When fast is better: protein folding fundamentals and mechanisms from ultrafast approaches.

ABSTRACT: Protein folding research stalled for decades because conventional experiments indicated that proteins fold slowly and in single strokes, whereas theory predicted a complex interplay between dynamics and energetics resulting in myriad microscopic pathways. Ultrafast kinetic methods turned the field upside down by providing the means to probe fundamental aspects of folding, test theoretical predictions and benchmark simulations. Accordingly, experimentalists could measure the timescales for all relevant folding motions, determine the folding speed limit and confirm that folding barriers are entropic bottlenecks. Moreover, a catalogue of proteins that fold extremely fast (microseconds) could be identified. Such fast-folding proteins cross shallow free energy barriers or fold downhill, and thu

SUBMITTER: Munoz V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5003694 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature