研究领域

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There are many published investigations concerning the thermodynamics of aqueous protein systems. However, the vast majority of these studies refer to ambient temperature and pressure conditions. This is surprising considering the great interestcurrently being shown in protein systems which thrive under conditions of elevated temperatureand pressure. For example, certain microorganisms are known to play a role in the biodegradation of oil. The geology of such deposits dictates that any indigenous life forms must be able to survive a wide range of temperature and pressure conditions. In approaching a complete understanding of such systems we must endeavour to become more familiar with the effects of temperature and pressure on protein systems. To achieve this goal, the proposed research program turns to several experimental techniques in thermodynamics which allow us to probe structure, interactions, and the dynamics of aqueous systems as functions of temperature and pressure. This experimental research program proposes an investigation of the volumetric and thermochemical properties of various aqueous amino acids and peptide systems using the techniques of densitometry and calorimetry. These small organic species represent the building blocks from which, structurally more complicated, protein systems are constructed. Because of the numerous experimental difficulties associated with working directly on aqueous protein systems, our aim is to construct group additivity schemes from thermodynamic data obtained for the amino acid and peptide systems. These schemes may be used to predict the volumetric and thermochemical properties of aqueous protein systems. Our volumetric investigations will utilise a new vibrating tube densitometer that was designed and constructed in my laboratory. This instrument is capable of operating in the ranges 50 to 300 degrees Celcius and between 0.1 and 30 MPa (N.B. atmospheric pressure is 0.1 MPa). Thermochemical investigations will be completed in the range 10 to 55 degrees Celcius at ambient pressure using a commercial, Picker flow microcalorimeter