H2020Индивидуална стипендия2017–2019

NanoMembR · Nanoscale Effects within Biological Membranes caused by Radiation

„Хоризонт 2020“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“

Период: 2017-05-16 → 2019-07-15
Финансиране от ЕС: 171 461 €
Участници: 1
Схема: MSCA-IF-EF-ST

Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.

Накратко на български

Биологичните мембрани и техните компоненти, като мастните киселини и фосфолипидите, се анализират при воздействие от електромагнитно лъчение. Това помага да се разбере еволюцията на първите клетки и кои молекули са подходящи за търсене на живот върху други планети.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.

Резултати накратко

Nanoscale Effects within Biological Membranes caused by Radiation

Membranes are an essential part of life as we know it. All forms of life depend on membranes, which form a boundary between the surrounding environment and the biological interior. The project NanoMemR investigates the interaction of radiation and biological membranes via advanced infrared spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. This allows to study what effect radiation has on the ultrastructural level of biological membranes. The prime scientific objective of NanoMembR is to elucidate the large spectrum of effects of electromagnetic radiation on membranes and membrane components, including short and longer-chain fatty acids, isoprenoids, phospholipids, hopanoids, sterols and pigments. Since membranes are an integral part of all life, membrane stability has far reaching implications for various research fields. For example, membrane stability is crucial for the understanding of the formation of first compartments, which then led to the first cellular structures. In the early stages of the evolution of life, membrane stability played an important role when life started to conquer the top surface of the young Earth, where radiation exposure presented an important environmental challenge. Furthermore, life detection missions to other planets, such as Mars, aim to find so called biosignatures indicative for extinct or possibly extant life. A main challenge however is to determine which molecules are “good” biomarkers in terms of stability and unambiguousness. Since membranes are common to all life, they and their components are prime candidates as biomarkers. Assessing in detail their stability and preservation potential will allow to narrow down a suitable list of organic (biogenic) molecules for planetary exploration missions. The research project NanoMembR could demonstrate that biological membranes are, although only a few nanometres thick, very robust structures and promising candidates as search targets for life detection mission to other planets due to their supramolecular structure highly specific and due its molecular composition robust and stable against environmental influences, radiation in particular.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз

Цел на проекта

The NanoMembR project will elucidate key elements of membrane stability under the influence of UV radiation. The stability of biological membranes is of great importance for the structure, homeostasis and functioning of all living systems. Membrane molecules have also attracted, due to their robustness and longevity, strong interest from planetary and space scientists as potential biomarkers for life detection missions to other planets. Membrane damage, perturbation, instability and fragmentation upon UV exposure will be investigated on the nanoscale using cutting-edge infrared nanoscopy. Scattering-type scanning near-field microscopy (s-SNOM) combined with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy allows to combine spatial information of nanometre resolution with chemical mapping. This novel technique will enable us to study subtle changes in the structural integrity of model membranes and monitor changes in the micro- and nano-domains. In addition, we will be able to correlate membrane stability and membrane composition by intercalating structural and functional modifiers such as sterols, hopanoids and pigments. Upon radiation in oxic environments, the lipid structure of a membrane is known to be altered by peroxidation chain reactions. Under anoxic conditions radiation induced changes in lipid alteration could vary significantly, with intriguing implications for the stability of membrane molecules under different environmental conditions than found on Earth. Understanding fragmentation patterns of membranes and identifying final break-down products will provide scientific support and a database for key biomarkers detectable in remote environments. Results from this work will feed directly into planned experiments on the International Space Station (ISS), which are scheduled on new nanosatellite-technology-based exposure platforms with in-situ infrared spectroscopic capabilities, monitoring membrane stability under the influence of solar and cosmic radiation.

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

FREIE UNIVERSITAET BERLIN · BerlinКоординаторГермания