Using ultrafast physics in structural biology has unveiled the intricate dance of molecular 'coherence' in unprecedented clarity. Understanding how molecules transform in response to stimuli like light is fundamental in biology, for example during photosynthesis. Scientists have been working to unr
Combining two techniques, researchers have unveiled the crucial role of ‘coherence’ in molecular reactions, paving the way for advanced control of molecular dynamics. An illustration of the probing process. Credit: Samuel Perrett
The large international research team, led by Professor Jasper van Thor from the Department of Life Sciences atCrystallography is a powerful technique in structural biology for taking ‘snapshots’ of how molecules are arranged. Over several large-scale experiments and years of theory work, the team behind the new study integrated this with another technique that maps vibrations in the electronic and nuclear configuration of molecules, called spectroscopy.
Professor van Thor said: “Every process that sustains life is carried out by proteins, but understanding how these complex molecules do their jobs depends on learning the arrangement of their atoms – and how this structure changes – as they react. Members of the team have been working since 2009 at XFELs to use and understand the motions of reacting proteins on the femtosecond timescale, known as femtochemistry. Following excitation by a laser pulse, ‘snapshots’ of the structure are taken using X-rays.light-induced change in a biological protein
They then combined the data from these experiments with theoretical methods modified from femtochemistry, in order to apply them to X-ray crystallographic data rather than to spectroscopic data.on the picometer scale and femtosecond time scale do not belong to the biological reaction, but instead to vibrational coherence in the remaining ground state.
“This was actually predicted based on theoretical work made previously but has now been shown experimentally. This will have a significant impact in both the fields of time-resolved structural biology as well as ultrafast spectroscopy, as we have developed and provided the tools for analysis of ultrafast femtosecond time scale motion.”The paper includes 49 authors from 15 institutions, covering work over seven years, including experiments conducted remotely during the pandemic.
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