Folding thermodynamics of a model three-helix-bundle protein.
The calculated folding thermodynamics of a simple off-lattice three-helix-bundle protein model under equilibrium conditions shows the experimentally observed protein transitions: a collapse transition, a disordered-to-ordered globule transition, a globule to native-state transition, and the transition from the active native state to a frozen inactive state. The cooperativity and physical origin of the various transitions are explored with a single "optimization" parameter and characterized with the Lindemann criterion for liquid versus solid-state dynamics. Below the folding temperature, the model has a simple free energy surface with a single basin near the native state; the surface is similar to that calculated from a simulation of the same three-helix-bundle protein with an all-atom representation [Boczko, E. M. & Brooks III, C. L. (1995) Science 269, 393-396].
Zhou
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Y
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Karplus
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M
D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017510:Protein Folding; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000737:chemistry; D013816:Thermodynamics
D011506:Proteins