The Ability of Trimethylamine N-Oxide to Resist Pressure Induced Structural Perturbation of Water

Trimethylamine N-Oxide (TMAO) is thought to have the extraordinary ability of allowing organisms to adapt to extreme environments of high pressure, the most famous example being the adaptation of snailfish to different depths of the ocean. Our hypothesis is that TMAO allows biomolecules to resist pressure denaturation by preserving the hydrogen bond structure of the surrounding water. We wish to observe the resistance that TMAO can potentially provide to changes in bulk water structure due to the influence of an external pressure. This would then provide a possible mechanism of biological molecule stabilization against the denaturation effects of increased pressure found in the ocean. This will be investigated using neutron diffraction and EPSR to observe relevant radial distribution functions, spatial density functions, and hydrogen bonding.