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Dielectric dispersion characteristics of the phospholipid bilayer with subnanometer resolution from terahertz to mid-infrared

There is growing interest in whether the myelinated nerve fiber acts as a dielectric waveguide to propagate terahertz to mid-infrared electromagnetic waves, which are presumed stable signal carrier for neurotransmission. The myelin sheath is formed as a multilamellar biomembrane structure, hence ins...

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Autores principales: Zhang, Ziyi, Li, Yangmei, Xiang, Zuoxian, Huang, Yindong, Wang, Ruixing, Chang, Chao
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9470958/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36118579
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2022.984880
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author Zhang, Ziyi
Li, Yangmei
Xiang, Zuoxian
Huang, Yindong
Wang, Ruixing
Chang, Chao
author_facet Zhang, Ziyi
Li, Yangmei
Xiang, Zuoxian
Huang, Yindong
Wang, Ruixing
Chang, Chao
author_sort Zhang, Ziyi
collection PubMed
description There is growing interest in whether the myelinated nerve fiber acts as a dielectric waveguide to propagate terahertz to mid-infrared electromagnetic waves, which are presumed stable signal carrier for neurotransmission. The myelin sheath is formed as a multilamellar biomembrane structure, hence insights into the dielectric properties of the phospholipid bilayer is essential for a complete understanding of the myelinated fiber functioning. In this work, by means of atomistic molecular dynamics simulations of the dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) bilayer in water and numerical calculations of carefully layered molecules along with calibration of optical dielectric constants, we for the first time demonstrate the spatially resolved (in sub-nm) dielectric spectrum of the phospholipid bilayer in a remarkably wide range from terahertz to mid-infrared. More specifically, the membrane head regions exhibit both larger real and imaginary permittivities than that of the tail counterparts in the majority of the 1–100 THz band. In addition, the spatial variation of dielectric properties suggests advantageous propagation characteristics of the phospholipid bilayer in a relatively wide band of 55–85 THz, where the electromagnetic waves are well confined within the head regions.
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spelling pubmed-94709582022-09-15 Dielectric dispersion characteristics of the phospholipid bilayer with subnanometer resolution from terahertz to mid-infrared Zhang, Ziyi Li, Yangmei Xiang, Zuoxian Huang, Yindong Wang, Ruixing Chang, Chao Front Bioeng Biotechnol Bioengineering and Biotechnology There is growing interest in whether the myelinated nerve fiber acts as a dielectric waveguide to propagate terahertz to mid-infrared electromagnetic waves, which are presumed stable signal carrier for neurotransmission. The myelin sheath is formed as a multilamellar biomembrane structure, hence insights into the dielectric properties of the phospholipid bilayer is essential for a complete understanding of the myelinated fiber functioning. In this work, by means of atomistic molecular dynamics simulations of the dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) bilayer in water and numerical calculations of carefully layered molecules along with calibration of optical dielectric constants, we for the first time demonstrate the spatially resolved (in sub-nm) dielectric spectrum of the phospholipid bilayer in a remarkably wide range from terahertz to mid-infrared. More specifically, the membrane head regions exhibit both larger real and imaginary permittivities than that of the tail counterparts in the majority of the 1–100 THz band. In addition, the spatial variation of dielectric properties suggests advantageous propagation characteristics of the phospholipid bilayer in a relatively wide band of 55–85 THz, where the electromagnetic waves are well confined within the head regions. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-08-31 /pmc/articles/PMC9470958/ /pubmed/36118579 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2022.984880 Text en Copyright © 2022 Zhang, Li, Xiang, Huang, Wang and Chang. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Bioengineering and Biotechnology
Zhang, Ziyi
Li, Yangmei
Xiang, Zuoxian
Huang, Yindong
Wang, Ruixing
Chang, Chao
Dielectric dispersion characteristics of the phospholipid bilayer with subnanometer resolution from terahertz to mid-infrared
title Dielectric dispersion characteristics of the phospholipid bilayer with subnanometer resolution from terahertz to mid-infrared
title_full Dielectric dispersion characteristics of the phospholipid bilayer with subnanometer resolution from terahertz to mid-infrared
title_fullStr Dielectric dispersion characteristics of the phospholipid bilayer with subnanometer resolution from terahertz to mid-infrared
title_full_unstemmed Dielectric dispersion characteristics of the phospholipid bilayer with subnanometer resolution from terahertz to mid-infrared
title_short Dielectric dispersion characteristics of the phospholipid bilayer with subnanometer resolution from terahertz to mid-infrared
title_sort dielectric dispersion characteristics of the phospholipid bilayer with subnanometer resolution from terahertz to mid-infrared
topic Bioengineering and Biotechnology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9470958/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36118579
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2022.984880
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