Several crystal structures of parvalbumin (Parv),
a typical EF-hand protein, have been reported so far for
different species with the best resolution achieving 1.5
Å. Using a crystal grown under microgravity conditions,
cryotechniques (100 K), and synchrotron radiation, it has
now been possible to determine the crystal structure of
the fully Ca2+-loaded form of pike (component
pI 4.10) Parv.Ca2 at atomic resolution (0.91
Å). The availability of such a high quality structure
offers the opportunity to contribute to the definition
of the validation tools useful for the refinement of protein
crystal structures determined to lower resolution. Besides
a better definition of most of the elements in the protein
three-dimensional structure than in previous studies, the
high accuracy thus achieved allows the detection of well-defined
alternate conformations, which are observed for 16 residues
out of 107 in total. Among them, six occupy an internal
position within the hydrophobic core and converge toward
two small buried cavities with a total volume of about
60 Å3. There is no indication of any water
molecule present in these cavities. It is probable that
at temperatures of physiological conditions there is a
dynamic interconversion between these alternate conformations
in an energy-barrier dependent manner. Such motions for
which the amplitudes are provided by the present study
will be associated with a time-dependent remodeling of
the void internal space as part of a slow dynamics regime
(millisecond timescales) of the parvalbumin molecule. The
relevance of such internal dynamics to function is discussed.