Lab visit to the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne

Thanks to CREATE program, Karolina Paszkowska spent 2 months at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) in prof. Francesco Stellacci group. She worked with bacteriophages and nanoparticles. The main goal of her research during the lab visit was to find a nanoparticle, which would deactivate bacteriophages and not kill bacteria.

Karolina took part in nanoparticle synthesis, followed by NMR and TEM analysis. She checked the effect of various charged nanoparticles on the activity of bacterial viruses. The relationship between the ratio of hydrophobic and hydrophilic ligands and the efficiency of nanoparticle activity in terms of phage inactivation was also determined. After selecting the most effective nanoparticle, she performed a dose-response analysis and determined the EC50 for each of the phages tested (T4, T7, and T1).

Karolina also had the opportunity to analyze her samples using the cryo-TEM technique, which resolution allows phage view and precise observation of interactions between viruses and nanoparticles. Obtained results suggest that used nanoparticles form a trap for bacteriophages, in which they are later inactivated. This phenomenon is interesting and it is worth considering its further study.

Visitor

Karolina Paszkowska

Dates

26 Oct.-21 Dec. 2019

Location

EPFL, Supramolecular Nano-Materials and Interfaces Laboratory, Department of Material Science and Engineering, Lausanne, Switzerland