Peptides in a glassy matrix at ambient temperature: Relevance for Anhydrobiosis

Anhydrobiosis, the possibility of life in almost no water, is a puzzling phenomena common to a wide class of organisms, ranging from plant seeds to crustacean cysts, that can survive to an almost complete removal of intracellular water and restore their metabolic activities when water is newly available. Central to anhydrobiosis is the ability to maintain a functional protein configuration in the dry state. A detailed description on how this is obtained is still lacking, but there is evidence that carbohydrates, such as trehalose, protect protein structure. Aim of this proposal is to investigate the role of trehalose as a bio-protectant, looking at its interaction with two model peptides in presence of residual water molecules at an atomistic level. To this goal, experiments, augmented by computer modelling, on peptide/water/trehalose mixtures at ambient temperature will be performed.