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Title: Hydrogen bonds are a primary driving force for de novo protein folding

Journal Article · · Acta Crystallographica. Section D. Structural Biology

The protein-folding mechanism remains a major puzzle in life science. Purified soluble activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) is one of the most difficult proteins to obtain. Starting from inclusion bodies containing a C-terminally truncated version of AID (residues 1–153; AID 153 ), an optimized in vitro folding procedure was derived to obtain large amounts of AID 153 , which led to crystals with good quality and to final structural determination. Interestingly, it was found that the final refolding yield of the protein is proline residue-dependent. The difference in the distribution of cis and trans configurations of proline residues in the protein after complete denaturation is a major determining factor of the final yield. A point mutation of one of four proline residues to an asparagine led to a near-doubling of the yield of refolded protein after complete denaturation. It was concluded that the driving force behind protein folding could not overcome the cis -to- trans proline isomerization, or vice versa , during the protein-folding process. Furthermore, it was found that successful refolding of proteins optimally occurs at high pH values, which may mimic protein folding in vivo . It was found that high pH values could induce the polarization of peptide bonds, which may trigger the formation of protein secondary structures through hydrogen bonds. It is proposed that a hydrophobic environment coupled with negative charges is essential for protein folding. Combined with our earlier discoveries on protein-unfolding mechanisms, it is proposed that hydrogen bonds are a primary driving force for de novo protein folding.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC03-76SF00098; AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1409879
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1420134
Journal Information:
Acta Crystallographica. Section D. Structural Biology, Journal Name: Acta Crystallographica. Section D. Structural Biology Vol. 73 Journal Issue: 12; ISSN 2059-7983
Publisher:
International Union of Crystallography (IUCr)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United Kingdom
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 8 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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