Understanding proteins: Molecular probe tracks changes in chemical bonds using spectroscopy
Friday, April 30, 2010 - 10:31
in Physics & Chemistry
Proteins are the molecular machines of our cells. In order to understand how they function, it is necessary to follow the changes they bring about at a molecular level. This may be done by way of infrared spectroscopy, or more specifically so-called Fourier transform (FTIR) spectroscopy, which can measure the vibrations of the individual chemical bonds in a protein and the changes that take place in them while the protein works. However, an FTIR spectrum of a typical protein consists of several thousand vibrations which overlap and interfere with one another, making it extremely difficult to isolate the series of vibrations responsible for effecting the changes.