Nature of lysozyme–water interactions by proton NMR

Proton spin-lattice relaxation measurements were performed in 10 mM lysozyme solution as a function of temperature and degree of substitution of solvent H2O with D2O. The results show that in the temperature range from 274 to 323 K, the intermolecular lysozyme proton water proton coupling contributes appreciably to the observed water proton relaxation rate. In this system exchange between water protons and labile protein protons does not dominate the behaviour with temperature of the water–lysozyme intermolecular contribution to the spin-lattice relaxation.Key words: NMR, lysozyme, relaxation-contributions.