Toward Time-resolved Structural Characterization of Proteins in Action
Aihua Xie
Department of Physics, Oklahoma State University
Hydrogen bonded network, inter- and intra-protein proton transfer are ubiquitous and functionally central structural features in proteins. Time-resolved structural characterization of proteins has attracted much attention. We develop and demonstrate that time-resolved Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) difference absorption spectroscopy is an ideal technique for probing the transient structures of functionally important intermediate states of proteins. In order to push the edge of his technique for greatly improved time-resolution and for significantly broadened application to chemically triggered proteins, it is essential to develop short, bright, and broad-band infrared pulses. The proposal is how to use UV pulses to generate short, bright, broad-band infrared pulses. The success of this development is expected to bring a leap in time-resolved structural characterization of proteins in action.
