Proteins Unfold in Steps

I present results from an experiment on the dynamics of folding of a globular protein (bovine serum albumin). Employing a micro-mechanical technique, I perform the measurements on very few molecules (1-100). I observed a sequence of steps in time for both unfolding and refolding. The overall charact...

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Published inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 94; no. 20; pp. 10647 - 10651
Main Author Zocchi, G.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 30.09.1997
National Acad Sciences
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences of the USA
Subjects
Albumins
Biochemistry
Biological Sciences
Biophysics
Determinism
Hydrogen bonds
Instructional materials
Microscopes
Molecules
Protein Folding
Protein refolding
Proteins
Serum Albumin, Bovine - chemistry
Spheres
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Summary:I present results from an experiment on the dynamics of folding of a globular protein (bovine serum albumin). Employing a micro-mechanical technique, I perform the measurements on very few molecules (1-100). I observed a sequence of steps in time for both unfolding and refolding. The overall characteristic time of the process is thus built up of waiting times between successive steps. The pattern of steps is reproducible, demonstrating the existence of deterministic pathways for folding and unfolding. Certain symmetries in the patterns of steps may reflect the architecture of the protein's structure.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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e-mail: zocchi @nbi.dk.
Communicated by Hans Frauenfelder, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.94.20.10647