Differential denaturation of a crystalline Bence-Jones type cryoprotein as monitored by fluorescence

1) A Bence-Jones type protein (Cryo-Ver) showing the cold precipitation phenomenon has an extremely low intrinsic fluorescence when excited at 280-295 nm. 2) This fluorescence increases considerably upon denaturation of the molecule by heat or guanidine hydrochloride. Guanidine is about twice as effective as heat in terms of fluorescence yield. 3) The heat-denatured protein is still reactive with anti-cryoVer antibodies, at variance with the guanidine-treated samples. 4) Since the protein contains two tryptophans per mole, one in the constant portion of the molecule, the other in the variable region, it is proposed that heat treatment affects only the variable region, which seems involved in the cryoprecipitation phenomenon.