PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Shota Yamazaki AU - Masahiko Harata AU - Yuya Ueno AU - Masaaki Tsubouchi AU - Keiji Konagaya AU - Yuichi Ogawa AU - Goro Isoyama AU - Chiko Otani AU - Hiromichi Hoshina TI - Propagation of THz irradiation energy through aqueous layers: Demolition of actin filaments in living cells AID - 10.1101/846295 DP - 2019 Jan 01 TA - bioRxiv PG - 846295 4099 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/11/18/846295.short 4100 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/11/18/846295.full AB - The effect of terahertz (THz) radiation on deep tissues of human body has been considered negligible due to strong absorption by water molecules. However, we observed that the energy of THz pulses transmits a millimeter thick in the aqueous solution, possibly as a shockwave, and demolishes actin filaments. Collapse of actin filament induced by THz irradiation was also observed in the living cells under an aqueous medium. We also confirmed that the viability of the cell was not affected under the exposure of THz pulses. The potential of THz waves as an invasive method to alter protein structure in the living cells is demonstrated.One sentence summary The energy of the THz wave propagates several millimeters into an aqueous medium and demolishes actin filaments via shockwaves.