Subunit interactions in human plasma fibronectin

The fibronectin molecule was split chemically into its two constituent chains (mol. wt. 220,000) by mild reduction with dithiothreitol. However, physical properties (molecular weight and diffusion coefficient from light scattering, and elution in gel exclusion chromatography) remained those of intact fibronectin, except (reversibly) in the presence of denaturants which also change the conformation of non-reduced fibronectin to a more open form. Similarly, during digestion of fibronectin by plasmin to fragments of molecular weight less than 200,000, the light scattering intensity drops to roughly half in 30% glycerol but not in the absence of glycerol. These results suggest that the compact conformation of native fibronectin is stabilized by specific noncovalent contacts between constituent chains.