In the presence of MgCl2, the EcoRV restriction endonuclease cleaves its recognition sequence on DNA at least a million times more readily than any other sequence. In this study, the binding of the EcoRV restriction enzyme to DNA was examined in the absence of Mg2+. With each DNA fragment tested, several DNA-protein complexes were detected by electrophoresis through polyacrylamide. No differences were observed between isogenic DNA molecules that either contained or lacked the EcoRV recognition site. The number of complexes with each fragment varied with the length of the DNA. Three complexes were formed with a DNA molecule of 55 base pairs, corresponding to the DNA bound to 1, 2, or 3 molecules of the protein, while greater than 15 complexes were formed with a DNA of 381 base pairs. A new method was developed to analyze the binding of a protein to multiple sites on DNA. The method showed that the EcoRV enzyme binds to all DNA sequences, including the EcoRV recognition site, with the same equilibrium constant, though two molecules of the protein bind preferentially to adjacent sites on the DNA in a cooperative fashion. All of the complexes with a substrate that contained the EcoRV site dissociated upon addition of competitor DNA, but when the competitor was mixed with MgCl2, a fraction of the substrate was cleaved at the EcoRV site. The fraction cleaved was due mainly to the translocation of the enzyme from nonspecific sites on the DNA to the specific site.

When Bacillus stearothermophilus LDH dimer is incubated with increasing concentrations of the denaturant guanidinium chloride, three distinct unfolded states of the molecule are observed at equilibrium [Smith, C. J., et al. (1991) Biochemistry 30, 1028-1036]. The kinetics of LDH refolding are consistent with an unbranched progression through these states. The Escherichia coli chaperonin, GroEL, binds with high affinity to the completely denatured form and more weakly to the earliest folding intermediate, thus retarding the refolding process. A later structurally defined folding intermediate, corresponding to a molten globule form, is not bound by GroEL; neither is the inactive monomer. The complex between GroEL and denatured LDH is destabilized by the binding of magnesium/ATP (Mg/ATP) or by the nonhydrolyzable analogue adenylyl imidodiphosphate (AMP-PNP). From our initial kinetic data, we propose that GroEL exists in two interconvertible forms, one of which is stabilized by the binding of Mg/ATP but associates weakly with the unfolded protein. The other is destabilized by Mg/ATP and associates strongly with unfolded LDH. The relevance of these findings to the role of GroEL in vivo is discussed.

The reversible unfolding of two dissimilar proteins, phosphoglycerate kinase from Bacillus stearothermophilus (PGK) and Staphylococcus aureus nuclease (SAN), was induced with two denaturants, urea and guanidinium chloride (GuHCl). For each protein, structural transitions were monitored by intrinsic fluorescence intensity changes arising from a unique tryptophan residue. In the case of SAN the single, native tryptophan residue was used, whereas for PGK two versions, one with a tryptophan at position 315 and one at 379, were constructed genetically. The resultant folding curves were analyzed by considering the change in the solvation free energy of internal amino acid residues as the denaturant concentration was varied. We derive the following simple relationship: -RT ln K = delta Gw + n delta Gs,m[D]/Kden. + [D]) where K is the equilibrium constant describing the distribution of folded and unfolded forms at a given denaturant concentration [D], delta Gw is the free energy change for the transition in the absence of denaturant, and n is the number of internal side chains becoming exposed. delta Gs,m and Kden. are constants derived empirically from the solvation energies of model compounds and represent the behavior of an average internal side chain between 0 and 6 M GuHCl and 0 and 8 M urea. For proteins of known structure these values can easily be derived, and for others, average values in guanidinium chloride (delta Gs,m = 0.775 kcal/mol and Kden. = 5.4 M) or urea (delta Gs,m = 1.198 kcal/mol and Kden. = 25.25 M) can be used in the analysis. Results show that the parameters n and delta Gw are independent of the denaturant used for all 12 transitions studied. This supports the hypothesis that the unfolding activity of urea and GuHCl can be accounted for by their effect on the solvation energy of amino acid side chains which are buried in the folded but exposed in the unfolded protein. This simple analytical treatment allows the "cooperativity" of protein folding to be interpreted in terms of the number of side chains becoming exposed to the solvent in a given step and allows accurate estimation of the free energy irrespective of the denaturant concentration needed to induce the transition.

No abstract

In the case of this large protein domain, our results support the hypothesis that folding proceeds by a hierarchic pathway. Interactions form rapidly between sequence-local groups to produce microdomains before the establishment of the long-range contacts necessary to define the global fold, which proceeds through a highly hydrated transition state.