title: Unfolding and conformational distributions during protein precipitation.
abstract: The association of misfolded proteins, or aggregation, is a critical problem in a number of human diseases as well during the expression, refolding, formulation, and delivery of therapeutic proteins. In this study, we investigate lysozyme precipitation with hydrogen exhange using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS). We show that MS can reveal the presence of conformational distributions, albeit without the detailed structural information afforded by NMR. Further, we find that increases in precipitant concentration alter the structure and composition of precipitates. The selective unfolding of one portion of the protein in these precipitates is correlated with hydrogen exchange patterns observed under nonprecipitating conditions and in other studies of lysozyme.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, 102 Engineers' Way, PO Box 400741, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4741, USA.
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Tobler
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Fernandez
mesh_terms: D011232:Chemical Precipitation; D006859:Hydrogen; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D009113:Muramidase / Q000737:chemistry*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017510:Protein Folding
chemical_list: D006859:Hydrogen; D009113:Muramidase