Abstract
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.
Highlights
The effect of terahertz (THz) radiation on deep tissues of human body has been considered negligible due to strong absorption by water molecules
To mimic the effect of THz irradiation on tissue proteins, a 1 mm-thick aqueous solution of actin protein was subjected to THz pulsed irradiation (Fig. 1A)
After THz irradiation of 250 μJ/cm[2] for 30 min, fluorescence of Phalloidin was significantly reduced at 800 and 1800 μm. These results demonstrate that the energy of the THz wave propagates more than 1000 μm into an aqueous solution, which means that the irradiated photon energy is converted to pressure energy and demolishes cellular actin filaments in culture
Summary
The effect of terahertz (THz) radiation on deep tissues of human body has been considered negligible due to strong absorption by water molecules. Collapse of actin filament induced by THz irradiation was observed in the living cells under an aqueous medium. The transcriptional activation of wound-responsive genes in mouse skin[7] and DNA damage in an artificial human 3D skin tissue model[8] have been demonstrated Most of those studies focus on epithelial and corneal cell lines, because THz photons are totally absorbed at the surface of the tissues due to the intense absorbance of liquid water in this frequency region. We investigated the effect of THz-induced shockwaves on actin filaments www.nature.com/scientificreports in the view of the THz wave induces shockwave propagation in aqueous medium. The experiments were performed by the actin aqueous solution and living cell with several THz wave energy densities and shockwave propagation lengths. The potential of THz waves as an invasive method to alter protein structure in the living cells is demonstrated
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