Broadband terahertz signatures and vibrations of dopamine

Zhongjie Zhu; Jianbing Zhang; Yongshun Song; Chao Chang; Guanhua Ren; Jianxiong Shen; Zongchang Zhang; Te Ji; Min Chen; Hongwei Zhao

doi:10.1039/D0AN00771D

Broadband terahertz signatures and vibrations of dopamine†

Zhongjie Zhu,

^abc Jianbing Zhang,^ac Yongshun Song,^ad Chao Chang,

*^e Guanhua Ren,^ac Jianxiong Shen,^acd Zongchang Zhang,^acd Te Ji,^ac Min Chen

^ac and Hongwei Zhao

*^ac

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, China
E-mail: zhaohongwei@sinap.ac.cn

^b University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

^c Zhangjiang Laboratory, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201210, China

^d East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China

^e Innovation Laboratory of Terahertz Biophysics, National Innovation Institute of Defense Technology, Beijing 100071, China
E-mail: changc@xjtu.edu.cn

Abstract

Dopamine (DA) is an essential neurotransmitter and hormone of the nervous system, its structural and conformational properties play critical roles in biological functions and signal transmission processes. Although this neuroactive molecule has been studied extensively, the low-frequency vibration features that are closely related to the conformation and molecular interactions in the terahertz (THz) band still remain unclear. In this study, a broadband THz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) system in the frequency band of 0.5–18 THz was used to characterize the unique THz fingerprint of DA. In addition, density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed to analyze the vibrational properties of DA. The results suggest that each THz resonant absorption peak of DA corresponds to specific vibrational modes, and the collective vibration also exists in the broadband THz range. Moreover, the interactions between the DA ligand and the D2 and D3 receptors were investigated by docking, and the simulated THz spectra were obtained. The results indicate the dominant role of hydrogen bonding interactions and the specificity of molecular conformation. This work may help to understand the resonance coupling between THz electromagnetic waves and neurotransmitters.

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Broadband terahertz signatures and vibrations of dopamine†

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