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Updated: Jan 31, 2026

High-Resolution Neutron Spectroscopy to Study Picosecond-Nanosecond Dynamics of Proteins and Hydration Water
Published on: April 28, 2022
Cytoplasmic water and hydration layer dynamics in human red blood cells
Andreas M Stadler1, Jan P Embs, Ilya Digel
1ILL, 38042 Grenoble, France.
Abstract:
The dynamics of water in human red blood cells was measured with quasielastic incoherent neutron scattering in the temperature range between 290 and 320 K. Neutron spectrometers with time resolutions of 40, 13, and 7 ps were combined to cover time scales of bulk water dynamics to reduced mobility interfacial water motions. A major fraction of approximately 90% of cell water is characterized by a translational diffusion coefficient similar to bulk water. A minor fraction of approximately 10% of cellular water exhibits reduced dynamics. This slow water fraction was attributed to dynamically bound water on the surface of hemoglobin which accounts for approximately half of the hydration layer.
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