The influence of pressure on the structure and protein-protein interaction potential of dense protein solutions was studied and analyzed using small-angle x-ray scattering in combination with a liquid state theoretical approach. The structural as well as the interaction parameters of dense lysozyme solutions are affected by pressure in a nonlinear way. The structural properties of water lead to a modification of the protein-protein interactions below 4 kbar, which might have significant consequences for the stability of proteins in extreme natural environments.

A summarising review of data treatment for non-resonant inelastic X-ray scattering data from modern synchrotron-based multi-analyzer spectrometers.

We report on the microscopic structure of water at sub-and supercritical conditions studied using X-ray Raman spectroscopy, ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, and density functional theory. Systematic changes in the X-ray Raman spectra with increasing pressure and temperature are observed. Throughout the studied thermodynamic range, the experimental spectra can be interpreted with a structural model obtained from the molecular dynamics simulations. A spatial statistical analysis using Ripley's K-function shows that this model is homogeneous on the nanometer length scale. According to the simulations, distortions of the hydrogenbond network increase dramatically when temperature and pressure increase to the supercritical regime. In particular, the average number of hydrogen bonds per molecule decreases to ≈0.6 at 600°C and p = 134 MPa.supercritical water | water structure | X-ray scattering | X-ray scattering spectroscopy