Microwaves have been experimentally shown to affect the folding dynamics of peptides and proteins. Using molecular dynamics, we performed all-atom simulations of a model β-peptide in aqueous solution where individual degrees of freedom of solvent molecules were decoupled to allow for investigation at non-equilibrium microwave-irradiated conditions. An elevated rotational temperature of the water medium was found to significantly affect the conformation of the peptide due to the weakened hydrogen-bonding interactions with the surrounding solvent molecules. Cluster analysis revealed that microwave irradiation can indeed act as a promoter in the formation of new misfolded peptide structures of the hairpin type, which are generally associated with the onset of several neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, and Creutzfeldt–Jakob diseases as well as certain cancer types such as amyloidosis.

中文翻译：

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微波辐射会导致肽错误折叠吗？

实验证明，微波会影响肽和蛋白质的折叠动力学。使用分子动力学，我们对水溶液中的模型β肽进行了全原子模拟，其中溶剂分子的各个自由度被解偶联，从而可以在非平衡微波辐射条件下进行研究。由于与周围溶剂分子的氢键相互作用减弱，发现升高的水介质旋转温度显着影响肽的构象。聚类分析表明，微波辐射确实可以在发夹型新的错误折叠的肽结构形成中起促进剂的作用，这种结构通常与多种神经退行性疾病的发作有关，例如阿尔茨海默氏症，帕金森氏症，亨廷顿氏症，