Low-frequency dynamics of biological molecules studied by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy

摘要

By terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy we have measured low-frequency spectra of amino acid (glycine; Gly), short peptides ((Gly)_3 and (Gly)_4), six globular proteins and bacteriorhodopsin (BR). From the analysis of the THz spectra we defined and obtained the reduced absorption cross sections for these cases, which are proportional to the vibrational density of states. We observed anharmonic behaviors in the low-frequency modes of the short peptides. The globular proteins we investigated show a universal feature in the low-frequency spectra. BR shows the dynamical transition in the temperature dependence of the THz spectrum when the sample is hydrated.