Mapping of Supramolecular Chirality in Insect Wings by Microscopic Vibrational Circular Dichroism Spectroscopy: Heterogeneity in Protein Distribution
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 25, 2025

CD Spectroscopy to Study DNA-Protein Interactions
Published on: February 10, 2022
Hisako Sato1, Akihiko Yamagishi2, Masaru Shimizu3
1Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Ehime University, 2-5 Bunkyo-chou, Matsuyama, Ehime 790-8577, Japan.
Abstract:
The supramolecular chirality of the hindwing of Anomala albopilosa (male) was investigated using a microscopic vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) system, denoted as MultiD-VCD. The source of intense infrared (IR) light for the system was a quantum cascade laser. Two-dimensional maps of IR and VCD spectra were taken by scanning the surface area (ca. 2 mm × 2 mm) of the insect hindwing tissue. The spectra ranged from 1500 to 1700 cm-1, and the maps have a spatial resolution of 100 μm. The distribution of proteins, including their supramolecular structures, was analyzed from the location-dependent spectral shape of the VCD bands assigned to amides I and II. The results revealed that the hindwing consists of segregated domains of proteins with different secondary structures: an α-helix (in one part of the membrane), a hybrid of α-helix and β-sheet (in another part of the membrane), and a coil (in a vein).
Related Concept Videos
Chirality in Nature
Chirality
Chiral objects exhibit a sense of handedness when they interact with another chiral object. For example, our left foot can only fit in the left shoe and not in the right shoe. Achiral objects — objects that have...
Prochirality
Molecules with Multiple Chiral Centers
Stereoisomerism of Cyclic Compounds
Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur
A consequence of chirality is the need for enantiomeric resolution. While this is theoretically possible for all...

