A nuclear magnetic resonance spin-lattice relaxation dispersion study of the relaxation of several magnetization components in both natural and deuterated lysozyme solutions was undertaken at 20°C. Proton and deuteron resonances were employed. The two-dimensional time evolution of the magnetization and the spin-spin relaxation were analyzed. In addition, an isotopic dilution study was performed at 5 and 30.6 MHz. The results indicate that the water proton spin-lattice relaxation rate which arises from intermolecular relaxation between the water protons and the lysozyme protons represents a relatively strong relaxation mechanism. A model for the dynamics of the water molecules, consistent with the proton and deuteron dispersions as well as with the isotopic dilution results, is presented.

The proton spin-lattice relaxation parameters in natural and deuterated lysozyme solutions have been measured as a function of temperature (0-50 degrees C). The variation of the apparent magnitudes of the water proton magnetizations in the solutions with temperature indicates that magnetic coupling mixes protein and water proton magnetizations. The results are consistent with an exchange cross-relaxation model (Hills, B. P., Mol Phys 1992, 76, 489-508) in which the cross-relaxation acts between the labile and nonlabile protons, rather than between water and protein protons. Although this cross-relaxation pathway clearly affects the observed magnetization fractions in this protein solution, its influence on the relaxation rates is less apparent.