Led by professor of chemistry Martin Zanni, a University of Wisconsin-Madison research group has measured the two-dimensional sum frequency generation (SFG) spectrum of a peptide bound to a gold surface using a Princeton Instruments PIXIS:400B CCD camera.
Determination of the secondary structure of interface-bound peptides is a powerful tool in the investigation of such protein-misfolding disorders as Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes. Unlike conventional linear spectroscopic methods, 2D IR and 2D SFG provide unambiguous information about the structure and dynamics of target molecules.
Emerging nonlinear spectroscopic methods like 2D IR require highly sensitive photodetectors. Commercialisation of these increasingly popular techniques offers an exciting new approach toward resolving the challenging medical problems posed by protein-misfolding diseases.
Details of this work can be found in the published article, Two-Dimensional Sum-Frequency Generation Reveals Structure and Dynamics of a Surface-Bound Peptide.
