Project Details
Projekt
Structural determination of biologically relevant systems in the bulk and at interfaces by high pressure X-ray methods
Applicant
Dr. Julia Nase
Subject Area
Physical Chemistry of Molecules, Liquids and Interfaces, Biophysical Chemistry
Term
from 2013 to 2021
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 227612752
In the second funding period, we will pursue the outline that we drew in the first period and will study both interfacial and bulk phenomena of biomolecular solutions at high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) conditions by X-ray methods. In the last three years, we established HHP-X-ray reflectivity as a well-adapted technique to study complex biological interfaces, such as protein adsorbates and lipids, and to elucidate their structure in situ. Building upon our experience that we gained so far, we will now set the focus on systems of higher biological relevance. We would like to extend these studies to the interaction of lipid membranes with peptides using pressure modulation. We aim at contributing to the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of membrane fusion by providing electron density profiles of model biomembranes interacting with viral fusion peptides. A further focus revolves around the question how natural cosolvents affect the intermolecular interactions and the phase diagram of dense protein solutions, notably in the liquid-liquid phase separated regime including the critical point region. Moreover, the interplay of hydrostatic and osmotic pressure in this region of the phase diagram will be investigated using dense colloidal solutions as versatile model systems. Finally, the local structure of water at HHP in the immediate proximity of different ions will be elucidated. In that way, we will contribute to a more comprehensive picture of the interactions in (colloidal) solutions at extreme pressure conditions.
DFG Programme
Research Units
