Helén Jansson

Institution/Department: NMR-centrum
Previous studies: University of Gothenburg; Chalmers University ­
of Technology
Thesis: Dynamical properties of interfacial water and its role for
biomolecular dynamics
Current research: During my graduate studies I have investigated the ­dynamical behaviour of various water-containing systems with the goal to understand the role of water for biomolecular dynamics (and function). In my studies I have investigated water dynamics in both model-systems and real biological systems, such as protein and carbohydrate-containing systems, and how dynamics of water molecules close to biomolecular surfaces influence the dynamics of biomolecules. The main aim of my studies has been, and still is, to understand the role of hydration-water in biological systems. In particular, the relation between biomolecular motions and the dynamics of the solvent surrounding biomolecules is of interest. So far, the main techniques that I have been used are dielectric spectroscopy and neutron scattering, which both are excellent and complementary tools when studying interrelated motions due to the large time-scale accessible. However, in order to get a more detailed ­picture of solvent-protein interactions I need to extend the study to involve other techniques. An obvious choice for such complementary studies is nuclear ­magnetic resonance (NMR) since with this technique I can get a detailed insight into the internal motions of proteins by use of the possibility to study nuclei at different locations, and thus obtain selective dynamical information.

E-mail address: helen.jansson@nmr.gu.se, helen.jansson@chalmers.se
http://www.nmr.gu.se/