Protein dynamics. An overview on flash-photolysis over broad temperature ranges

FEBS Lett. 1992 Jul 27;307(1):14-9. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(92)80893-l.

Abstract

Ligand binding kinetics to heme-proteins between 40 and 300 K point to a regulatory role of protein dynamics. A protein-specific susceptibility of the heme-iron reactivity to dynamic fluctuations emerges from the distribution of reaction enthalpies derived from flash-photolysis measurements below ca. 180 K; we quantify it in terms of 'intramolecular viscosity', postulating that narrow low-temperature enthalpy distributions correspond to low internal viscosity and vice versa. The thermal evolution of ligand binding kinetics suggests, with other results, an interplay between high-frequency transitions of the amino acid side chains and low-frequency collective motions as a possible regulatory mechanism of protein dynamics.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Carbon Monoxide / metabolism
  • Models, Chemical
  • Photolysis*
  • Proteins / chemistry*
  • Proteins / metabolism
  • Temperature
  • Thermodynamics

Substances

  • Proteins
  • Carbon Monoxide