title: Detection and characterization of an acid-induced folding intermediate of endostatin.
abstract: Endostatin, an important angiogenesis inhibitor, is very acid resistant. We are particularly interested in knowing that whether or not endostatin can form a folding intermediate during acid titration. 1H-NMR, CD spectrum, and ANS binding assay show that endostatin at pH 2.0 contains little tertiary structure, but retains substantial secondary structure with strong ANS binding, and Na2SO4 or TFE is found to strongly stabilize endostatin at pH 2.0. All these observations are consistent with the formation of a folding intermediate at pH 2.0. Kinetics studies show that sulfate anions significantly slow down the process for endostatin to reach its equilibrium state at pH 2.0. A regular increase in the amount of alpha-helix content of the intermediate of endostatin at pH 2.0 is found when the concentration of TFE is increased in the range of 0-40%, suggesting that endostatin has an intrinsic alpha-helical propensity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, MOE laboratory of Protein Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Guodong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Yongzhang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Luo
mesh_terms: D043169:Endostatins / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011489:Protein Denaturation; D017510:Protein Folding; D014270:Trifluoroethanol / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D043169:Endostatins; D014270:Trifluoroethanol