A partially unfolded state of equine beta-lactoglobulin at pH 8.7

The urea-induced unfolding transition of equine beta-lactoglobulin was studied at pH 8.7 using circular dichroism (CD), ultracentrifugation, and gel filtration chromatography. The unfolding transition curves showed that at least one intermediate accumulates at moderate concentrations of urea. Furthermore, analytical ultracentrifugation experiments indicated that the intermediate forms a dimer. Thus, the urea-induced unfolding transition was measured by CD at various protein concentrations and was analyzed by a model assuming the four conformational states (the native, intermediate, dimeric intermediate, and unfolded states). The characteristics of the intermediate are markedly different from those of the intermediate previously observed at pH 4.0 or 1.5. The intermediate at pH 8.7 does not show the intense far-ultraviolet CD suggestive of the nonnative alpha-helix.