Abstract
The two sugar molecules sucrose and trehalose are both considered as stabilizing molecules for the purpose of preserving biological materials during, for example, lyophilization or cryo-preservation. Although these molecules share a similar molecular structure, there are several important differences in their properties when they interact with water, such as differences in solubility, viscosity, and glass transition temperature. In general, trehalose has been shown to be more efficient than other sugar molecules in preserving different biological molecules against stress, and thus by investigating how these two disaccharides differ in their water interaction, it is possible to further understand what makes trehalose special in its stabilizing properties. For this purpose, the structure of aqueous solutions of these disaccharides was studied by using neutron and X-ray diffraction in combination with empirical potential structure refinement (EPSR) modeling. The results show that there are surprisingly few differences in the overall structure of the solutions, although there are indications for that trehalose perturbs the water structure slightly more than sucrose.
Highlights
In a previous study we examined the structural properties of an aqueous trehalose solution for the purpose of investigating its role as a protein stabilizer.[1]
In this paper we extend our previous study[1] on an aqueous trehalose solution by studying sucrose at the same solution concentration (33 wt %) with the use of both neutron and X-ray diffraction combined with empirical potential structure refinement (EPSR) modeling
Throughout this section the reader should keep in mind that the I(Q)’s indicate very minor differences between sucrose and trehalose, and, the EPSR models are not able to reproduce the experimental data in all details
Summary
In a previous study we examined the structural properties of an aqueous trehalose solution for the purpose of investigating its role as a protein stabilizer.[1] The main results showed that trehalose forms multiple ( weak) bonds with water, avoiding direct trehalose−trehalose interactions (clustering), and had a destructuring effect on the water. The results obtained in that study did not include any comparisons with other sugar molecules. The question is whether our findings are unique for trehalose and may explain its special stabilizing properties or if similar results would be obtained for other sugar molecules, such as sucrose. Sucrose and trehalose are both disaccharide molecules with the same chemical formula (C12H22O11) but with different geometrical structures (see Figure 1). The sucrose molecule consists of one glucose ring, and one fructose ring, connected by a glycosidic linkage, whereas the trehalose molecule consists of two glycosidic-linked glucose rings
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
