Temperature-dependent Fano resonance in Microtubules and Tubulin investigated with Spontaneous Raman Spectroscopy

Abstract

Microtubules are self-assembled biological hollow nanotubes composed by protein tubulin. They are essential for many biological functions, including cell motility, cell division, and act as intracellular track for organelle transport. In turn, through dynamic assembly and disassembly, they form spindle fibers for chromosome segregation during mitosis and meiosis. In this paper, we have measured the Raman spectra of microtubules and their constituent protein tubulin in dry powder form for a range of temperatures, from nitrogen liquid T=77 K up to room and physiological temperature T=310 K, to determine if molecular bond vibrations present potential Fano resonance asymmetry. We have found nontrivial persistence of Fano resonances, q<5, at room and physiological temperatures for some specific vibrational modes.