Water Structuring by Neurohormones

描述（由申请人提供）：拟议的研究将解决生物分子溶剂化水的有序诱导问题。我们的方法是一个强大的技术组合，将允许更好地分析生物系统的这种属性比以前使用的技术是可以实现的。我们的研究计划使用红外吸收（TEIR）的温度依赖性来直接测量生物分子及其周围溶剂的氢键性质。通过将TEIR与独特的各种溶剂化条件相结合，将首次描述单个官能团差异、生物分子大小和单个或双个氨基酸变化的水排序影响。该研究将重点关注与抑郁症相关的神经小分子激素，因为这些分子在生理上非常重要，提供了多种高度相似的分子，具有截然不同的生物活性，并允许研究适用于所有生物分子的特性。拟议中的研究计划将为这个问题提供急需的见解。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed research will address the induction of order on solvating water by biological molecules. Our approach is a powerful combination of techniques that will allow a better analysis of this property of biological systems than is achievable with previously used technologies. Our research plan uses the temperature dependence of infrared absorption (TEIR) to directly measure the hydrogen-bonding properties of biological molecules and of the solvent surrounding them. By combining TEIR with a unique variety of solvation conditions, the water-ordering implications of single functional group differences, biomolecular size, and single or double amino acid changes will be described for the first time. The research will focus on neurological small molecule hormones related to depression since these molecules are physiologically very important, provide multiple highly similar molecules with drastically different biological activities, and allow investigation of properties that are applicable to all biological molecules. The proposed research program will provide badly needed insight into this subject.