Issue 8, 2019

Characteristic fingerprint spectrum of neurotransmitter norepinephrine with broadband terahertz time-domain spectroscopy

Abstract

The neurotransmitter norepinephrine (NE) was investigated by broadband terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) in the air-plasma system range from 0.5 to 18.2 THz. NE has a unique absorption spectrum in the THz band, which can be used as a characteristic fingerprint for molecular detection and identification. The temperature-dependent THz spectra of NE were recorded in the range from 83 to 293 K, and a blue-shift of the absorption peaks was observed as the temperature decreased. A solid-state density functional theory (DFT) calculation was implemented to better understand the low-frequency vibrational property of NE, and the calculated results agree well with the THz experimental observations. This result suggests that the broadband THz system can obtain more abundant spectral signals of NE and each THz resonance peak has its own specific vibrational mode, which corresponds to a specific structure and interaction. Even with the adjacent absorption peaks, the vibrational behaviors are different. The deformation of the aromatic ring and the flexibility of the side chain directly affect the NE molecular conformation, which may be closely associated with the receptor binding preference for the neurotransmitter. The conformational diversity of NE may help to understand the biological function of the neurotransmitter in the nervous system.

Graphical abstract: Characteristic fingerprint spectrum of neurotransmitter norepinephrine with broadband terahertz time-domain spectroscopy

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
29 Oct 2018
Accepted
19 Dec 2018
First published
20 Dec 2018

Analyst, 2019,144, 2504-2510

Characteristic fingerprint spectrum of neurotransmitter norepinephrine with broadband terahertz time-domain spectroscopy

Z. Zhu, C. Cheng, C. Chang, G. Ren, J. Zhang, Y. Peng, J. Han and H. Zhao, Analyst, 2019, 144, 2504 DOI: 10.1039/C8AN02079E

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements