The Dynamics of Hydrated Proteins Are the Same as Those of Highly Asymmetric Mixtures of Two Glass-Formers.

Customarily, the studies of dynamics of hydrated proteins are focused on the fast hydration water ν-relaxation, the slow structural α-relaxation responsible for a single glass transition, and the protein dynamic transition (PDT). Guided by the analogy with the dynamics of highly asymmetric mixtures of molecular glass-formers, we explore the possibility that the dynamics of hydrated proteins are richer than presently known. By providing neutron scattering, dielectric relaxation, calorimetry, and deuteron NMR data in two hydrated globular proteins, myoglobin and BSA, and the fibrous elastin, we show the presence of two structural α-relaxations, α1 and α2, and the hydration water ν-relaxation, all coupled together with interconnecting properties. There are two glass transition temperatures and corresponding to vitrification of the α1 and α2 processes. Relaxation time τ() of the α2-relaxation changes its Arrhenius temperature dependence to super-Arrhenius on crossing from below. The ν-relaxation responds to the two vitrifications by changing the -dependence of its relaxation time τ() on crossing consecutively and . It generates the PDT at where τ( ) matches about five times the experimental instrument timescale τ, provided that > . This condition is satisfied by the hydrated globular proteins considered in this paper, and the ν-relaxation is in the liquid state with τ() having the super-Arrhenius temperature dependence. However, if < , the ν-relaxation fails to generate the PDT because it is in the glassy state and τ() has Arrhenius -dependence, as in the case of hydrated elastin. Overall, the dynamics of hydrated proteins are the same as the dynamics of highly asymmetric mixtures of glass-formers. The results from this study have expanded the knowledge of the dynamic processes and their properties in hydrated proteins, and impact on research in this area is expected.