Three-dimensional view of ultrafast dynamics in photoexcited bacteriorhodopsin in the multiphoton regime and biological relevance
R. J. Dwayne Miller, Olivier Paré-Labrosse, Antoine Sarracini, Jessica E. Besaw
Abstract
How does chemistry scale in complexity to unerringly direct biological functions? Nass Kovacs et al. have shown that bacteriorhodopsin undergoes structural changes tantalizingly similar to the expected pathway even under excessive excitation. Is the protein structure so highly evolved that it directs all deposited energy into the designed function?
Topics & Concepts
BacteriorhodopsinExcitationEnergy landscapeUltrashort pulseBiomolecular structureFunction (biology)PhysicsRelevance (law)BiophysicsChemical physicsChemistryBiological systemNanotechnologyProtein structureBiologyMaterials scienceLaserOpticsBiochemistryEvolutionary biologyNuclear magnetic resonanceQuantum mechanicsMembranePolitical scienceLawPhotoreceptor and optogenetics researchMolecular spectroscopy and chiralitySpectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies