COMPOSITIONAL DEPENDENCE OF SPECTRAL FEATURES IN THE RAMAN-SPECTRA OFERYTHROCYTE-MEMBRANES

The Raman spectra of erythrocyte membranes in water and D2O were analy zed to determine the percentage of protein and lipid contributions to the amide I spectral feature. The approach of Lippert et al. [J. Am. C hem Soc. 98, 7075 (19761 was modified to use circular dichroism data f or protein conformations of erythrocyte membranes to determine the rel ative lipid and protein contributions to the 1660 cm - 1 spectral feat ure. It was determined that 69 +/- 15% of the measured peak intensity was due to the protein contribution. The implication of this data to t he quantity of alpha-helix conformation in membrane protein of erythro cytes, and alternative approaches to determine protein conformation fr om Raman spectra are discussed.