Abstract
In this paper, three kinds of solid lysozyme samples with different water contents were investigated by confocal Raman spectroscopy. For the rod-like lysozyme crystal with highest water content, a sudden decrease of the intensity ratio of the doublet at 1338 and 1360 cm(-1) was observed when the ambient relative humidity (RH) was lower than 86%, indicating the destruction of hydrophobic clusters of lysozyme induced by the expulsion of the hydration water from the crystal. In contrast to the rod-like crystal, tetragonal crystal and floor-like precipitate with a smaller amount of water showed no change of the structures of the hydrophobic clusters when the relative humidity was decreasing. The presence of bulk water in the rod-like crystal is believed a necessary factor for the function of the hydration water which promotes the hydrophobicity of hydrophobic clusters.