Dynamics of thermodynamically stable, kinetically trapped, and inhibitor-bound states of pepsin

The pepsin folding mechanism involves a prosegment (PS) domain that catalyzes folding, which is then removed, resulting in a kinetically trapped native state. Although native pepsin (Np) is kinetically stable, it is irreversibly denatured due to a large folding barrier, and in the absence of the PS it folds to a more thermodynamically stable denatured state, termed refolded pepsin (Rp). This system serves as a model to understand the nature of kinetic barriers and folding transitions between compact states. Quasielastic neutron scattering (QENS) was used to characterize and compare the flexibility of Np, as a kinetically trapped state, with that of Rp, as a thermodynamically stable fold. Additionally, the dynamics of Np were compared with those of a partially unfolded form and a thermally stabilized, inhibitor-bound form. QENS revealed length-scale-dependent differences between Np and Rp on a picosecond timescale and indicated greater flexibility in Np, leading to the conclusion that kinetic stabilization likely does not correspond to reduced internal dynamics. Furthermore, large differences were observed upon inhibition, indicating that QENS of proteins in solution may prove useful for examining the role of conformational entropy changes in ligand binding.