Abstract
The folding reactions of many small, globular proteins exhibit two-state kinetics, in which the folded and unfolded states interconvert readily without observable intermediates. Typically, the free energy difference, delta G, between the native and denatured states of such a protein is quite small, lying in the range of approximately -5 to -15 kcal/mol. We point out that, under these circumstances, a population of native-like molecules will persist, even in the presence of mutations sufficiently destabilizing to change the sign of delta G. Therefore, it is not energy per se that determines conformation. A corollary to this argument is that specificity--not stability--would be the more informative focus in future folding studies.
Dates
Type | When |
---|---|
Created | 19 years, 3 months ago (May 31, 2006, 8:32 a.m.) |
Deposited | 3 years, 4 months ago (April 13, 2022, 1:47 p.m.) |
Indexed | 2 weeks, 4 days ago (Aug. 19, 2025, 6:36 a.m.) |
Issued | 32 years, 7 months ago (Jan. 15, 1993) |
Published | 32 years, 7 months ago (Jan. 15, 1993) |
Published Online | 32 years, 7 months ago (Jan. 15, 1993) |
Published Print | 32 years, 7 months ago (Jan. 15, 1993) |
@article{Lattman_1993, title={Protein folding--what’s the question?}, volume={90}, ISSN={1091-6490}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.90.2.439}, DOI={10.1073/pnas.90.2.439}, number={2}, journal={Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, publisher={Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, author={Lattman, E E and Rose, G D}, year={1993}, month=jan, pages={439–441} }