Equilibrium guanidinium chloride (GdmCl)-induced unfolding of arginine kinase (AK) was investigated by enzymatic activity, intrinsic fluorescence, 8-anilinonaphthalene-1-sulfonic acid (ANS) fluorescence, circula...Equilibrium guanidinium chloride (GdmCl)-induced unfolding of arginine kinase (AK) was investigated by enzymatic activity, intrinsic fluorescence, 8-anilinonaphthalene-1-sulfonic acid (ANS) fluorescence, circular dichroism (CD) spectrum, and size-exclusion chromatography. The measurements showed that AK unfolded through two equilibrium intermediates: the molten globule state and the partly folded state. Both intermediates have no enzyme activity. The molten globule state exists at 0.4-0.8 mol/L GdmCi, perhaps after the N-terminal domain has unfolded but the C-terminal domain is still intact. The partly folded state occurs at 1.1-1.5 mol/L GdmCI with a hydrodynamic volume no more than 1.6-fold larger than the native state and a pronounced far UV-CD signal. Its ANS fluorescence intensity is about 50% of the molten globule state. This partly folded state shares similarities with the “burst” kinetic intermediate of protein folding.展开更多
基金Supported by the National High-Tech Research and Development (863) Program of China (No. 2003AA603430) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30371092)
文摘Equilibrium guanidinium chloride (GdmCl)-induced unfolding of arginine kinase (AK) was investigated by enzymatic activity, intrinsic fluorescence, 8-anilinonaphthalene-1-sulfonic acid (ANS) fluorescence, circular dichroism (CD) spectrum, and size-exclusion chromatography. The measurements showed that AK unfolded through two equilibrium intermediates: the molten globule state and the partly folded state. Both intermediates have no enzyme activity. The molten globule state exists at 0.4-0.8 mol/L GdmCi, perhaps after the N-terminal domain has unfolded but the C-terminal domain is still intact. The partly folded state occurs at 1.1-1.5 mol/L GdmCI with a hydrodynamic volume no more than 1.6-fold larger than the native state and a pronounced far UV-CD signal. Its ANS fluorescence intensity is about 50% of the molten globule state. This partly folded state shares similarities with the “burst” kinetic intermediate of protein folding.