Elastic and conformational softness of a globular protein

Flexibility, or softness, is crucial for protein function and consists of a conformational component, involving jumps between potential wells, and an elastic component, involving fluctuations within the wells. Combining molecular dynamics simulation with incoherent neutron scattering and light scattering measurements on green fluorescent protein, we reveal a relationship between the intrawell fluctuations and elastic moduli of the protein. This finding leads to a simple means of experimentally separating the conformational from the elastic atomic displacements.