RIKEN, Center for Advanced Photonics, 519-1399 Aramaki-Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-0845, Japan.
Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, 468-1 Aramaki-Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-0845, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2020 Jun 2;10(1):9008. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-65955-5.
The effect of terahertz (THz) radiation on deep tissues of human body has been considered negligible due to strong absorption by water molecules. However, we observed that the energy of THz pulses transmits a millimeter thick in the aqueous solution, possibly as a shockwave, and demolishes actin filaments. Collapse of actin filament induced by THz irradiation was also observed in the living cells under an aqueous medium. We also confirmed that the viability of the cell was not affected under the exposure of THz pulses. The potential of THz waves as an invasive method to alter protein structure in the living cells is demonstrated.
太赫兹（THz）辐射对人体深层组织的影响由于水分子的强吸收而被认为可以忽略不计。然而，我们观察到 THz 脉冲的能量在水溶液中可以传输一毫米厚，可能是作为冲击波，并破坏肌动蛋白丝。在水介质下的活细胞中也观察到 THz 辐照诱导的肌动蛋白丝的崩溃。我们还证实，在 THz 脉冲照射下，细胞的活力没有受到影响。证明了 THz 波作为一种有潜力的非侵入性方法来改变活细胞中的蛋白质结构。
