Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Osmolyte-induced changes in protein conformational equilibria.

A J Saunders1, P R Davis-Searles, D L Allen

  • 1Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.

Biopolymers
|February 24, 2000
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Single-Molecule FRET to Measure Conformational Dynamics of DNA Mismatch Repair Proteins.

Methods in enzymology·2016
Same author

A parsimonious alternative to the pacemaker/accumulator process in animal timing.

Behavioural processes·2014
Same author

Plasma matrix metalloproteinase-9 response to downhill running in humans.

International journal of sports medicine·2013
Same author

Sensitivity of assays for the detection of HPA-1a antibodies: results of an international workshop demonstrating the impact of cation chelation from integrin αIIbβ3 on three widely used assays.

Vox sanguinis·2013
Same author

Role of common and rare APP DNA sequence variants in Alzheimer disease.

Neurology·2012
Same author

High accuracy FIONA-AFM hybrid imaging.

Ultramicroscopy·2011

Osmolytes stabilize protein structures by influencing conformational equilibria. Excluded volume effects are the main drivers, with binding interactions playing a secondary role in protein stability.

Area of Science:

  • Biochemistry
  • Biophysics
  • Protein Science

Background:

  • Solute-induced changes in protein conformational equilibria are key to understanding protein stability.
  • The molecular mechanisms behind these solute effects are debated.
  • Yeast iso-1-ferricytochrome c serves as a model system.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate osmolyte-induced changes in the stability of yeast iso-1-ferricytochrome c.
  • To elucidate the molecular contributions of excluded volume and binding interactions to protein stabilization.

Main Methods:

  • Experimental analysis of cytochrome c stability in the presence of polyol osmolytes.
  • Theoretical calculations using Scaled Particle Theory (SPT).
  • Decomposition of free energy into steric repulsion and binding interaction components.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Polyol osmolytes induce specific conformational states (A and N) from denatured cytochrome c.
  • Protein stability increases linearly with osmolyte concentration.
  • The A state is stabilized more than the N state by osmolytes.

Conclusions:

  • Excluded volume effects are the primary mechanism for osmolyte-induced protein stabilization.
  • Changes in water-protein and osmolyte-protein binding interactions contribute differentially to the stability of different protein states.
  • Findings reconcile experimental data with theoretical interpretations of solute effects on protein conformation.