The equilibrium unfolding and the kinetic refolding of cytochrome c (Cyt c) in the presence of imidazole were studied with small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The equilibrium unfolding experiments showed the radius of gyration, R(g), of native Cyt c to swell approximately 1 A with the addition of imidazole. The thermodynamic parameter m also reflects an expansion of the protein as its lower value demonstrates an increase in solvent-accessible surface area over that of native Cyt c in the absence of imidazole. Refolding was studied in the presence of imidazole as it prevents misligated intermediate states from forming during the refolding process, simplifying the kinetics, and making them easier to resolve. Time-resolved decreases in the forward scattering amplitude, I(0), demonstrated the transient formation of an aggregated intermediate. Final protein and denaturant concentrations were varied in the refolding kinetics, and the singular value decomposition (SVD) method was employed to characterize the associated state. This state was determined to be a dimer, with properties consistent with a molten globule.
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Int J Biol Macromol
January 2025
Applied and Industrial Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, Bhupat and Jyoti Mehta School of Biosciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Chennai 600036, India. Electronic address:
This study involves the thermal characterization of Ca-Est, an esterase from Clostridium acetobutylicum which has been previously found to exhibit maximum specific activity at 60 °C. In the present study, Ca-Est showed maximum stability at 30 °C with almost 75 % of its initial activity being retained after incubation for 5 h and the stability decreased with increasing temperature. Analysis of the thermodynamic parameters revealed that the deactivation of Ca-Est is endothermic and enthalpically favored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLuminescence
December 2024
Biophysical and Protein Chemistry lab, Department of Chemistry, NIT Rourkela, Rourkela, India.
Crowding environment has a significant impact on the folding and stability of protein in biological systems. In this work, we have used four different sizes of a molecular crowder, polyethylene glycol (PEG), to analyze the unfolding and refolding kinetics of an iLBP protein, CRABP I, using urea as chemical denaturant. In general, the stability of the native state of the protein is boosted by the presence of crowding agents in the solution.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRNA Biol
January 2024
McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
Biomolecules
October 2024
Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, 02-668 Warsaw, Poland.
Single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) experiments can monitor protein refolding by applying a small force of a few piconewtons (pN) and slowing down the folding process. Bell theory predicts that in the narrow force regime where refolding can occur, the folding time should increase exponentially with increased external force. In this work, using coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations, we compared the refolding pathways of SARS-CoV-1 RBD and SARS-CoV-2 RBD (RBD refers to the receptor binding domain) starting from unfolded conformations with and without a force applied to the protein termini.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProteins
October 2024
Department of Physics and Physical Oceanography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St Johns, NL, Canada.
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