Biological interfaces characterized by a complex mixture of hydrophobic, hydrophilic, or charged moieties interfere with the cooperative rearrangement of the hydrogen-bond network of water. In the present study, this solute-induced dynamical perturbation is investigated by extended frequency range depolarized light scattering experiments on an aqueous solution of a variety of systems of different nature and complexity such as small hydrophobic and hydrophilic molecules, amino acids, dipeptides, and proteins. Our results suggest that a reductionist approach is not adequate to describe the rearrangement of hydration water because a significant increase of the dynamical retardation and extension of the perturbation occurs when increasing the chemical complexity of the solute.
More Is Different: Experimental Results on the Effect of Biomolecules on the Dynamics of Hydration Water
COMEZ, Lucia;LUPI, LAURA;MORRESI, Assunta;PAOLANTONI, Marco;SASSI, Paola;FIORETTO, Daniele
2013
Abstract
Biological interfaces characterized by a complex mixture of hydrophobic, hydrophilic, or charged moieties interfere with the cooperative rearrangement of the hydrogen-bond network of water. In the present study, this solute-induced dynamical perturbation is investigated by extended frequency range depolarized light scattering experiments on an aqueous solution of a variety of systems of different nature and complexity such as small hydrophobic and hydrophilic molecules, amino acids, dipeptides, and proteins. Our results suggest that a reductionist approach is not adequate to describe the rearrangement of hydration water because a significant increase of the dynamical retardation and extension of the perturbation occurs when increasing the chemical complexity of the solute.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.