The Free Energy Landscape of a Beta-Clamshell Protein

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DESCRIPTION: (provided by applicant) The protein folding problem is of direct medical relevance due to the pathogenic effects caused by improperly folded proteins in various cancers and in diseases such as Alzheimer's and Creutzveldt-Jakob disease. The conformational or folding free energy landscape of a small beta-clamshell protein will be characterized by examining its most interesting and relevant features: the native, denatured, transition state, and intermediate ensembles. Due to the conformational heterogeneity of these ensembles, a synergistic approach of both theory and experiment is required to fully characterize the energy landscape. A quantitative picture of the energy landscape will be generated and the kinetics of the folding process on the landscape will be computed and compared to experimental kinetic data. A full kinetic and thermodynamic picture of the folding of a small beta-clamshell protein will thus be generated.