THz spectroscopy of proteins in aqueous media

The aim of this project is to demonstrate experimentally - using an interdisciplinary approach involving biologists, physicists and electronics specialists in terahertz instrumentation (1 THz =1012Hz) - the mechanisms used by biomolecules to communicate with each other over long distances and under normal physiological conditions.

A scientific breakthrough linked to this project therefore lies in the demonstration of the activation (under physico-chemical conditions typical of the cell cytoplasm) of long-range, high-frequency electromagnetic interactions inside a living cell. By selectively attracting the various molecular partners involved in specific biochemical reactions, these interactions are said to condition the "molecular machinery". Uncovering these interactions would represent a revolution in our understanding of how living matter evolves.

These long-range interactions between biomolecules (where "long" means up to a few hundred nanometers) will be demonstrated by measuring the electromagnetic field emitted via a biocompatible THz near-field experiment. The development of such instrumentation is in itself an opportunity for technological progress.

In terms of applications, this project opens the way to non-chemical external control of basic cellular functions (gene expression, metabolism, mitosis, etc.), with entirely new non-drug medical actions. It may also help to justify the therapeutic effects widely observed with the use of externally applied electromagnetic fields on cancer cells.

Highligths

  • 03/09/2018: publication of an article atPhysicalReview Xtitled"Out-of-equilibrium collective oscillation as phonon condensation in a model protein".
  • 12/06/2017: Jérémie Torres, will give anInvitedtalkauxIX Journées THz - IX THZ-Daystitled"Out-of-equilibrium proteins dynamics probed by THz spectroscopy: towards Frohlich's condensation".
  • I. Nardecchia et al, "Out-of-equilibrium collective oscillations of a model protein in the THz frequency domain",link to ArXiv (2017).

  • 03/07/2016: Jérémie Torres, teacher-researcher at IES will give a Keynote at the "Biophysical Aspects of Cancer" conference on "THz near-field spectroscopy of proteins: towards detection of long-range electrodynamic interactions".

https://palata.fzu.cz/cancer/conf/