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Title: Unfolded states under folding conditions accommodate sequence-specific conformational preferences with random coil-like dimensions

Journal Article · · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
 [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3];  [4]
  1. Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States). Dept. of Chemistry
  2. Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (United States)
  3. Univ. of Massachusetts, Worcester, MA (United States)
  4. Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States). Dept. of Chemistry; Univ. College London (United Kingdom)

Proteins are marginally stable molecules that fluctuate between folded and unfolded states. Here, we provide a high-resolution description of unfolded states under refolding conditions for the N-terminal domain of the L9 protein (NTL9). We use a combination of time-resolved Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) based on multiple pairs of minimally perturbing labels, time-resolved small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), all-atom simulations, and polymer theory. Upon dilution from high denaturant, the unfolded state undergoes rapid contraction. Although this contraction occurs before the folding transition, the unfolded state remains considerably more expanded than the folded state and accommodates a range of local and nonlocal contacts, including secondary structures and native and nonnative interactions. Paradoxically, despite discernible sequence-specific conformational preferences, the ensemble-averaged properties of unfolded states are consistent with those of canonical random coils, namely polymers in indifferent (theta) solvents. These findings are concordant with theoretical predictions based on coarse-grained models and inferences drawn from single-molecule experiments regarding the sequence-specific scaling behavior of unfolded proteins under folding conditions.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
1545860
Journal Information:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 116, Issue 25; ISSN 0027-8424
Publisher:
National Academy of SciencesCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
ENGLISH
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 36 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (3)

Protein folding while chaperone bound is dependent on weak interactions journal October 2019
Information theoretic measures for quantifying sequence–ensemble relationships of intrinsically disordered proteins journal April 2019
Polymer effects modulate binding affinities in disordered proteins journal September 2019

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