title: In vitro biochemical and thermodynamic characterization of nucleocapsid protein of SARS.
abstract: The major biochemical and thermodynamic features of nucelocapsid protein of SARS coronavirus (SARS_NP) were characterized by use of non-denatured gel electrophoresis, size-exclusion chromatographic and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) techniques. The results showed that SARS_NP existed in vitro as oligomer, more probably dimer, as the basic functional unit. This protein shows its maximum conformational stability near pH 9.0, and it seems that its oligomer dissociation and protein unfolding occur simultaneously. Thermal-induced unfolding for SARS_NP was totally irreversible. Both the thermal and chemical denaturant-induced denaturation analyses showed that oligomeric SARS_NP unfolds and refolds through a two-state model, and the electrostatic interactions among the charge groups of SARS_NP made a significant contribution to its conformational stability.
authors.affiliation: Drug Discovery and Design Center, State Key Lab of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China.
authors.forename: Haibin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Liduo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yue
authors.forename: Shuying
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Guowei
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Youhua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Yiming
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Jianhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Hualiang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D000086462:Coronavirus Nucleocapsid Proteins; D019281:Dimerization; D019791:Guanidine / Q000378:metabolism; D006358:Hot Temperature; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011489:Protein Denaturation; D017510:Protein Folding; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D000086462:Coronavirus Nucleocapsid Proteins; D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins; D019791:Guanidine