Slow Dynamics around a Protein and Its Coupling to Solvent

[Image: see text] Solvent is essential for protein dynamics and function, but its role in regulating the dynamics remains debated. Here, we employ saturation transfer electron spin resonance (ST-ESR) to explore the issue and characterize the dynamics on a longer (from μs to s) time scale than has been extensively studied. We first demonstrate the reliability of ST-ESR by showing that the dynamical changeovers revealed in the spectra agree to liquid–liquid transition (LLT) in the state diagram of the glycerol/water system. Then, we utilize ST-ESR with four different probes to systematically map out the variation in local (site-specific) dynamics around a protein surface at subfreezing temperatures (180–240 K) in 10 mol % glycerol/water mixtures. At highly exposed sites, protein and solvent dynamics are coupled, whereas they deviate from each other when temperature is greater than LLT temperature (∼190 K) of the solvent. At less exposed sites, protein however exhibits a dynamic, which is distinct from the bulk solvent, throughout the temperature range studied. Dominant dynamic components are thus revealed, showing that (from low to high temperatures) the overall structural fluctuation, rotamer dynamics, and internal side-chain dynamics, in turn, dominate the temperature dependence of spin-label motions. The structural fluctuation component is relatively slow, collective, and independent of protein structural segments, which is thus inferred to a fundamental dynamic component intrinsic to protein. This study corroborates that bulk solvent plasticizes protein and facilitates rather than slaves protein dynamics.