Investigation of large intramolecular movement within metmyoglobin by Rayleigh scattering of Mössbauer radiation (RSMR).

This paper reports Rayleigh scattering experiments on metmyoglobin crystals and freeze dried myoglobin which was exposed to air with different parital pressure of water vapor. While dry myoglobin shows no fluctuations between conformational substates such "breathing modes" are rarely seen in water covered myoglobin. Larger amounts of water increase the average mean square displacements. In crystals the dynamic behaviour is hindered by the crystal packing. The results are analysed by a theory describing the motion within the molecule by a Langevin equation with restoring forces corresponding to a square well potential.