Relation between Solvent and Protein Dynamics as Studied by Dielectric Spectroscopy

Abstract

We present results obtained by dielectric spectroscopy in wide frequency (10(-2)-10(9) Hz) and temperature ranges on human hemoglobin in the three different solvents water, glycerol, and methanol, at a solvent level of 0.8 g of solvent/g of protein. In this broad frequency region, there are motions on several time-scales in the measured temperature range (110-370 K for water, 170-410 K for glycerol, and 110-310 K for methanol). For all samples, the dielectric data shows at least four relaxation processes, with frequency dependences that are well described by the Havriliak-Negami or Cole-Cole functions. The fastest and most pronounced process in the dielectric spectra of hemoglobin in glycerol and methanol solutions is similar to the alpha-relaxation of the corresponding bulk solvent (but shifted to slower dynamics due to surface interactions). For water solutions, however, this process corresponds to earlier results obtained for water confined in various systems and it is most likely due to a local beta-relaxation. The slowing down of the glycerol and methanol relaxations and the good agreement with earlier results on confined water show that this process is affected by the interaction with the protein surface. The second fastest process is attributed to motions of polar side groups on the protein, with a possible contribution from tightly bound solvent molecules. This process is shifted to slower dynamics with increasing solvent viscosity, and it shows a crossover in its temperature dependence from Arrhenius behavior at low temperatures to non-Arrhenius behavior at higher temperatures where there seems to be an onset of cooperativity effects. The origins of the two slowest relaxation processes (visible at high temperatures and low frequencies), which show saddlelike temperature dependences for the solvents water and methanol, are most likely due to motions of the polypeptide backbone and an even more global motion in the protein molecule.