Temperature dependence of the resonance Raman spectra of plastocyanin and azurin between cryogenic and ambient conditions.

Resonance Raman spectra of spinach plastocyanin and Pseudomonas aeruginosa azurin were studied as a function of temperature between 10 K and 300 K. The spectra are markedly improved both in signal/noise ratio and in resolution at low temperatures. The assignments of the resonance Raman-active vibrations are reinterpreted in view of the number and intensities of peaks observed in the low-temperature spectra. Features appear in the low-temperature spectra of azurin that may be due to copper-bound methionine. The plastocyanin spectra undergo a transition between 220 K and the melting point of water that results in dramatically narrowed peaks at lower temperature and a shift in the carbon-sulfur stretching frequency of the copper-bound cysteine, suggesting a structural change in the active site and an accompanying effect on vibrational dephasing. Considering that the structures and nonvibrational spectroscopies of these two proteins are similar, the substantial differences in the resonance Raman spectra are striking and significant.