Abstract
The low frequency collective movements of proteins associated with biologically relevant conformational transitions are situated in the terahertz (THz) spectral region. THz spectroscopy experiments have revealed that each molecular species has a unique absorption pattern in THz domain. We used time-domain THz spectroscopy (TDS) to study the conformation and flexibility of bovine serum albumin (BSA), a protein whose 3D structure is unknown. We performed THz spectroscopy experiments on lyophilized BSA. Theoretical spectra were obtained by normal modes analysis performed on BSA structures generated by homology modeling and molecular dynamics simulations. The agreement between experimental and theoretical data allowed us to validate the model of BSA and also to gain insight into BSA vibrations in THz domain.
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Acknowledgement
The research presented here was funded by MEC-ANCS 62-055/2008 grant.
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Mernea, M., Leca, A., Dascalu, T., Mihailescu, D. (2011). Bovine Serum Albumin 3D Structure Determination by THz Spectroscopy and Molecular Modeling. In: Pereira, M., Shulika, O. (eds) Terahertz and Mid Infrared Radiation. NATO Science for Peace and Security Series B: Physics and Biophysics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0769-6_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0769-6_14
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