Nanoparticles in dilute solution: Theory and experiments

Abstract

My thesis focuses on nanoparticles in dilute solution. The nanoparticles that interest us the most are biopolymers (DNA, RNA, proteins, and polysaccharides). Biopolymers are molecules of biological origin. Biopolymers are used so extensively throughout the biosphere that life, as we know, is hardly imaginable without these molecules. The molecular weight range from 103 g/mol to 107 g/mol and the characteristic length from 1 nm to 1 µm. The characteristic times of biopolymer dynamics range from ps to ms. Some of the functional roles of biopolymers are as

• information carriers (DNA, RNA),

• enzymatic catalysts (kinase, isomerase, phosphatase, protease),

• mechanical support providers (collagen, microtubules, spectrin, cellulose, chitin),

• coordinated motion generators (myosin, actin, tropomyosin),

• growth and differentiation controllers (hormones, growth factors),

• transport and storage providers (hemoglobin, transferrin, ferritin, starch, glycogen),

• generators and transmitters of nerve impulses (rhodopsin), and

• identifiers of foreign agents (immune proteins, antibodies, receptors).