Cytoplasmic water and hydration layer dynamics in human red blood cells.

ABSTRACT

The dynamics of water in human red blood cells was measured with quasielastic incoherent neutron scattering in the temperature range between 290 and 320 K. Neutron spectrometers with time resolutions of 40, 13, and 7 ps were combined to cover time scales of bulk water dynamics to reduced mobility interfacial water motions. A major fraction of approximately 90% of cell water is characterized by a translational diffusion coefficient similar to bulk water. A minor fraction of approximately 10% of cellular water exhibits reduced dynamics. This slow water fraction was attributed to dynamically bound water on the surface of hemoglobin which accounts for approximately half of the hydration layer.