title: A partly folded state of acidic fibroblast growth factor at low pH.
abstract: Acid denaturation of acidic fibroblast growth factor (aFGF) at low ionic strength was monitored by far-ultraviolet circular dichroism and intrinsic fluorescence. The two spectroscopic probes displayed non-coincident transitions, which suggested the accumulation of partly folded species around pH 4.0. Although under these conditions the fluorescence of aFGF resembled that of the unfolded form of the protein, far-ultraviolet circular dichroism and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectra indicated the presence of persistent secondary and tertiary structure. Moreover, at pH 4.0, aFGF showed cooperative thermal denaturation and interacted weakly with the hydrophobic probe N-phenyl-1-naphthylamine, showing a relatively high level of structure that did not fit into the classical molten globule category. This intermediate is also capable of interacting with liposomes and might represent a membrane translocation-competent form.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Estructura y Función de Proteínas, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (CSIC), Madrid, Spain. cibsm1s@fresno.csic.es
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Sanz
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giménez-Gallego
mesh_terms: D015057:1-Naphthylamine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D002152:Calorimetry, Differential Scanning; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D016220:Fibroblast Growth Factor 1 / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D011489:Protein Denaturation; D017510:Protein Folding; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D014508:Urea / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D016220:Fibroblast Growth Factor 1; D014508:Urea; C005444:N-phenyl-1-naphthylamine; D015057:1-Naphthylamine