Collective dynamics of hydrated β-lactoglobulin by inelastic x-ray scattering

Inelastic x-ray scattering measurements of hydrated β-lactoglobulin (β-lg) were performed to investigate the collective dynamics of hydration water and hydrated protein on a picosecond time scale. Samples with different hydration levels h [=mass of water (g)/mass of protein (g)] of 0 (dry), 0.5, and 1.0 were measured at ambient temperature. The observed dynamical structure factor S(Q,ω)/S(Q) was analyzed by a model composed of a Lorentzian for the central peak and a damped harmonic oscillator (DHO) for the side peak. The dispersion relation between the excitation energy in the DHO model and the momentum transfer Q was obtained for the hydrated β-lg at both hydration levels, but no DHO excitation was found for the dry β-lg. The high-frequency sound velocity was similar to that previously observed in pure water. The ratio of the high-frequency sound velocity of hydrated β-lg to the adiabatic one of hydrated lysozyme (h=0.41) was estimated as ∼1.6 for h=0.5. The value is significantly smaller than that (∼2) of pure water that has the tetrahedral network structure. The present finding thus suggests that the tetrahedral network structure of water around the β-lg is partially disrupted by the perturbation from protein surface. These results are consistent with those reported from Brillouin neutron spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulation studies of hydrated ribonuclease A.