Thermal Properties Investigation on Systems of Biophysical Interest by EINS and Wavelet Analysis

Federica Migliardo ,Maria Teresa Caccamo ,Salvatore Magazù

doi:10.4172/2161-0398.1000118

Abstract

In this work anew wavevector analysis of Elastic Incoherent Neutron Scattering (EINS) data on bioprotectant systems based on a wavelet approach is presented. The wavevector analysis allows to compare the spatial properties of the three systems such as three glass-forming homologous disaccharides (trehalose, maltose and sucrose),in the wavevector range of Q=0.28-4.27 Co-1 and the wavelet transform reveals the existence of different kinds of protons dynamics. The comparison among the EINS spectra of the investigated systems points out systematically lower and sharper contributions for trehalose than for maltose and sucrose both at low and high wavevector, so highlighting a less extended global energy distribution along the wavevector range for trehalose.

Highlights

Over recent years a huge effort has been dedicated to the elucidation of the mechanisms responsible for the capability of many organisms to survive under environmental stress conditions [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]
With the aim of to clarify the reasons that make trehalose the most effective bioprotectant among the investigated homologous disaccharides, in the present work the attention is addressed to the differences in the dynamical behavior of the water mixtures of trehalose, maltose and sucrose
Figure 1: 3D scalograms obtained by wavelet analysis for Elastic Incoherent Neutron Scattering (EINS) spectra for trehalose water mixtures at three different temperatures, i.e. T=19 K (a), 264 K (b) and 284 K (c)

Summary

Introduction

Over recent years a huge effort has been dedicated to the elucidation of the mechanisms responsible for the capability of many organisms to survive under environmental stress conditions [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. Crowe et al [43] suggests a direct interaction between the sugar and the biomolecule: in particular their “water replacement hypothesis” justifies the trehalose protective function with the existence of direct hydrogen bonding of trehalose with the polar head groups of the lipids. This hypothesis was strengthened by the simulation reported by Donnamaria et al [44], which argue that the structure of trehalose is perfectly adaptable to the tetrahedral coordination of pure water, whose structural and dynamical properties are not significantly affected by trehalose

Methods

Results

Conclusion