Investigation of the non-ergodicity of protein dynamics

Abstract

The study of microscopic protein dynamics has historically presented significant challenges for researchers seeking to develop a comprehensive and detailed description of its diverse and intriguing features. Recent experimental and theoretical studies have proposed the hypothesis that protein dynamics may be non-ergodic. The implications of this finding are of paramount importance from both practical and theoretical standpoints. In this study, we employ all-atom molecular dynamics simulations to examine these results over a time window spanning from picoseconds to nanoseconds. To this end, we utilize widely used statistical tools. Our findings challenge the conclusions of previous studies, which suggest that proteins exhibit non-ergodic dynamics. Instead, we demonstrate that deviations from ergodic behavior are due to the incomplete convergence of the investigated quantities. Additionally, we discuss the implications of the findings that suggest a potential breaking of the ergodic hypothesis over larger time windows, which were not directly investigated in this study.