Raman spectroscopic and low-temperature calorimetric investigation of the low-energy vibrational dynamics of hen egg-white lysozyme

The low-frequency vibrational dynamics of chicken hen egg-white lysozyme were investigated using Raman spectroscopy and low-temperature calorimetry. An amorphous-like behaviour of low-frequency dynamics was observed in this protein. By using inelastic light scattering data and resorting to a fitting procedure, the low-temperature specific heat trend was theoretically reproduced, confirming that, as in disordered systems, the same low-energy excitations give rise to the observed anomalies in low-frequency vibrational and low-temperature thermal properties. A further study of polarised and depolarised Raman spectra has allowed us to infer information about the symmetry of these modes. The frequency dependence of the light-vibrational coupling constant has also been analysed.