Alteration of water absorption in the THz region traces the onset of fibrillation in proteins.
Partha PyneNirnay SamantaHimanshu GohilS S PrabhuRajib Kumar MitraPublished in: Chemical communications (Cambridge, England) (2021)
Using terahertz spectroscopy, we established the alteration of the collective hydration of water during the fibrillation process (native → intermediate → fibril) of a model protein bovine serum albumin. This label-free study concludes that water dynamics change systematically with protein conformational changes as it experiences a hydrophobic environment during the initial protein unfolding process, followed by the release of bound water during oligomerization and finally the hydrophobic interior of the fibril.