Temporal Analysis of Conformers in the Course of pH Scan Directed by Urea-Urease Reaction-A "Protein Clock"

We demonstrate an analytical approach to monitor the effect of pH on protein tertiary structure. An autocatalytic enzyme reaction is used to stimulate refolding of proteins during real-time analysis. The method takes advantage of a nonlinear pH ramp generated by the urea-urease clock reaction. In this study, alterations to the structures of model proteins were monitored by mass spectrometry (charge pattern shift) and fluorometry (tryptophan fluorescence quenching). The pH measurements were conducted at different points of the sample flow line by different methods to minimize artifacts. Interestingly, different protein ions (corresponding to native and unfolded proteins) show distinct temporal mass spectral profiles, which reveal gradual refolding and concomitant deprotonation of higher charge state ions in the course of the clock reaction. Every multiply charged ion of a protein is characterized with its own "clock time". This approach does not require major modification of standard instrumentation. It enables determination of "high sensitivity" pH intervals for small and large molecules within a single experiment. Thus, it can be useful for characterizing the protein folding in response to pH change.