抗冻蛋白抗冻机制的分子模拟研究

抗冻蛋白能使生物体在寒冷环境下生存,具有极大的潜在应用价值。近年来,人们对抗冻蛋白开展了广泛的研究,但其抗冻机理还未明确。本文阐述了抗冻蛋白的功能特性和结构特征,并从结构的角度对其抗冻机制方面的分子模拟研究成果进行了综述。另一方面,对目前已知晶体结构的29个野生型抗冻蛋白的结构特性进行了分析,发现在整个抗冻蛋白表面和在冰结合位点处都存在亲水残基与水形成氢键和疏水残基与类冰结构特异性结合的特点。然后,探讨了抗冻蛋白的二级结构、冰结合位点残基的疏水性与抗冻活性之间的关系。最后,从结构的角度讨论了抗冻蛋白的机制和影响抗冻活性的因素并简要总结了仿生抗冻材料设计和应用的研究进展。     

Physicochemical Properties of Ionic Clathrate Hydrates

Ionic clathrate hydrates are known to be formed by the enclathration of hydrophobic cations or anions into confined cages and the incorporation of counterions into the water framework. As the ionic clathrate hydrates are considered for their potential applicability in various fields, including those that involve solid electrolytes, gas separation, and gas storage, numerous studies of the ionic clathrate hydrates have been reported. This review concentrates on the physicochemical properties of the ionic clathrate hydrates and the notable characteristics of these materials regarding their potential application are addressed.     

Tuning the Composition of Guest Molecules in Clathrate Hydrates: NMR Identification and Its Significance to Gas Storage

Gas hydrates represent an attractive way of storing large quantities of gas such as methane and carbon dioxide, although to date there has been little effort to optimize the storage capacity and to understand the trade‐offs between storage conditions and storage capacity. In this work, we present estimates for gas storage based on the ideal structures, and show how these must be modified given the little data available on hydrate composition. We then examine the hypothesis based on solid‐solution theory for clathrate hydrates as to how storage capacity may be improved for structure II hydrates, and test the hypothesis for a structure II hydrate of THF and methane, paying special attention to the synthetic approach used. Phase equilibrium data are used to map the region of stability of the double hydrate in P–T space as a function of the concentration of THF. In situ high‐pressure NMR experiments were used to measure the kinetics of reaction between frozen THF solutions and methane gas, and ¹³C MAS NMR experiments were used to measure the distribution of the guests over the cage sites. As known from previous work, at high concentrations of THF, methane only occupies the small cages in structure II hydrate, and in accordance with the hypothesis posed, we confirm that methane can be introduced into the large cage of structure II hydrate by lowering the concentration of THF to below 1.0 mol %. We note that in some preparations the cage occupancies appear to fluctuate with time and are not necessarily homogeneous over the sample. Although the tuning mechanism is generally valid, the composition and homogeneity of the product vary with the details of the synthetic procedure. The best results, those obtained from the gas–liquid reaction, are in good agreement with thermodynamic predictions; those obtained for the gas–solid reaction do not agree nearly as well.     

Adsorption-Inhibition of Clathrate Hydrates by Self-Assembled Nanostructures

The mechanism by which safranine O (SFO), an ice growth inhibitor, halts the growth of single crystal tetrahydrofuran (THF) clathrate hydrates was explored using microfluidics coupled with cold stages and fluorescence microscopy. THF hydrates grown in SFO solutions exhibited morphology changes and were shaped as truncated octahedrons or hexagons. Fluorescence microscopy and microfluidics demonstrated that SFO binds to the surface of THF hydrates on specific crystal planes. Cryo-TEM experiments of aqueous solutions containing millimolar concentrations of SFO exhibited the formation of bilayered lamellae with an average thickness of 4.2±0.2 nm covering several μm². Altogether, these results indicate that SFO forms supramolecular lamellae in solution, which might bind to the surface of the hydrate and inhibit further growth. As an ice and hydrate inhibitor, SFO may bind to the surface of these crystals via ordered water molecules near its amine and methyl groups, similar to some antifreeze proteins.     

Differential Scanning Calorimetric and Circular Dichroistic Studies on Plant Antifreeze Proteins

Antifreeze protein (AFP) can lower the freezing point by inhibiting the growth of ice crystals. In this article, the thermal hysteresis activity (THA) of a plant AFP was measured with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). As is shown, when the amount of ice in the sample was less than 5% THA of this AFP reached as high as 0.35°C. The secondary structure of this AFP was studied with circular dichroism (CD). The CD spectrum from 195to 240 nm indicated a well-defined secondary structure consisting 11% α-helix, 34%antiparallel β-sheet and 55% random coil. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Advances in the Study of Gas Hydrates by Dielectric Spectroscopy

The influence of kinetic hydrate inhibitors on the process of natural gas hydrate nucleation was studied using the method of dielectric spectroscopy. The processes of gas hydrate formation and decomposition were monitored using the temperature dependence of the real component of the dielectric constant ε′(T). Analysis of the relaxation times τ and activation energy ΔE of the dielectric relaxation process revealed the inhibitor was involved in hydrogen bonding and the disruption of the local structures of water molecules.     

Distribution of Butane in the Host Water Cage of Structure II Clathrate Hydrates

To understand host–guest interactions of hydrocarbon clathrate hydrates, we investigated the crystal structure of simple and binary clathrate hydrates including butane (n‐C₄H₁₀ or iso‐C₄H₁₀) as the guest. Powder X‐ray diffraction (PXRD) analysis using the information on the conformation of C₄H₁₀ molecules obtained by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations was performed. It was shown that the guest n‐C₄H₁₀ molecule tends to change to the gauche conformation within host water cages. Any distortion of the large 5¹²6⁴ cage and empty 5¹² cage for the simple iso‐C₄H₁₀ hydrate was not detected, and it was revealed that dynamic disorder of iso‐C₄H₁₀ and gauche‐nC₄H₁₀ were spherically extended within the large 5¹²6⁴ cages. It was indicated that structural isomers of hydrocarbon molecules with different van der Waals diameters are enclathrated within water cages in the same way owing to conformational change and dynamic disorder of the molecules. Furthermore, these results show that the method reported herein is applicable to structure analysis of other host–guest materials including guest molecules that could change molecular conformations.     

沙冬青抗冻蛋白热滞活性的DSC研究

在某些极地鱼类的血清以及某些昆虫和植物中 ,人们发现了一类特殊的物质 .它们的共同特点是能通过直接与冰晶核相互作用,抑制冰晶核的形成和生长,从而降低溶液冰点 .现已发现的这类抗冻物质都属于蛋白质,被统称为抗冻蛋白（ Antifreeze Proteins, AFPs） .抗冻蛋白能以非依数性形式大大降低溶液的冰点,但对熔点的影响很微弱,而且遵从依数性的原则,使冰点低于平衡态的熔点,溶液处于反常的非平衡相变状态 .这种冰点低于熔点的特性称为热滞 (Hysteresis).因此,抗冻蛋白也叫热滞蛋白或温度迟滞蛋白（ Thermal Hysteresis Proteins, …     

高分子纳米材料与血浆蛋白的相互作用

由于纳米材料具有独特的物理和化学性能,使其在许多领域被广泛应用。纳米材料使用的日益增多要求我们仔细评估其难以预料的毒性（细胞毒性、溶血毒性、血液毒性和免疫毒性）和生物学相互作用。到目前为止,已有大量的研究旨在探索纳米材料与人的细胞或蛋白之间的相互作用,也取得了一些重要成果。在临床应用中,有些生物医用纳米材料常通过静脉注射、渗透、溶解和扩散等方式引入到血液组织中。血液是一种高度复杂的组织,主要由红细胞、白细胞、血小板和血浆组成。其中血浆是一个复杂的体液,它包含超过3700种不同的蛋白质。无论采用哪种方式,这些纳米材料将不可避免地会与丰富的血浆蛋白（或其他血液成分）发生某种联系和相互作用。然而,纳米材料和血浆蛋白之间的相互作用,可能在决定纳米材料的毒性方面起到至关重要的作用。目前对纳米材料与血浆蛋白（或其他血液成分）在分子水平会发生怎样的相互作用知之甚少。本文主要综述了典型的三类高分子纳米材料（包括聚阳离子,高分子胶束和药物（基因）/载体复合纳米粒子）与血浆蛋白的相互作用以及研究这些相互作用相关的分析技术的研究进展,这些内容对体内使用的纳米材料的分子设计和血液安全性非常重要。     

超声波作用下天然气水合物的形成

实验搭建了一套高压条件下超声波作用于天然气水合物反应的装置系统，该系统中超声波的频率为20kHz，功率为0-150W可调。利用该装置研究了超声波对天然气水合物生成过程和引导时间的影响。实验发现声场中生成特征曲线诸如温度、压力、流量等随着时间的推迟与静态反应时不同，反应引导时间约缩短至静态时的1／6，分解后重新反应引导时间甚至缩短至静态的1／10。水合物成核速率提高是由于超声波提高了传质系数、成核点浓度和过饱和度，而降低了界面能。     

Compressibility of Gas Hydrates

Experimental data on the pressure dependence of unit cell parameters for the gas hydrates of ethane (cubic structure I, pressure range 0–2 GPa), xenon (cubic structure I, pressure range 0–1.5 GPa) and the double hydrate of tetrahydrofuran+xenon (cubic structure II, pressure range 0–3 GPa) are presented. Approximation of the data using the cubic Birch–Murnaghan equation, P=1.5B₀[(V₀/V)^7/3?(V₀/V)^5/3], gave the following results: for ethane hydrate V₀=1781 ų, B₀=11.2 GPa; for xenon hydrate V₀=1726 ų, B₀=9.3 GPa; for the double hydrate of tetrahydrofuran+xenon V₀=5323 ų, B₀=8.8 GPa. In the last case, the approximation was performed within the pressure range 0–1.5 GPa; it is impossible to describe the results within a broader pressure range using the cubic Birch–Murnaghan equation. At the maximum pressure of the existence of the double hydrate of tetrahydrofuran+xenon (3.1 GPa), the unit cell volume was 86 % of the unit cell volume at zero pressure. Analysis of the experimental data obtained by us and data available from the literature showed that 1) the bulk modulus of gas hydrates with classical polyhedral structures, in most cases, are close to each other and 2) the bulk modulus is mainly determined by the elasticity of the hydrogen‐bonded water framework. Variable filling of the cavities with guest molecules also has a substantial effect on the bulk modulus. On the basis of the obtained results, we concluded that the bulk modulus of gas hydrates with classical polyhedral structures and existing at pressures up to 1.5 GPa was equal to (9±2) GPa. In cases when data on the equations of state for the hydrates were unavailable, the indicated values may be recommended as the most probable ones.     

Interaction of dissolved proteins with spherical polyelectrolyte brushes

We consider the adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) on spherical polyelectrolyte brushes (SPB). The SPB consist of a solid polystyrene core of 100nm diameter onto which linear polyelectrolyte chains (poly(acrylic acid), (PAA)) are grafted. The adsorption of BSA is studied at a pH of 6.1 at different concentrations of added salt and buffer (MES). We observe strong adsorption of BSA onto the SPB despite the effect that the particles as well as the dissolved BSA are charged negatively. The adsorption of BSA is strongest at low salt concentration and decreases drastically with increasing amounts of added salt. The adsorbed protein can be washed out again by raising the ionic strength. The various driving forces for the adsorption are discussed. It is demonstrated that the main driving force is located in the electrostatic interaction of the protein with the brush layer of the particles. All data show that the SPB present a new class of carrier particles whose interaction with proteins can be tuned in a well-defined manner.     

氮气笼型水合物的激光拉曼光谱

在253K和16MPa的压力下,于实验室内合成了氮气水合物,用显微共焦拉曼光谱对其N-N和O-H键伸缩振动的光谱特征进行了研究．结果表明,氮气水合物中的N-N和O—H键的拉曼峰分别为2322．4和3092．1cm^-1,与天然的空气水合物中的数据十分接近．另外,还测定了液氮和溶解于水中的氮分子中N—N键的拉曼峰值,分别为2326．6和2325．0cm^-1．氮气笼型水合物分解的拉曼谱图表明,氮分子同时进入水合物的大笼和小笼中,但由于氮分子在大、小笼中的环境氛围十分接近,其拉曼位移相差不大,故拉曼谱图只能显示N—N键伸缩振动一个峰．     

Abnormal Thermal Expansion of Clathrate Hydrates Induced by Asymmetric Guest Molecules

We investigated for the first time the abnormal thermal expansion induced by an asymmetric guest structure using high‐resolution neutron powder diffraction. Three dihydrogen molecules (H₂, D₂, and HD) were tested to explore the guest dynamics and thermal behavior of hydrogen‐doped clathrate hydrates. We confirmed the restricted spatial distribution and doughnut‐like motion of the HD guest in the center of anisotropic sII‐S (sII‐S=small cages of structure II hydrates). However, we failed to observe a mass‐dependent relationship when comparing D₂ with HD. The use of asymmetric guest molecules can significantly contribute to tuning the cage dimension and thus can improve the stable inclusion of small gaseous molecules in confined cages.     

天然气水合物研究进展

本文介绍了天然气水合物研究的历史和现状, 天然气水合物的结构, 它在冻土地带和海洋底部地表层的形成过程, 它对石油天然气工业的影响以及抑制生成天然气水合物的方法。介绍了天然气水合物作为潜在能源的巨大优势以及它对地球气候变化--温室效应的潜在危险性。