Thermal evolution of the CO stretching band in carboxy-myoglobin in the light of neutron scattering and molecular dynamics simulations

Abstract

As it is well known, the thermal behaviour of the CO stretching band in MbCO reflects the interconversion among protein’s taxonomic and lower tier substates. We compare here FTIR data on the thermal behaviour of the CO stretching band in MbCO embedded in non-liquid, water–trehalose matrixes, and neutron scattering data on dry and hydrated proteins and nucleic acids. The comparison, also in the light of simulative data, gives relevant information on the relationship between the mean square displacements of hydrogen atoms and the heme pocket thermal rearrangements in MbCO, as experienced by the bound CO, in the temperature region 100–200 K, and at higher temperature when large scale protein motions take place, following the so-called dynamic transition. The reported results point out how FTIR is a useful tool to study the protein internal dynamics, and complement information from neutron scattering measurements.