Collaborative Research: An Interdisciplinary Study of Mineral-Biomolecule Interactions

乍一看，无生命的矿物世界和充满活力的生命领域似乎并不相关。然而，矿物表面和生命中各种生物分子之间的相互作用在我们的环境中无处不在，对范围非常广泛的科学和技术主题至关重要。矿物-分子相互作用在微生物生态、环境监测、腐蚀和风化、药物的合成和提纯、行星生命检测、纳米制造以及牙齿和骨骼人工替代物的开发中发挥着关键作用。这些相互作用也是许多基本日常产品的关键，包括粘合剂、油漆、润滑剂、染料、溶剂和清洁剂。地球化学家特别关注矿物表面和水分子物种之间发生的反应--岩石破裂和随后的土壤形成、热液矿石沉积、湖泊和海洋的pH缓冲、生物矿化和生物膜形成、影响水质的化学品的吸收和释放以及许多其他自然过程的核心相互作用。矿物-分子相互作用也与生命起源的许多模型有关，在生物分子的选择、浓缩、保护和组装等方面发挥着不同的作用。在这个项目中，研究人员使用各种实验和理论技术来理解与矿物-分子界面相关的原子尺度现象。他们将对金红石(钛骨替代材料的表面涂层，也是涂料的重要成分)、方解石(最常见的生物矿物)和磷灰石(牙齿和骨骼中最重要的矿物)等重要矿物的表面进行表征。他们将研究这些矿物质和其他矿物质与关键生物分子的相互作用，包括氨基酸(蛋白质的组成成分)、遗传分子DNA和RNA的分子成分以及常见的生物糖。在最新进展的基础上，并利用卡内基研究所、约翰·霍普金斯大学、特拉华大学、宾夕法尼亚州立大学、西北大学、阿贡国家实验室和其他机构的资源，这项拟议的跨学科合作研究计划将继续详细记录特定分子在特定矿物表面吸附的条件，同时揭示这些相互作用的分子尺度方面。研究人员将调查竞争和合作吸附小生物分子的性质和程度，包括氨基酸和戊糖。他们还将扩大范围，研究形成岩石的矿物表面在生命起源中的可能作用，特别是在生物分子的选择和稳定以及聚合反应中。因此，该项目的最终目标是制定控制有机物种在矿物表面吸附的一般原则--这些原则将在科学和工业中得到广泛应用。

The inanimate world of minerals and the dynamic domains of life might at first glance seem unrelated. Yet interactions between mineral surfaces and life's varied biomolecules are ubiquitous in our environment, and are crucial to an extraordinarily broad range of scientific and technological topics. Mineral-molecule interactions play key roles in microbial ecology, environmental monitoring, corrosion and weathering, synthesis and purification of pharmaceuticals, planetary life detection, nanofabrication, and the development of artificial replacements for teeth and bones. These interactions are also key to a host of essential everyday products, including adhesives, paints, lubricants, dyes, solvents and cleaners. Geochemists pay special attention to reactions that occur between mineral surfaces and aqueous molecular species - interactions central to the breakdown of rocks and subsequent soil formation, hydrothermal ore deposition, pH buffering of lakes and oceans, biomineralization and biofilm formation, uptake and release of chemicals that affect water quality, and many other natural processes. Mineral-molecule interactions are also relevant to many models of the origins of life, in such varied roles as the selection, concentration, protection and assembly of biomolecules. In this project investigators employ a diverse arsenal of experimental and theoretical techniques to understand atomic-scale phenomena associated with mineral-molecule interfaces. They will characterize surfaces of such important minerals as rutile (TiO2 - the surface coating of titanium bone replacement and an important constituent of paints), calcite (the commonest biomineral), and apatite (the most important mineral in teeth and bones). They will investigate the interactions of these and other minerals with key biomolecules, including amino acids (the building blocks of proteins), molecular components of the genetic molecules DNA and RNA, and common biological sugars. Building on recent advances, and harnessing resources of the Carnegie Institution, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Delaware, Pennsylvania State University, Northwestern University, Argonne National Laboratory and other institutions, this proposed collaborative interdisciplinary research program will continue to document in detail conditions under which specific molecules adsorb to specific mineral surfaces, while revealing molecular-scale aspects of those interactions. Researchers will investigate the nature and extent of competitive and cooperative adsorption of small biomolecules, including amino acids and pentose sugars. They will also expand the scope to study possible roles of rock-forming mineral surfaces in life's origins, notably in the selection and stabilization of biomolecules, as well as polymerization reactions. The ultimate objective of this project is thus to develop general principles governing the adsorption of organic species on mineral surfaces - principles that will have broad application to science and industry.