Rev Sci Instrum. May 1995; 66(5), 3311-3316.

Optical cell for the study of biological systems under high gas pressures

Institute of Molecular Biophysics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306

(Received 14 March 1994; accepted 24 January 1995)

A high-pressure system incorporating an optical cell and suitable for the study of aqueous biological systems is described. The high-pressure system can be assembled from commercially available components. Using the system gas pressures up to 70 MPa of various gases can be generated from pressures available in the laboratory and maintained over samples for extended periods of time. Preliminary optical measurements on aqueous solutions incubated with nitrogen or methane gas pressures have indicated that there is a gas-specific interaction between the solution and the gas. Biological membranes and their components are modified by the aqueous solutions incubated against high-pressure methane whereas nitrogen incubated solutions do not show comparable effects. Some of the observed modifications are irreversible whereas others are reversible when pressure is reduced. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.

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