Protein dynamics at low temperatures

The low temperature conformational dynamics of the heme type protein mesoporphyrin-IX-substituted horseradish peroxidase is investigated by spectral diffusion waiting time/ aging experiments. Spectral diffusion broadening is governed by a power law in time. There is a small but significant aging effect. It is assumed that the conformational dynamics of the protein which leads to the spectral broadening of the burnt-in holes is governed by a diffusion type equation. In this case the shape of the spectral diffusion kernel is Gaussian. This model is contrasted with spectral diffusion phenomena as described by the TLS-model (TLS, two level system).