The
structure and dynamics of water molecules around the carboxylate
and amino groups of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a primary neurotransmitter
in mammals, are investigated by means of ab initio molecular dynamics
simulation. Zwitterionic GABA has two major conformations in water,
namely, the open and the closed conformations. The angle-averaged
one-dimensional structures of water in the solvation shells around
the carboxylate and amino groups are found to be quite similar for
the closed and open conformations of the solute. The two-dimensional
structural correlations, which describe the solvation shell structure
with better resolution, reveal some differences in the arrangement
of water molecules around the solute for its open and closed conformations.
It is found that the dynamics of solvation shells in the two conformations
vary only slightly. However, the existence of trapped water between
the oppositely charged carboxylate and amino groups of GABA in its
closed form is found to give rise to a very different dynamical behavior
as compared to the overall solvation shell in the same conformation
as well as that in the open conformation. Thus, dynamical heterogeneity
at a local level is induced by a change in the conformation of zwitterionic
GABA. Such trapped water is not seen in the open form of the solute.
A similar type of “connecting water” has also been observed
for microsolvated β-alanine in a recent experimental and theoretical
study (
Ghassemizadeh
Ghassemizadeh
J. Phys. Chem. B201912343924399). Thus, the current study shows the variation
of binding properties of water with the change in the conformation
of zwitterionic GABA, which in turn changes the dynamics of water
at a local level. The conformation-induced changes in the water dynamics
constitute an example of dynamical heterogeneity of water, which is
normally observed in the presence of large biomolecules like proteins,
DNA, etc.