Low-frequency vibrational motions in proteins: Physical mechanisms and effect on functioning.

A possibility for the low-frequency (terahertz) vibrational motions of large parts of protein molecules is considered and the characteristic frequencies are estimated. The problem of damping of these motions is discussed and the effect of solvent molecules on the model low-frequency molecular oscillators is experimentally studied using Raman spectroscopy. The data obtained show that the effect of solvent is not reduced to a decrease in the Q factor and causes variations in frequencies and relative amplitudes of the low-frequency oscillations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]