Consequences of stabilizing the natively disordered f helix for the folding pathway of apomyoglobin.

ABSTRACT: The F helix region of sperm whale apomyoglobin is disordered, undergoing conformational fluctuations between a folded helical conformation and one or more locally unfolded states. To examine the effects of F helix stabilization on the folding pathway of apomyoglobin, we have introduced mutations to augment intrinsic helical structure in the F helix of the kinetic folding intermediate and to increase its propensity to fold early in the pathway, using predictions based on plots of the average area buried upon folding (AABUF) derived from the primary sequence. Two mutant proteins were prepared: a double mutant, P88K/S92K (F2), and a quadruple mutant, P88K/A90L/S92K/A94L (F4). Whereas the AABUF for F2 predicts that the F helix will not fold early in the pathway, the F helix in F4 shows a signi

SUBMITTER: Nishimura C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3143293 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature