The understanding of protein solutions, their dominant interactions and their complex phase behavior is an important topic that has greatly profited from the well established experimental and theoretical toolbox of colloid physics. Initially, these developments were primarily driven by attempts to better understand and improve protein crystallization. However, issues of interparticle interactions, aggregation, cluster formation and dynamical arrest in protein solutions have to be seen in a broader context. Understanding interparticle interactions in protein solutions is for example of central importance to gain insight into the origin of protein condensation diseases such as Creutzfeldt Jakob, Alzheimer, Parkinson or cataract. In this project we study the structural and dynamic properties of concentrated eye lens protein solutions and mixtures with the long-term goal of shedding light on the molecular origins of cataract formation, still the major cause of blindness worldwide. We primarily use scattering experiments (light, neutron and x-ray scattering) as well as phase diagram determination and rheological measurements together with course grained computer simulations based on colloidal models to achieve a quantitative understanding of protein interactions in the eye lens.

People: Saskia Bucciarelli, Tommy Garting, Najet Mahmoudi, Bela Farago (ILL Grenoble, France), Cristiano de Michele (La Sapienza, Rome), Francesco Sciortino (La Sapienza, Rome), George Thurston (Rochester Institute of Technology, USA), Mikael Lund, Peter Schurtenberger, Anna Stradner.

Contact person:Anna Stradner