Protein dynamics include scattering neutrons

Young collaborators and researchers at OakRidge National Laboratory prepare protein samples for neutron scattering on the Cold Neutron Chopper Spectrometer (CNCS). This goal is to understand protein dynamics. The structure of the protein is currently only seen through freeze frame pictures. This work can help researchers to obtain a time-dependent picture of protein dynamics, and in turn a better understanding of actual protein function, rather than just structure. "Clearly structure and function are linked but there is a lot of missing depth to this picture. We need to know more about how these things move," said Jonathan Nickels, a postdoc working on the project. In this experiment, the collaborators are using picosecond (trillionths of a second) time lengths to study the dynamics of the proteins. Understanding the basics of protein reaction and movement can perhaps lead to large scale industrial catalysts.