title: Phosphate vibrations probe local electric fields and hydration in biomolecules.
abstract: The role of electric fields in important biological processes such as binding and catalysis has been studied almost exclusively by computational methods. Experimental measurements of the local electric field in macromolecules are possible using suitably calibrated vibrational probes. Here we demonstrate that the vibrational transitions of phosphate groups are highly sensitive to an electric field and show how that sensitivity can be quantified, allowing electric field measurements to be made in phosphate-containing biological systems without chemical modification.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-5080, United States.
authors.forename: Nicholas M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Levinson
authors.forename: Erin E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Bolte
authors.forename: Carrie S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Steven A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Corcelli
authors.forename: Steven G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Boxer
mesh_terms: D004560:Electricity; D008958:Models, Molecular; D010710:Phosphates / Q000737:chemistry*; D010743:Phospholipids / Q000737:chemistry; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D010710:Phosphates; D010743:Phospholipids; D014867:Water