[FTIR study on the finger nail with carcinoma of nasopharynx]

Finger nails from twenty normal people and three with carcinoma of nasopharynx were studied by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) technique. The results showed that there are obvious differences between FTIR spectra of them in spectral parameters such as frequency, intensity and band shape etc. The most striking differences in the spectra were observed in the change of amide II, the disappearance of delta(s) (CH3) peak, and at 874.0 cm(-1) whether appeared an absorption peak. The changes involving the phosphate symmetric stretching nu(s, PO2-) and asynmmetric stretching nu(as, PO2-) modes, the CH3 and CH2 groups stretching (v(s, CH2), nu(as, CH3)) bending (delta (CH3)) modes and the C-O stretching nu (C-O) mode were discussed. In addition, the changes of structure of hydrogen-bonding of nucleic acid and cell proteins and the packing and the conformational structure of the membrane lipids were analysed. The average wave number of band of nu(s) (PO2-) shifted from 1080.0 to 1077.6 cm(-1) and that of nu(as) (PO2-) shifted from 1239.4 to 1238.4 cm(-1), which indicated that the degree of hydrogen-bonding formed by oxygen atom of the phosphodiester groups of nucleic acids was weakened. The average wave number of band of delta (CH2) of membrane lipids shifted from 1453.1 to 1453.7 cm(-1), and its peak intensity was slightly enhanced, which suggested that the conformational structure of the methylene chains of membrane lipids is more disordered than in normal nail.