Thermoresponsivity of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) microgels in water-trehalose solution and its relation to protein behavior

Additives are commonly used to tune macromolecular conformational transitions. Among additives, trehalose is an excellent bioprotectant and among responsive polymers, PNIPAM the most studied material. Nevertheless, their interaction mechanism so far has only been hinted without direct investigation, and, crucially, never elucidated in comparison proteins. Detailed insights would help understand what extent microgels can effectively be as synthetic biomimetic materials, reproduce study, at colloidal scale, isolated protein behavior its sensitivity interactions with specific cosolvents or cosolutes. The effect of on swelling was monitored by dynamic light scattering; Raman spectroscopy molecular dynamics simulations were explore changes solvation across swelling-deswelling transition scale. Strongly hydrated molecules develop water-mediated microgels, thereby preserving polymer hydration below above while drastically inhibiting local motions shell. Our for first time, demonstrates that slowdown preferential exclusion principal mechanisms governing odds adsorption alcohols, but full analogy observed trehalose-protein systems.