title: Methyl rotors in flavoproteins.
abstract: In this contribution we present the study of the thermal dependence of the ENDOR spectra of flavodoxin at low temperatures which reveals the dynamics of the methyl groups bound to the flavin moiety in flavoproteins. The methyl groups behave as quantum rotors locked by a deep rotational well and undergoing a tunneling process. At room temperature, methyl rotors are locked and the hopping motion is slow. This picture of the dynamics of the methyl groups of the flavin ring is quite different from the one usually accepted and has relevant consequences on the understanding of the mechanisms of flavoproteins.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Aragón, Universidad de Zaragoza-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Facultad de Ciencias, C/Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain. jimartin@unizar.es.
authors.forename: Jesús I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.forename: Pablo J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Alonso
authors.forename: Inés
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: García-Rubio
authors.forename: Milagros
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Medina
mesh_terms: D005420:Flavoproteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D011789:Quantum Theory; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D005420:Flavoproteins