8th Liquid Matter Conference September 6-10, 2011 Wien, Austria ...

P4.10Fri 911:10-14:00Exploring the structural properties and molecularmechanisms of cryoprotectantsLorna Dougan 11 University of Leeds, School of Physics and Astronomy, LS29JT, Leeds, United KingdomMany organisms that live in extreme environments have developed mechanisms that protect themfrom environmental stresses. A common mechanism involves accumulation of sugars, known asprotecting osmolytes, which allow organisms to survive sub-zero temperatures. This method iswidely utilized in industry, medicine and nanotechnology to prolong the storage life of specificcomponents. One such protecting osmolyte is glycerol, a sugar alcohol with three hydroxyl group,which is a rich and complex system for the study of hydrogen bonded fluids. While much workhas been done to characterise glycerol’s dynamic properties a corresponding thorough examinationof the structural properties of this molecule is lacking. In particular, little is known aboutthe structural architecture of glycerol’s hydrogen network in aqueous solution. Furthermore, themolecular mechanism by which cryoprotectants like glycerol stabilise biological molecules is yetto be elucidated. We have completed a series of neutron diffraction experiments combined withcomputational modelling to reveal insight into the structural properties of this important system.We have completed a range of single molecule force spectroscopy experiments to probe the mechanicalstability of proteins in cryoprotectant environments. By combining these two approacheswe hope to shed light into the molecular mechanisms of cryoprotection.10