Laboratory of Physical and Macromolecular Chemistry, Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Via L. Giorgieri, 1, 34127 Trieste, Italy.
Eur Biophys J. 2012 Apr;41(4):379-95. doi: 10.1007/s00249-011-0753-9. Epub 2011 Oct 8.
The objective of the paper is to show the very important biophysical concepts that have been developed with polysaccharides. In particular, an attempt will be made to relate "a posteriori" the fundamental aspects, both experimental and theoretical, with some industrial applications of polysaccharide-based materials. The overview of chain conformational aspects includes relationships between topological features and local dynamics, exemplified for some naturally occurring carbohydrate polymers. Thus, by using simulation techniques and computational studies, the physicochemical properties of aqueous solutions of polysaccharides are interpreted. The relevance of conformational disorder-order transitions, chain aggregation, and phase separation to the underlying role of the ionic contribution to these processes is discussed. We stress the importance of combining information from analysis of experimental data with that from statistical-thermodynamic models for understanding the conformation, size, and functional stability of industrially important polysaccharides. The peculiar properties of polysaccharides in industrial applications are summarized for the particularly important example of nanoparticles production, a field of growing relevance and scientific interest.
本文的目的是展示与多糖相关的非常重要的生物物理概念。特别是，将尝试将多糖基材料的一些工业应用的基础方面，包括实验和理论方面，“从后向前”联系起来。链构象方面的概述包括拓扑特征与局部动力学之间的关系，以一些天然存在的碳水化合物聚合物为例。因此，通过使用模拟技术和计算研究，解释了多糖水溶液的物理化学性质。讨论了构象无序-有序转变、链聚集和相分离对这些过程中离子贡献的基础作用的相关性。我们强调了将实验数据分析与统计热力学模型信息相结合对于理解工业上重要的多糖的构象、大小和功能稳定性的重要性。总结了多糖在工业应用中的特殊性质，特别以纳米颗粒生产这一具有重要意义和科学兴趣的领域为例。
