THERMODYNAMIC AND KINETIC STUDIES OF PROTEIN STRUCTURE AND ENZYME MECHANISMS

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This laboratory is engaged in studies on protein structure and the mechanism by which a protein molecule, which is synthesized as a random coil, can fold into a specific secondary and tertiary structure, without any external help. The main subject of research is swine pepsinogen, a monomeric protein of molecular weight = 39,630, which is stable at pH's between 6 and 8.5. Below pH 6 pepsinogen activates itself by proteolytic loss of it's first 44 amino acids, to produce an enzymatically active protein, pepsin. Pepsin is stable only at pH's below 6. Both proteins are unfolded by exposure to high pH, temperature or concentrations of denaturants, such as urea. After such unfolding, pepsinogen can refold to its normal structure, when returned to native conditions, whereas pepsin cannot. I am interested in the mechanism of this refolding reaction and on the influence of the change in sequence on the behaviour of the two proteins. Using techniques such as ultra-violet, circular dichroic and fluorescence spectroscopies, together with chemical modification and peptide chemistry, the structures of the native and unfolded species have been characterized. Using rapid kinetic techniques, such as stopped- flow and T-jump, intermediate, partly folded forms have been detected in the folding reaction, their structures have been partially determined, and the nature of the chemical reactions which separate them from the the native and unfolded forms investigated.