Folding factors and partners for the intrinsically disordered protein micro-exon gene 14 (MEG-14).

ABSTRACT: The micro-exon genes (MEG) of Schistosoma mansoni, a parasite responsible for the second most widely spread tropical disease, code for small secreted proteins with sequences unique to the Schistosoma genera. Bioinformatics analyses suggest the soluble domain of the MEG-14 protein will be largely disordered, and using synchrotron radiation circular dichroism spectroscopy, its secondary structure was shown to be essentially completely unfolded in aqueous solution. It does, however, show a strong propensity to fold into more ordered structures under a wide range of conditions. Partial folding was produced by increasing temperature (in a reversible process), contrary to the behavior of most soluble proteins. Furthermore, significant folding was observed in the presence of negatively charged li

SUBMITTER: Lopes JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3672892 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature