
Bioquímica y Biología Molecular
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Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Item
    Compositional, structural and functional properties of discrete coexisting complexes within bronchoalveolar pulmonary surfactant
    (Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Biomembranes, 2022) Castillo Sánchez, José Carlos; Cruz Rodríguez, Antonio; Pérez Gil, Jesús; Cerrada, Alejandro; Conde, Mikel
    Lung surfactant (LS) stabilizes the respiratory surface by forming a film at the alveolar air-liquid interface that reduces surface tension and minimizes the work of breathing. Typically, this surface-active agent has been isolated from animal lungs both for research and biomedical applications. However, these materials are constituted by complex membranous architectures including surface-active and inactive lipid/protein assemblies. In this work, we describe the composition, structure and surface activity of discrete membranous entities that are part of a LS preparation isolated from bronchoalveolar lavages of porcine lungs. Seven different fractions could be resolved from whole surfactant subjected to sucrose density gradient centrifugation. Detailed compositional characterization revealed differences in protein and cholesterol content but no distinct saturated:unsaturated phosphatidylcholine ratios. Moreover, no significant differences were detected regarding apparent hydration at the headgroup region of membranes, as reported by the probe Laurdan, and lipid chain mobility analysed by electron spin resonance (ESR) in spite of the variety of membranous assemblies observed by transmission electron microscopy. In addition, six of the seven separated LS subfractions formed similar, essentially disordered-like, interfacial films and performed efficient surface activity, under physiologically relevant conditions. Altogether, our work show that a LS isolated from porcine lungs is comprised by a heterogenous population of membranous assemblies lacking freshly secreted unused LS complexes sustaining highly dehydrated and ordered membranous assemblies as previously reported. We propose that surfactant subfractions may illustrate intermediates in sequential structural steps within the structural transformations occurring along the respiratory compression-expansion cycles.
  • Item
    Pulmonary Surfactant and Drug Delivery: An Interface-Assisted Carrier to Deliver Surfactant Protein SP-D Into the Airways
    (Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 2021) García Mouton, Cristina; Hidalgo Román, Alberto; Arroyo, Raquel; Echaide Torreguitar, Mercedes; Cruz Rodríguez, Antonio; Pérez Gil, Jesús
    This work is focused on the potential use of pulmonary surfactant to deliver full-length recombinant human surfactant protein SP-D (rhSP-D) using the respiratory air-liquid interface as a shuttle. Surfactant protein D (SP-D) is a collectin protein present in the pulmonary surfactant (PS) system, involved in innate immune defense and surfactant homeostasis. It has been recently suggested as a potential therapeutic to alleviate inflammatory responses and lung diseases in preterm infants suffering from respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) or bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). However, none of the current clinical surfactants used for surfactant replacement therapy (SRT) to treat RDS contain SP-D. The interaction of SP-D with surfactant components, the potential of PS as a respiratory drug delivery system and the possibility to produce recombinant versions of human SP-D, brings the possibility of delivering clinical surfactants supplemented with SP-D. Here, we used an in vitro setup that somehow emulates the respiratory air-liquid interface to explore this novel approach. It consists in two different compartments connected with a hydrated paper bridge forming a continuous interface. We firstly analyzed the adsorption and spreading of rhSP-D alone from one compartment to another over the air-liquid interface, observing low interfacial activity. Then, we studied the interfacial spreading of the protein co-administered with PS, both at different time periods or as a mixed formulation, and which oligomeric forms of rhSP-D better traveled associated with PS. The results presented here demonstrated that PS may transport rhSP-D long distances over air-liquid interfaces, either as a mixed formulation or separately in a close window time, opening the doors to empower the current clinical surfactants and SRT.
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    Interfacial Activity of Phasin PhaF from Pseudomonas putida KT2440 at Hydrophobic-Hydrophilic Biointerfaces
    (Langmuir, 2019) Mato, Aránzazu; Tarazona Lizcano, Natalia Andrea; Hidalgo Román, Alberto; Cruz Rodríguez, Antonio; Jiménez, Mercedes; Pérez-Gil, Jesús; Prieto Jiménez, María Auxiliadora
    Phasins, the major proteins coating polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) granules, have been proposed as suitable biosurfactants for multiple applications because of their amphiphilic nature. In this work, we analyzed the interfacial activity of the amphiphilic α-helical phasin PhaF from Pseudomonas putida KT2440 at different hydrophobic−hydrophilic interfacial environments. The binding of PhaF to surfaces containing PHA or phospholipids, postulated as structural components of PHA granules, was confirmed in vitro using supported lipid bilayers and confocal microscopy, with polyhydroxyoctanoate-co-hexanoate P(HO-co-HHx) and Escherichia coli lipid extract as model systems. The surfactantlike capabilities of PhaF were determined by measuring changes in surface pressure in Langmuir devices. PhaF spontaneously adsorbed at the air−water interface, reducing the surface tension from 72 mN/m (water surface tension at 25 °C) to 50 mN/m. The differences in the adsorption of the protein in the presence of different phospholipid films showed a marked preference for phosphatidylglycerol species, such as 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoglycerol. The PHA-binding domain of PhaF (BioF) conserved a similar surface activity to PhaF, suggesting that it is responsible for the surfactant properties of the whole protein. These new findings not only increase our knowledge about the role of phasins in the PHA machinery but also open new outlooks for the application of these proteins as biosurfactants.