|
 |
|
|
|
EMBO reports AOP
doi:10.1038/embor.2008.50
Published online: 2 May 2008
Down to atomic-scale intracellular water dynamics
Marion Jasnin1, Martina Moulin2, Michael Haertlein2, Giuseppe Zaccai1, 3 & Moeava Tehei3
|
|
|
|
1 Institut de Biologie Structurale, UMR 5075, CEA-CNRS-UJF, 41 rue Jules Horowitz, 38027 Grenoble, France
2 Deuteration Laboratory, Institut Laue Langevin, 6 rue Jules Horowitz, BP 156, 38042 Grenoble Cedex 9, France
3 Institut Laue Langevin, 6 rue Jules Horowitz, BP 156, 38042 Grenoble Cedex 9, France
To whom correspondence should be addressed
Giuseppe Zaccai Tel: +33 (0)4 76 20 76 79; Fax: +33 (0)4 76 20 71 20; E-mail: zaccai@ill.fr
Received 5 November 2007; Accepted 5 March 2008; Published online 2 May 2008.
|
|
|
|
Abstract
Water constitutes the intracellular matrix in which biological molecules interact. Understanding its dynamic state is a main scientific challenge, which continues to provoke controversy after more than 50 years of study. We measured water dynamics in vivo in the cytoplasm of Escherichia coli by using neutron scattering and isotope labelling. Experimental timescales covered motions from pure water to interfacial water, on an atomic length scale. In contrast to the widespread opinion that water is 'tamed' by macromolecular confinement, the measurements established that water diffusion within the bacteria is similar to that of pure water at physiological temperature.
|
|
top  |
|
|
|
