Thermodynamics and kinetics of folding of common-type acylphosphatase: comparison to the highly homologous muscle isoenzyme

The thermodynamics and kinetics of folding of common-type acylphosphatase have been studied under a variety of experimental conditions and compared with those of the homologous muscle acylphosphatase. Intrinsic fluorescence and circular dichroism have been used as spectroscopic probes to follow the folding and unfolding reactions. Both proteins appear to fold via a two-state mechanism. Under all the conditions studied, common-type acylphosphatase possesses a lower conformational stability than the muscle form. Nevertheless, common-type acylphosphatase folds more rapidly, suggesting that the conformational stability and the folding rate are not correlated in contrast to recent observations for a number of other proteins. The unfolding rate of common-type acylphosphatase is much higher than that of the muscle enzyme, indicating that the differences in conformational stability between the two proteins are primarily determined by differences in the rate of unfolding. The equilibrium m value is markedly different for the two proteins in the pH range of maximum conformational stability (5. 0-7.5); above pH 8.0, the m value for common-type acylphosphatase decreases abruptly and becomes similar to that of the muscle enzyme. Moreover, at pH 9.2, the dependencies of the folding and unfolding rate constants of common-type acylphosphatase on denaturant concentration (mf and mu values, respectively) are notably reduced with respect to pH 5.5. The pH-induced decrease of the m value can be attributed to the deprotonation of three histidine residues that are present only in the common-type isoenzyme. This would decrease the positive net charge of the protein, leading to a greater compactness of the denatured state. The folding and unfolding rates of common-type acylphosphatase are not, however, significantly different at pH 5.5 and 9.2, indicating that this change in compactness of the denatured and transition states does not have a notable influence on the rate of protein folding.