Figure 4
(A) Amide region of the SR-microFTIR spectra of the samples treated with both US and 4ATP-AuNPs for 15 (red line) and 30 minutes (orange line) in comparison with the non-treated control sample (black line); the spectra are normalised to the absorbance of the Amide I band. (B) Representative spectral deconvolution by Gaussian fitting procedure; the spectral components associated to the protein secondary structure are highlighted by filled colour areas (the other spectral components are represented in green). (C) Histograms representing the weight of α-helices (top) and β-sheets (bottom) spectral components in the Amide I band for each sample analysed; each weight was determined as the percent area with respect to the total area of the band. The β-sheets percentage accounts for both the β-structure contributions (1624 cm−1 and 1678 cm-1). Columns and bars represent the average and standard deviation values obtained on at least three independent experiments. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001.
