ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Anhydrobiosis at the atomic scale: protein folding at low water content

Abstract: 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 achieved is still lacking, but there is evidence that carbohydrates, such as trehalose, protect and stabilize protein structure. One of the first steps in protein folding, eventually leading to the formation of a functional globular protein, is the formation of a beta-turn by a peptide chain. Aim of this proposal is to investigate the formation of this beta-turn in presence of trehalose, first in solution and then at very low water content.

Principal Investigator: Professor Fabio Bruni
Experimenter: Professor Maria Antonietta Ricci
Local Contact: Dr Silvia Imberti
Experimenter: Dr Michael Di Gioacchino

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1910178

ISIS Experiment Number: RB1910178

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Professor Fabio Bruni et al; (2019): Anhydrobiosis at the atomic scale: protein folding at low water content, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1910178

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.