Heat capacity of solid-state biopolymers by thermal analysis

Heat capacities in the solid state of four globular proteins (bovine b-lactoglobulin, chicken lysozyme, ovalbumine, and horse myoglobin) and of the poly(amino acid) poly(L-tryptophan) have been determined using the Advanced THermal Analysis System (ATHAS). The experimental measurements were performed with adiabatic and differential scanning calorimetry over wide temperature ranges. The heat capacities were linked to an approximate vibrational spectrum by making use of known group vibrations and of a set of parameters, Q1 and Q3, of the Tarasov function for the skeletal vibrations. Good agreement was found between experiments and calculations with root mean square errors mostly within 63%. The experimental data were analyzed also with an empirical addition scheme using the known data for poly(amino acid)s measured earlier. Based on this study, vibrational heat capacities can now be predicted for all proteins with an accuracy comparable to common experiments.