Correct interpretation of heme protein spectra allows distinguishing between the heme and the protein dynamics

It is shown by using the vibronic approach that the iron displacement out of the porphyrin plane in deoxyheme proteins intermixes the porphyrin pi and axial iron-histidine sigma electronic subsystems. This intermixing explains the substantial coupling of the iron-histidine vibration to the heme Soret excitation, the appearence of the iron-histidine band in the corresponding resonance Raman spectra, and a number of other experimental data, including the depence of the iron-histidine vibrational frequency on the extent of the iron displacement out of the porphyrin plane. This dependence implies that there is an anharmonic coupling between the corresponding vibrations, which is shown to be the cause of the specific temperature dependence of the iron-histidine band. The anharmonic coupling and the dependence of the dipole transition moment of the charge transfer optical absorption band III on the iron-porphyrin distance cause the anomalous temperature and pressure dependencies of this band. It is shown that the change in both the magntitude and the distribution of the iron-porphyrin distance is expected to affect the band III intensity. Consequently, the stationarity of the band III intensity can be considered as a signature of the stationarity of the iron-porphyrin distance and its distribution in deoxyheme proteins, whereas the band III position and width could be also affected by the change in the protein electric field, caused by the protein globule dynamics (C) 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.