School of

Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering

ChEBE Faculty Research

Nehal Abu–Lail, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Dr. Abu-Lail is a participating faculty member of the
Center for Reproductive Biology at WSU.


School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering
Washington State University
118 Dana Hall Spokane St.
P.O. Box 642710
Pullman, WA 99164-2710


Office: EME 59 (Tel: 509 335-4961)
Lab: ETRL 352
nehal@wsu.edu


Graduate Students

Bong-Jae Park

Research Interests


Molecular Level Bacterial Adhesion

Bacterial Adhesion Models

Controlling Bio-adhesion

Bacterial Adhesion Relationship Properties

Friction and Bacteria

Pathogen Detection

-->

AFM in Biology in general with a focus on microbial adhesion, friction and sensing.

My research involves the use of atomic force microscopy (AFM) to investigate microbial surfaces, biopolymers, cells, and interactions within biological systems. Since its invention, the use of AFM to investigate biological surfaces and biological interactions with surfaces has been continuously increasing. Owing to its high lateral and vertical resolutions, high signal to noise ratio, and ability to be used in liquids at pico-or nano- Newton level, AFM has been successfully used and continues to being used to characterize a wide array of biological systems. AFM can provide a very useful tool for scientists and engineers to perform molecular-scale characterizations of bacterial surface macromolecules. The qualitative and quantitative information that can be obtained from AFM can be used to explain bacterial adhesion based on a first-principles approach. The objectives of my work are to utilize AFM as a technique to:

  1. Understand the fundamentals of bacterial adhesion on both micro and macro scales by characterizing the surfaces of the microbes and their surface biomacromolecules and the opposing substrates surfaces in contact with the microbes.
  2. Advance the existing bacterial adhesion models.
  3. Control bio-adhesion by controlling the surface chemistry of the substrate.
  4. Investigate the relationship between micro and macro bacterial adhesion.
  5. Friction and bacteria.
  6. Develop sensors that can be used to detect pathogens in different types of media.


Selected Publications

  1. Alexei Valiaev, Nehal I. Abu-Lail, Dong-Woo Lim, Ashutosh Chilkoti, Stefan Zauscher "Micro-Cantilever Sensing and Actuation with End-Grafted Stimulus-Responsive Elastin-Like Polypeptides ". Langmuir, In Press.
  2. D.M. Loveless, N. I. Abu-Lail, M. Kaholek, S. Zauscher, and S. L. Craig. "Reversibly Cross-Linked Surface Grafted Polymer Brushes", Angewandte Chemie International Edition, In Press.
  3. Nehal Abu-lail, and Terri A. Camesano. "The Effect of Solvent Polarity on the Molecular Surface Properties and Adhesion of Escherichia coli". Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces. 51(2006) 62-70.
  4. Nehal Abu-lail, and Terri A. Camesano. "Specific and Non-specific Interaction Forces between Escherichia coli and Silicon Nitride, Determined by Poisson Statistical Analysis". Langmuir. 22(2006)7296-7301.
  5. Nehal I. Abu-Lail, Marian Kaholek, Bruce LaMattina, Robert L. Clark, and Stefan Zauscher. "Micro-Cantilevers with End Grafted Stimulus-Responsive Polymer Brushes for Actuation and Sensing", Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 114(1), 2006, 371-378.
  6. Nehal I. Abu-Lail, Tommo Ohashi, Robert Clark, Harold Erickson, and Stefan Zauscher. "Understanding the Elasticity of Fibronectin Fibrils: Unfolding Strengths of FN-III and GFP Domains Measured by Single Molecule Force Spectroscopy" Matrix Biology, 25 (2006), 175-184.
  7. Abu-Lail, N.I.; Camesano, T.A. "Atomic Force Microscopy and Single-Molecule Force Microscopy Studies of Biopolymers, Invited Review" Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Technology, Dekker Inc. 2004, 119-131.
  8. Abu-Lail, N.I.; Camesano, T.A. "Polysaccharide Properties Probed with Atomic Force Microscopy" Microscopy Journal, Invited Review, 2003, vol. 212, Pt3, 217-238.
  9. Azzam, M.; Al-Malah, K.; Abu-Lail, N. "Olive Mills Effluent (OME) Wastewater Post-Treatment Using Activated Carbon". Journal of Environmental Science and Health –Part A, Vol. A39, No.1, 2004, 268-280.
  10. Abu-Lail, N.I.; Camesano, T.A. "The Role of Lipopolysaccharides in the Adhesion, Retention, and Transport of Escherichia coli JM109" Environmental Science and Technology, 2003, 37(10), 2173-2183.
  11. Abu-Lail, N.I.; Camesano, T.A. "Role of Ionic Strength on the Relationship of Biopolymer Conformation, DLVO Contributions, and Steric Interactions to Bioadhesion of pseudomonas putida kT2442" Biomacromolecules, 2003, 4, 1000-1012.
  12. Abu-Lail, N.; Camesano, T."Elasticity of Pseudomonas putida KT2442 Surface Polymers Probed with Single- Molecule Force Spectroscopy", Langmuir 2002, 18, 4071-4081.
  13. Camesano, T.; Abu-Lail, N. "Heterogeneity in Bacterial Surface Polysaccharides, Probed on a Single-Molecule Basis", Biomacromolecules, 2002, 3, 661-667.
  14. Al-Malah, K.; Azzam, M.; Abu-Lail, N. "Olive Mills Effluent (OME) Wastewater Post-Treatment Using Activated Clay". Separation and Purification Technology, 20 (2-3): 225-234 SEP 15 2000.


School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, PO Box 642710, Washington State University, Pullman WA 99164-2710, 509-335-4332, Email ChEBE