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.