Exploring the Piezophilic Behavior of Natural Cosolvent Mixtures

Abstract

Marine organisms have evolved a surprising mechanism to counteract the deleterious effects of urea by trimethylammonium N-oxide (TMAO). The effect of pressure on the structure and intermolecular interactions of lysozyme in urea and TMAO solutions was studied (see picture). These findings help to understand the compensatory effect of urea–TMAO mixtures in deep-sea organisms.