Intersubunit Assisted Folding of DNA Binding Domains in Dimeric Catabolite Activator Protein

The abundance of protein dimers and multidomain proteins is a testimony to their importance in various cellular functions. Several mechanisms exist, explaining how they assemble. The energy landscape theory has shown that, irrespective of the mechanism followed, folding and binding of dimers and multidomain proteins are funneled processes. Using a structure based model, we have characterized the folding landscape and dimerization mechanism of the DNA binding domain (DBD) in a complex multidomain, homodimeric transcription factor, catabolite activator protein (CAP). The DBD is tethered to the nucleotide binding domain (NBD) of CAP. Our investigation revealed that, as the tethered DBD of CAP transitions from an unfolded to the folded state, complementary folding and backtracking occur between the individual subunits within the DBD. This redistributes the entropies of the DBDs in both the subunits and might play a role in consequently modulating the free energy surface to reduce the entropic folding barrier. This redistribution of entropies forms the basis of an unusual intersubunit assisted folding mechanism whereby each subunit acts as a chaperone for the other. We have also investigated the effect of tethering on the folding landscape of DBD and found that the folding landscape can change depending on the tethering conditions.