Investigation of structural properties in biomolecular systems using synchrotron-based spectroscopies

Solid state approaches to structural properties like diffraction or microscopy techniques often cannot be applied to biomolecular systems, at least not without special postpreparation which often corrupts the desired properties of the pristine systems. In this work the capabilities of synchrotron-based, soft X-ray spectroscopies as an alternative way to unravel structural properties of such systems are tested. To this end, three exemplary systems were investigated each with the focus on another facet and characteristic length scale. The first example are DNA-alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers, also known as DNA microarrays or DNA chips, for which a way to monitor and controllably tune the structural composition on the mesoscopic scale of many thousands of molecules was sought for. The second example focuses on the single-molecule and submolecular scale in metalprotein hybrid compounds with the aim to identify the binding site of metal atoms or ions within protein molecules and the underlying interaction mechanisms. The most fundamental structural scale, the level of single bonds and molecular orbitals, is addressed in the last example where it was tried to elaborate an approach to map the topology of molecular orbitals based upon X-ray absorption properties. This approach was put to the practical test for the characteristic pi*peptide orbitals in protein backbones. For all three investigated examples, spectroscopies using soft X-ray synchrotron radiation were able to extract the desired information, thus confirming that they may grant alternative access to structural properties of soft-matter systems in cases where standard approaches fail.

Level thesis:degree_level

thesis.doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher

Technische Universität Dresden

Year

2010

Author dc:creator

• Kummer, Kurt

Contributors dc:contributor

• Laubschat, Clemens
• Rühl, Eckhardt

• biomolecules
• protein
• DNA
• structural properties
• synchrotron
• spectroscopy
• photoemission spectroscopy
• x-ray absorption spectroscopy
• Biomoleküle
• Struktureigenschaften
• Spektroskopie
• Photoemissionsspectroskopie
• Röntgenabsorptionsspectroskopie