Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Biophysical Chemistry, TU Dortmund University, D-44221Dortmund, Germany.
Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cintia 4, 80126Naples, Italy.
Chem Rev. 2023 Jan 11;123(1):73-104. doi: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.2c00491. Epub 2022 Oct 19.
Elucidating the details of the formation, stability, interactions, and reactivity of biomolecular systems under extreme environmental conditions, including high salt concentrations in brines and high osmotic and high hydrostatic pressures, is of fundamental biological, astrobiological, and biotechnological importance. Bacteria and archaea are able to survive in the deep ocean or subsurface of Earth, where pressures of up to 1 kbar are reached. The deep subsurface of Mars may host high concentrations of ions in brines, such as perchlorates, but we know little about how these conditions and the resulting osmotic stress conditions would affect the habitability of such environments for cellular life. We discuss the combined effects of osmotic (salts, organic cosolvents) and hydrostatic pressures on the structure, stability, and reactivity of biomolecular systems, including membranes, proteins, and nucleic acids. To this end, a variety of biophysical techniques have been applied, including calorimetry, UV/vis, FTIR and fluorescence spectroscopy, and neutron and X-ray scattering, in conjunction with high pressure techniques. Knowledge of these effects is essential to our understanding of life exposed to such harsh conditions, and of the physical limits of life in general. Finally, we discuss strategies that not only help us understand the adaptive mechanisms of organisms that thrive in such harsh geological settings but could also have important ramifications in biotechnological and pharmaceutical applications.
阐明生物分子系统在极端环境条件下的形成、稳定性、相互作用和反应性的细节，包括盐水的高盐浓度、高渗透压和高静水压力，具有重要的基础生物学、天体生物学和生物技术意义。细菌和古菌能够在深海或地球的地下深处生存，那里的压力高达 1 千巴。火星的深层地下可能含有高浓度的盐类，如高氯酸盐，存在于卤水中，但我们对这些条件以及由此产生的渗透压条件如何影响这些环境中细胞生命的宜居性知之甚少。我们讨论了渗透压（盐、有机共溶剂）和静水压力对生物分子系统（包括膜、蛋白质和核酸）的结构、稳定性和反应性的综合影响。为此，应用了多种生物物理技术，包括量热法、紫外/可见分光光度法、傅里叶变换红外和荧光光谱法以及中子和 X 射线散射，结合高压技术。了解这些影响对于我们理解暴露于如此恶劣条件下的生命以及一般生命的物理极限至关重要。最后，我们讨论了不仅有助于我们理解在这些恶劣地质环境中茁壮成长的生物体的适应机制，而且在生物技术和制药应用中也具有重要意义的策略。
