Recent progress on our understanding of water around biomolecules

The aim of this research was to study the interaction of water with different biomolecules on the molecular level using inelastic neutron scattering (INS) techniques. These methods provide information on the so-called interfacial (or bound) water molecules that are within a few hydration shells of the macromolecules and show that the interfacial water molecules can be readily distinguished from those in the bulk (bulk water), especially using data for inelastic neutron scattering over the 20-130 meV range corresponding to the librational peak and the molecular optic peaks. Advances in molecular dynamics simulations of water, coupled with neutron scattering measurements of interfacial water could lead to a better understanding of the hydration properties of water around biomolecules such as DNA and proteins. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.