Regensburg 2016 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 56: The Physics of Water Interactions with Biological Matter (Joint Focus Session with CPP)

BP 56.1: Hauptvortrag

Donnerstag, 10. März 2016, 09:30–10:00, H37

It is water what matters: THz absorption spectroscopy as a new tool to study solvation dynamics — •Martina Havenith — Physikalische Chemie II, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany

Terahertz (THz) absorption spectroscopy is a powerful tool to study (bio)molecular hydration. Experimental advances in the development of new THz sources had to go hand in hand with the development of new theoretical concepts which are able to describe the underlying solute-induced sub-picosecond dynamics of the hydration shell.

Recent results show the significance of hydrogen bond dynamics for molecular recognition. We find a gradient of water motion toward functional sites of proteins, the so-called "hydration funnel", which is found to be essential for biomolecular function.

Transient THz spectroscopy can be used to record snapshots of the low frequency spectrum of a solvated proteins during protein folding, thus capturing changes during hydrophobic collapse in real time during biological function. Within the talk I will present examples of low frequency spectra of hydration water around solutes which can be correlated to changes in entropy.

V. Conti Nibali, M. Havenith New insights into the role of water in biological function: Studying solvated biomolecules using terahertz absorption spectroscopy in conjunction with molecular dynamics simulations J. Am. Chem. Soc. 136(37), 12800-12807 (2014)