TL;DR: The folding of other proteins, accompanying oxidation of the reduced form, and the folding of denatured proteins with intact disulfide bonds are discussed in terms of the growth- and rearrangement-type models.
Abstract: Two models of protein-folding pathways are proposed on the basis of equilibrium and kinetic data in the literature. One is a growth-type model--i.e., nucleation of the native-like structure occurs in the folding process, in the rate-limiting step(s), and subsequent folding around the nucleation sites proceeds smoothly to form the native disulfide bonds and conformation. The other is a rearrangement-type model--i.e., proper nucleation does not occur in the folding process; instead, non-native interactions play a significant role in the folding pathways and lead to metastable intermediate species. Such non-native interactions, including incorrect disulfide bonds and proline cis-trans isomerization, must be disrupted or rearranged to nucleate the native interactions [a process that is included in the rate-limiting step(s)] for the protein to fold. The rate-limiting steps in the pathways for regeneration of RNase A from the reduced protein are classified as growth- or rearrangement-type pathways. The growth-type pathway is the one accompanying the formation of an intramolecular disulfide bond in the rate-limiting step. The rearrangement-type pathway is the one accompanying the reshuffling or disruption of a disulfide bond in the rate-limiting step. The folding of other proteins, accompanying oxidation of the reduced form, and the folding of denatured proteins with intact disulfide bonds are discussed in terms of the growth- and rearrangement-type models.
TL;DR: The folding–unfolding process of reduced bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor was investigated with an idealized model employing approximate free energies, which indicates multiple folding pathways.
Abstract: The folding–unfolding process of reduced bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor was investigated with an idealized model employing approximate free energies. The protein is regarded to consist of only Cα and Cβ atoms. The backbone dihedral angles are the only conformational variables and are permitted to take discrete values at every 10°. Intraresidue energies consist of two terms: an empirical part taken from the observed frequency distributions of (ϕ,ψ) and an additional favorable energy assigned to the native conformation of each residue. Interresidue interactions are simplified by assuming that there is an attractive energy operative only between residue pairs in close contact in the native structure. A total of 230,000 molecular conformations, with no atomic overlaps, ranging from the native state to the denatured state, are randomly generated by changing the sampling bias. Each conformation is classified according to its conformational energy, F; a conformational entropy, S(F) is estimated for each value of F from the number of samples. The dependence of S(F) on energy reveals that the folding–unfolding transition for this idealized model is an “all-or-none” type; this is attributable to the specific long-range interactions. Interresidue contact probabilities, averaged over samples representing various stages of folding, serve to characterize folding intermediates. Most probable equilibrium pathways for the folding–unfolding transition are constructed by connecting conformationally similar intermediates. The specific details obtained for bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor are as follows: (1) Folding begins with the appearance of nativelike medium-range contacts at a β-turn and at the α-helix. (2) These grow to include the native pair of interacting β-strands. This state includes intact regular secondary conformations, as well as the interstrand sheet contacts, and corresponds to an activated state with the highest free energy on the pathway. (3) Additional native long-range contacts are completely formed either toward the amino terminus or toward the carboxyl terminus. (4) In a final step, the missing contacts appear. Although these folding pathways for this model are not consistent with experimental reports, it does indicate multiple folding pathways. The method is general and can be applied to any set of calculated conformational energies and furthermore permits investigation of gross folding features.
TL;DR: It is shown that circular dichroism spectroscopy can successfully be applied for monitoring of the appearance of the correct tertiary structure of proteins.