Exploring the effect of tethered domains on the folding of Grb2 protein

Two thirds of eukaryotic proteins have evolved as multidomain constructs, and in vivo, domains fold within a polypeptide chain, with inter-domain interactions possibly crucial for correct folding. However, to date, most of the experimental folding studies are based on domains in isolation. In an effort to better understand multidomain folding, in this work we analyzed, through equilibrium and kinetic folding experiments, the folding properties of the Growth factor receptor-bound protein 2 (Grb2), composed by one SRC homology 2 domain flanked by two SRC homology 3 domains. In particular we compared the kinetic features of the multidomain construct with the domains expressed in isolation. By performing single and double mixing folding experiments, we demonstrated that the folding of the SH2 domain is kinetically trapped in a misfolded intermediate when tethered to the C-SH3. Importantly, within the multidomain construct, misfolding occurred independently if refolding is started with C-SH3 in its unfolded or native state. Interestingly, our data reported a peculiar scenario, in which SH2 and C-SH3 domain reciprocally and transiently interact during folding. Altogether, the analysis of kinetic folding data provided a quantitative description of the multidomain folding of Grb2 protein, discussed under the light of previous works on multidomain folding.