Proton glass freezing in hydrated lysozyme powders

At room temperature, the dielectric relaxation of hydrated powder of the pr otein lysozyme is known to be due to protons migrating between ionized side chains. A recent study of this relaxation at lower temperatures suggested a behavior typical of proton glasses. An analysis of the complex dielectric susceptibility by a temperature-frequency plot presented here has revealed that ergodicity is broken due to the divergence of the longest relaxation time at 266 K, indicating specifically that this hydrated protein is a prot on glass. A change in the temperature behavior of the static dielectric con stant and the average relaxation frequency at 273 K indicates a further tra nsition occurring at this temperature, whose nature remains to be investiga ted. [S1063-651X(99)08412-3].