Proteins in Saccharides Matrices and the Trehalose Peculiarity: Biochemical and Biophysical Properties

Immobilization of proteins and other biomolecules in saccharide matrices leads to a series of peculiar properties that are relevant from the point of view of both biochemistry and biophysics, and have important implications on related fields such as food industry, pharmaceutics, and medicine. In the last years, the properties of biomolecules embedded into glassy matrices and/or highly concentrated solutions of saccharides have been thoroughly investigated, at the molecular level, through in vivo, in vitro, and in silico studies. These systems show an outstanding ability to protect biostructures against stress conditions; various mechanisms appear to be at the basis of such bioprotection, th…

Investigating protein structure and dynamics through wide-angle X-ray solution scattering

Wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) is a powerful tool that can be used to gain information on the structure and dynamics of proteins and other biomolecules in solution. Improved methods for the calculation of WAXS patterns from available or putative protein models allow to better exploit the structural information contained in the experimental data. These methods, together with recent applications of static and time-resolved WAXS, are briefly reviewed.

Brain lateralization probed by water diffusion at the atomic to micrometric scale

International audience; Combined neutron scattering and diffusion nuclear magnetic resonance experiments have been used to reveal significant interregional asymmetries (lateralization) in bovine brain hemispheres in terms of myelin arrangement and water dynamics at micron to atomic scales. Thicker myelin sheaths were found in the left hemisphere using neutron diffraction. 4.7 T dMRI and quasi-elastic neutron experiments highlighted significant differences in the properties of water dynamics in the two hemispheres. The results were interpreted in terms of hemisphere-dependent cellular composition (number of neurons, cell distribution, etc.) as well as specificity of neurological functions (s…

Heme deformations in mutant N52V yeast ferrocytochrome c detected by Raman and optical spectroscopy