A New Method for D 2 O / H 2 O Exchange in Infrared Spectroscopy of Proteins

In this paper, we describe a new method to obtain D2O/H2O exchange in photosynthetic reaction centres from Rhodobacter sphaeroides. The method is characterized by: (i) a very high efficiency of the isotopic replacement; (ii) an extremely low amount of D2O needed; (iii) the short time required for dehydration and D2O rehydration; (iv) the possibility of controlling concomitantly the hydration state of the sample. The proposed method can be applied to other proteins.