金黄色葡萄球菌核酸酶及其类似物盐酸胍变性的活力与构象变化的比较

金黄色葡萄球菌核酸酶（ＳｔａｐｈｌｏｃｏｃｃａｌＮｕｃｌｅａｓｅ,ＳＮａｓｅ）与其类似物（ＳＮａｓｅＲ）的平衡态盐酸胍变性与复性曲线及比活力值均无明显差别。两者变性与复性的构象变化是可逆的,但活力恢复滞后于失活。低浓度盐酸胍对ＳＮａｓｅＲ有２０％左右的激活,而低浓度（０．１２５ｍｏｌ／Ｌ）的ＮａＣｌ可使ＳＮａｓｅＲ的活力提高近一倍。ＳＮａｓｅＲ盐酸胍变性的失活先于构象变化。比较加入底物竞争抑制剂脱氧胸腺嘧啶核苷３＇－５＇－二磷酸（ｐｄＴｐ）后得到的（ＳＮａｓｅＲ＋ｐｄＴｐ＋Ｃａ２＋）三元络合物平衡态盐酸胍变性的Ｔｒｐ与Ｔｙｒ内源荧光的变化,观测到该酶的活性部位先于整体构象发生变化,结果导致ｐｄＴｐ解离常数Ｋｄ增大．     

钙调神经磷酸酶在胍变性过程中活力及构象变化的比较

钙调神经磷酸酶（ＣａＮ）在盐酸胍溶液中的内源荧光、远紫外ＣＤ谱及剩余活力的变化提示：ＣａＮ的酶活力在胍浓度为０．５ｍｏｌ／Ｌ左右可完全丧失,同时伴有内源荧光强度的下降,３３３ｎｍ最大发射峰的红移（提示了色氨酸和酪氨酸残基的暴露）。比较不同胍浓度下牛脑ＣａＮ的失活与整体构象变化,表明酶的失活先于整体构象变化。在０．６ｍｏｌ／Ｌ胍溶液中,内源荧光变化的动力学过程只能测出一相,而酶失活的动力学过程为快、慢两相,快相动力学速度常数比整体构象变化速度常数大１－２个数量级,慢相失活速度常数与整体构象变化速度常数相近。提示低浓度胍可引起该酶的完全失活,活性部位的空间构象比整个酶分子的构象更易受到变性剂的扰乱。     

几种变性剂对无花果蛋白酶分子去折叠与活力的影响

用不同浓度的变性剂盐酸胍、脲、十二烷基硫酸锂（ＬＤＳ）对无花果蛋白酶（Ｆｉｃｉｎ）变性,用荧光光谱及圆二色谱（ＣＤ谱）监测无花果蛋白酶去折叠过程中的构象变化并与活力变化比较,发现在１－２ｍｏｌ／Ｌ胍浓度及９．２×１０－４ｍｏｌ／ＬＬＤＳ浓度条件下,ＣＤ谱显示的二级结构含量较高,荧光谱的发射峰位刚开始红移,活力的变化则较为显著,表现为胍溶液中激活,ＬＤＳ溶液中失活,揭示酶的这二种变性剂的这二个浓度范围内,可能存在变性中间态。     

盐酸胍对人类胎盘碱性磷酸酶构象与活力的影响

研究人类胎盘碱性磷酸酶（ＰＬＡＰ,Ｅ．Ｃ．３．１．３．１）在胍变性过程中构象与活力的变化;测定胍存在时酶的表观米氏常数（Ｋｍ）。结果表明,低浓度的盐酸胍（＜０．５ｍｏｌ／Ｌ）使变性平衡态酶的发射荧光强度略有下降,酶活力增强;随盐酸胍浓度的增加,其荧光强度不仅不再下降,反而升高,酶逐渐失活;当盐酸胍浓度为１．５ｍｏｌ／Ｌ时,其荧光光谱的最大峰位红移,酶活力迅速下降;当盐酸胍浓度为３ｍｏｌ／Ｌ时,峰位由３３３．５ｎｍ红移至３５７．１ｎｍ,此时酶活力丧失;当盐酸胍浓度为４ｍｏｌ／Ｌ时,峰位不再红移,但其荧光强度继续增加。测得变性初态酶的表观Ｋｍ值随盐酸胍浓度的增加而增大。结果说明,荧光强度的增加和最大发射峰位的红移是该酶变性失活的一个灵敏指标;酶活力的变化明显快于酶分子整体构象的变化;低浓度的盐酸胍微扰了酶活性部位的构象,而对其整体构象无显著影响。提示酶活性部位具有柔性。     

酵母乙醇脱氢酶胍变性时的失活与去折叠的比较研究

应用荧光发射光谱,圆二色光谱,二阶导数光谱和紫外差吸收光谱等监测手段,研究了酵母乙醇脱氢酶在胍溶液中的去折叠。比较不同盐酸胍浓度下酵母乙醇脱氢酶的失活与构象变化,实验表明酶的失活先于构象变化：在低浓度胍溶液中,构象尚未发生明显变化时,酶活几乎已经完全丧失。由上述结果可见,含有辅基金属离子Ｚｎ~（２＋）酶的活性部位较酶分子的整体结构也具有柔性。     

Ce~（3＋）与G－肌动蛋白结合引起的构象变化及对聚合的影响

用Ａｅｄａｎｓ标记肌动蛋白单体Ｇ－Ａｃｔｉｎ上Ｃｙｓ３７４残基作为探针,研究了稀土离子Ｃｅ~（３＋）与Ｇ－Ａｃｔｉｎ的结合及引起的微构象变化。Ｃｅ~（３＋）在低浓度（Ｃｅ~（３＋）／Ａｃｔｉｎ摩尔比＜１）和Ｃａ~（２＋）竞争Ｇ－Ａｃｔｉｎ上二价离子的高亲合位点。Ｃｅ~（３＋）取代Ｃａ~（２＋）引起Ａｅｄａｎｓ荧光强度增强与Ｍｇ~（２＋）取代Ｃａ~（２＋）的结果相同。Ｃｅ~（３＋）／Ａｃｔｉｎ＞ｌ则导致Ａｅｄａｎｓ荧光强度下降。说明Ｃｅ~（３＋）在高低两种浓度条件下结合的位点及对Ｃｖｓ３７４的微构象的影响不同。时间分辩测得的Ａｅｄａｎｓ荧光寿命也支持这一结论。ＣＤ谱结果表明Ｃｅ~（３＋）／Ａｃｔｉｎ＜０．４,Ａｃｔｉｎ的二级结构增加,大于０．４又导致其失去。Ｃｅ~（３＋）－Ａｃｔｉｎ在有／无游离ＡＴＰ时用聚合液诱导的聚合结果表明,无游离ＡＴＰ时,极低浓度Ｃｅ~（３＋）促进聚合,高浓度虽有促进但有所减弱;有游离ＡＴＰ时,Ｃｅ~（３＋）／Ａｃｔｉｎ在实验范围内促进聚合。     

铜锌超氧化物歧化酶的盐酸胍变性

采用发生在Ｆｅ（ｃｎ）＾４－６离子与铜锌超氧化物歧化酶活性部位的Ｃｕ＾２＋离子间的电荷传递反应敏感地检测到了胍变性引起的酶活性部位的微弱构象变化。胍变性样品的活力变化经离子强度修正而测得,紫外吸收,ＣＤ,内源荧光,和ＥＳＲ分析分别从不同角度反映了酶分子整体构象的变化情况。     

Na_2SO_3对不同状态CF_1－ATPase活力的促进作用

Ｎａ２ＳＯ３对ＣＦ１－ＡＴＰａｓｅ活力的促进作用与酶所处状态有关。ＣＦ０降低ＣＦ１对Ｎａ２ＳＯ３的亲和力和Ｎａ２ＳＯ３促进的最大反应速率。在Ｎａ２ＳＯ３作用下,膜上ＣＦ１－ＡＴＰａｓｅ的活化能高于游离的。膜上和游离ＣＦ１－ＡＴＰａｓｅ的γ亚基上二硫键的还原可以提高Ｎａ２ＳＯ３对酶活力的促进作用。Ｎａ２ＳＯ３对甲醇活化的ＣＦ１－ＡＴＰａｓｅ活力的促进作用只有在甲醇活化的亚适浓度下才能充分表现出来。Ｎａ２ＳＯ３对Ｍｇ２＋抑制的解除作用因ＣＦ１－ＡＴＰａｓｅ处于不同活化状态而不同。     

酵母乙醇脱氢酶胍变性时的失活与去折叠的比较研究

应用荧光发射光谱,圆二色光谱,二阶导数光谱和紫外差吸收光谱等监测手段,研究了酵母乙醇脱氢酶在胍溶液中的去折叠,比较不同盐酸胍浓度下酵母乙醇脱氢酶的失活与构象变化,实验表明酶的失活先于构象变化,在低浓度胍溶液中,构象尚未发生明显变化时,酶活几乎已经完全丧失,由上述结果可见,含有辅基金属离子Ｚｎ＾２＋酶的活性部位较酶分子的整体结构也具有柔性。     

重组人尿激酶原的分离纯化及性质研究

本文报道从人尿激酶原（ｐｒｏ－ｕｒｏｋｉｎａｓｅ,ｐｒｏ－ＵＫ）基因重组工程菌Ｅ．ｃｏｌｉＪＡ２２１表达产物的复性液中纯化尿激酶原的方法。复性产物经Ｚｎ＾２＋选择性沉淀,尿激酶抗体亲和柱层析,ｂｅｎｚａｍｉｄｉｎｅ－Ｓｅｐｈａｒｏｓｅ ＣＬ ４Ｂ亲和吸附,即得比活达１１００００ＩＵ／ｍｇ的纯化产品。样品经ＳＤＳ－ＰＡＧＥ鉴定,在还原及非还原条件下,均表现为分子量为４３ｋｄ的单一条带。动力学研究测得     

Folding of staphylococcal nuclease A studied by equilibrium and kinetic circular dichroism spectra

The urea-induced unfolding of staphylococcal nuclease A has been studied by circular dichroism both at equilibrium and by the kinetics of unfolding and refolding (pH 7.0 and 4.5 degrees C), as a function of Ca2+ and thymidine 3',5'-diphosphate (pdTp) concentration. The results are as follows. (1) The unfolding transition is shifted to higher concentrations of urea by Ca2+ and pdTp, and the presence of both ligands further stabilizes the protein. (2) In the first stage of kinetic refolding, the peptide ellipticity changes rapidly within the dead time of stopped-flow measurement (15 ms), indicating accumulation of a transient intermediate. This intermediate is remarkably less stable than those of other globular proteins previously studied. (3) Dependence of the folding and unfolding rate constants on urea concentration indicates that the critical activated state of folding ("transition state") has considerable structural organization. The transition state does not, however, have the capacity to bind Ca2+ and pdTp, as indicated by the effects of these ligands on the unfolding rate constant. (4) There are at least four different phases in the refolding kinetics in native conditions below 1 M urea. In the absence of pdTp, there are two phases in unfolding, while in the presence of pdTp the unfolding kinetics show a single phase. Some characteristics of the transient intermediate and of the transition state for folding are discussed.     

Monitoring of the refolding process for immobilized firefly luciferase with a biosensor based on surface plasmon resonance

In order to examine the possibility of the use of a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor for real-time monitoring of the process of refolding of immobilized proteins, the refolding of firefly luciferase immobilized on a carboxymethyldextran matrix layer was analyzed. The SPR signal of the immobilized luciferase decreased after unfolding induced by GdnCl and increased gradually in the refolding buffer, while there was no signal change in the reference surface lacking the immobilized protein. The decrease in the SPR signal on unfolding was consistent with the difference between the refractive indices of the native and unfolded protein solutions. The effects of blocking of the excess NHS-groups of the matrix layer on the refolding yield were examined by means of an SPR sensor. The results were consistent with those obtained with the enzymatic activity assay, indicating that the changes in the SPR signal reflected the real-time conformational changes of the immobilized protein. Hence, an SPR biosensor might be used for monitoring of the process of refolding of immobilized proteins and as a novel tool for optimization of the refolding conditions. This is the first demonstration that SPR signal changes reflect the conformational changes of an immobilized protein upon unfolding and refolding.     

Multiparameter kinetic study on the unfolding and refolding of bovine carbonic anhydrase B

The kinetics of unfolding and refolding of bovine carbonic anhydrase B by guanidinium chloride have been studied by simultaneously monitoring several spectroscopic parameters, each of which reflects certain unique conformational features of the protein molecule. In the present report, far-UV circular dichroism (CD) was used to follow the secondary structural change, UV difference absorption was used to follow the exposure or burying of aromatic amino acid residues, and near-UV CD was used to follow tertiary structural changes during unfolding and refolding. The unfolding is described by two unimolecular rate processes, and refolding is described by three unimolecular rate processes. The minimum number of conformational species involved in the mechanism is five. The refolding of the protein followed by the above three parameters indicates that the process consists of an initial rapid phase in which the random-coiled protein is converted to an intermediate state(s) having secondary structure comparable to that of the native protein. This is followed by the burying of the aromatic amino acid residues to form the interior of the protein molecule. Subsequently, the protein molecule acquires its tertiary structure and folds into a unique conformation with the formation of aromatic clusters.     

Tracking unfolding and refolding of single GFPmut2 molecules

The unfolding and refolding kinetics of >600 single GFPmut2 molecules, entrapped in wet nanoporous silica gels, were followed by monitoring simultaneously the fluorescence emission of the anionic and neutral state of the chromophore, primed by two-photon excitation. The rate of unfolding, induced by guanidinium chloride, was determined by counting the number of single molecules that disappear in fluorescence images, under conditions that do not cause bleaching or photoinduced conversion between chromophore protonation states. The unfolding rate is of the order of 0.01 min(-1), and its dependence on denaturant concentration is very similar to that previously reported for high protein load gels. Upon rinsing the gels with denaturant-free buffer, the GFPmut2 molecules refold with rates >10 min(-1), with an apparently random distribution between neutral and anionic states, that can be very different from the preunfolding equilibrium. A subsequent very slow (lifetime of approximately 70 min) relaxation leads to the equilibrium distribution of the protonation states. This mechanism, involving one or more native-like refolding intermediates, is likely rate limited by conformational rearrangements that are undetectable in circular dichroism experiments. Several unfolding/refolding cycles can be followed on the same molecules, indicating full reversibility of the process and, noticeably, a bias of denaturated molecules toward refolding in the original protonation state.     

Identification of equilibrium and kinetic intermediates involved in folding of urea-denatured creatine kinase

The unfolding transition and kinetic refolding of dimeric creatine kinase after urea denaturation were monitored by intrinsic fluorescence and far ultraviolet circular dichroism. An equilibrium intermediate and a kinetic folding intermediate were identified and characterized. The fluorescence intensity of the equilibrium intermediate is close to that of the unfolded state, whereas its ellipticity at 222 nm is about 50% of the native state. The transition curves measured by these two methods are therefore non-coincident. The kinetic folding intermediate, formed during the burst phase of refolding under native-like conditions, possesses 75% of the native secondary structure, but is mostly lacking in native tertiary structure. In moderate concentrations of urea, only the initial, rapid change in fluorescence intensity or negative ellipticity is observed, and the final state values do not reach the equivalent unfolding values. The unfolding and refolding transition curves measured under identical conditions are non-coincident within the transition from intermediate to fully unfolded state. It is observed by SDS-PAGE that disulfide bond-linked dimeric or oligomeric intermediates are formed in moderate urea concentrations, especially in the refolding reaction. These rapidly formed, soluble intermediates represent an off-pathway event that leads to the hysteresis in the refolding transition curves.     

Association and activation of fructose 1,6-bisphosphase during unfolding and refolding: spectroscopic and enzymatic studies

Fructose 1,6-biphosphase is a well-characterized oligomer enzyme, and many effectors allosterically control its activity. In this report, we compared the activity, allosteric properties, and conformational changes in its denaturant-induced unfolding processes. In addition, a trpytophan residue has been introduced into the interface between the C1 and C2 subunits to investigate conformational changes during unfolding. Results show that the denaturation curves of WT FruP₂ase detected by various methods do not agree, and the dissociation occurs first with a monomeric form existing around 0.4 M GdmCl as shown by gel filtration. The dissociation of all mutants is accompanied by changes in fluorescence intensity. The results suggest that the unfolding of FruP₂ase is a complicated, multiphase process. The activation of FruP₂ase by GdmCl at low concentrations can be interpreted as a consequence of the effect of monovalent cation. In the refolding experiments, it is found that Mg²⁺ is not only essential for enzyme activity, but also can assist the enzyme in refolding and association by preventing the formation of aggregates.     

Effect of ethanol on folding of hen egg-white lysozyme under acidic condition

The equilibrium and kinetics of folding of hen egg-white lysozyme were studied by means of CD spectroscopy in the presence of varying concentrations of ethanol under acidic condition. The equilibrium transition curves of guanidine hydrochloride-induced unfolding in 13 and 26% (v/v) ethanol have shown that the unfolding significantly deviates from a two-state mechanism. The kinetics of denaturant-induced refolding and unfolding of hen egg-white lysozyme were investigated by stopped-flow CD at three ethanol concentrations: 0, 13, and 26% (v/v). Immediately after dilution of the denaturant, the refolding curves showed a biphasic time course in the far-UV region, with a burst phase with a significant secondary structure and a slower observable phase. However, when monitored by the near-UV CD, the burst phase was not observed and all refolding kinetics were monophasic. To clarify the effect of nonnative secondary structure induced by the addition of ethanol on the folding/unfolding kinetics, the kinetic m values were estimated from the chevron plots obtained for the three ethanol concentrations. The data indicated that the folding/unfolding kinetics of hen lysozyme in the presence of varying concentrations of ethanol under acidic condition is explained by a model with both on-pathway and off-pathway intermediates of protein folding.     

Misfolding-assisted selection of stable protein variants using phage displays

We describe a phage display strategy, based on the differential resistance of proteins to denaturant-induced unfolding, that can be used to select protein variants with improved conformational stability. To test the efficiency of this strategy, wild-type and two stable variants of alpha1-antitrypsin (alpha1AT) were fused to the gene III protein of M13 phage. These phages were incubated in unfolding solution containing denaturant (urea or guanidinium chloride), and then subjected to an unfavorable refolding procedure (dialysis at 37 degrees C). Once the alpha1AT moiety of the fusion protein had unfolded in the unfolding solution, in which the denaturant concentration was higher than the unfolding transition midpoint (Cm) of the alpha1AT variant, around 20% of the phage retained binding affinity to anti-alpha1AT antibody due to a low refolding efficiency. Moreover, this affinity reduced to less than 5% when 10 mg/mL skimmed milk (a misfolding-promoting additive) was included during the unfolding/refolding procedure. In contrast, most binding affinity (>95%) remained if the alpha1AT variant was stable enough to resist unfolding. Because this selection procedure does not affect the infectivity of M13, the method is expected to be generally applicable to the high-throughput screening of stable protein variants, when activity-based screening is not possible.     

Cooperative equilibrium transitions coupled with a slow annealing step explain the sharpness and hysteresis of collagen folding.

Heat and guanidinium-induced denaturation curves of collagen III and its fragments were fitted by theoretical models to explain the extreme sharpness and the hysteresis between unfolding and refolding. It was shown that a recently proposed kinetic model for collagen denaturation does not account for the observed steepness, with physically reasonable values of activation energy and frequency factors in the Arrhenius equation. The extreme slope, which amounts to 0.38 per centigrade for collagen III at the midpoint of its transition, can only be explained by a highly cooperative equilibrium model. The refolding curve is shifted to lower temperatures by 6 degrees C for collagen III and reversible unfolding matching the initial profile of the native protein is observed only after long-time annealing. A simple formalism is proposed by which experimental denaturation and refolding curves are quantitatively described. The transition proceeds via many cooperative steps with slightly different equilibrium constants for unfolding and refolding. Hysteresis and annealing are caused by very slow steps, which are probably connected with a rearrangement of misfolded regions. These slow steps disappear with decreasing size of collagen fragments and hysteresis is not found for collagen model peptides.