Author: Johnson K.
Affiliation: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139 USA ; HydroElectron Ventures Inc., 1303 Greene Avenue Suite 102, Westmount, QC H3Z 2A7 Canada.
Conference/Journal: J Biol Phys.
Date published: 2012 Jan
Other:
Volume ID: 38 , Issue ID: 1 , Pages: 85-95 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1007/s10867-011-9238-4 , Word Count: 118
Water nanoclusters are shown from first-principles calculations to possess unique terahertz-frequency vibrational modes in the 1-6 THz range, corresponding to O-O-O "bending," "squashing," and "twisting" "surface" distortions of the clusters. The cluster molecular-orbital LUMOs are huge Rydberg-like "S," "P," "D," and "F" orbitals that accept an extra electron via optical excitation, ionization, or electron donation from interacting biomolecules. Dynamic Jahn-Teller coupling of these "hydrated-electron" orbitals to the THz vibrations promotes such water clusters as vibronically active "structured water" essential to biomolecular function such as protein folding. In biological microtubules, confined water-cluster THz vibrations may induce their "quantum coherence" communicated by Jahn-Teller phonons via coupling of the THz electromagnetic field to the water clusters' large electric dipole moments.
PMID: 23277672