You can’t keep down the mysteries of Trehalose
Nature Materials 5, 632-635 (2006)
Organization and mobility of water in amorphous and crystalline trehalose
DUNCAN KILBURN, SAM TOWNROW, VINCENT MEUNIER, ROBERT RICHARDSON, ASHRAF ALAM and JOB UBBINK.
The disaccharide trehalose is accumulated by micro organisms, such as yeasts, and multicellular organisms, such as tardigrades1, 2, when conditions of extreme drought occur. In this way these organisms can withstand dehydration through the formation of an intracellular carbohydrate glass, which, with its high viscosity and hydrogen-bonding interactions3, 4, stabilizes and protects the integrity of complex biological structures and molecules. This property of trehalose can also be harnessed in the stabilization of liposomes5, proteins6 and in the preservation of red blood cells7, but the underlying mechanism of bioprotection is not yet fully understood. Here we use positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy to probe the free volume of trehalose matrices; specifically, we develop a molecular picture of the organization and mobility of water in both amorphous and crystalline states. Whereas in amorphous matrices, water increases the average intermolecular hole size, in the crystalline dihydrate it is organized as a confined one-dimensional fluid in channels of fixed diameter that allow activated diffusion of water in and out of the crystallites. We present direct real-time evidence of water molecules unloading reversibly from these channels, thereby acting as both a sink and a source of water in low-moisture systems. We postulate that this behaviour may provide the overall stability required to keep organisms viable through dehydration conditions.
As was the case for the slowly frozen people, this publication was followed by internet press releases, three of them emanating from the Nestle Company.
Here is an example for those who might be interested.
A press release by a commercial company, although not necessarily of great scientific significance, can fulfil a purpose, because of its PR value. But a promotional press release, uploaded by the Royal Society of Chemistry, will cause raised eyebrows:
View Here.
It describes the same Nestle trehalose magic ? 2006 version - but in hyped-up language, hardly worthy of a Learned Society. We were there eight years ago and witnessed the debunking of trehalose magic and now, sadly, it needs debunking yet again. Who will cast the first stone?