title: Protein folding: defining a "standard" set of experimental conditions and a preliminary kinetic data set of two-state proteins.
abstract: Recent years have seen the publication of both empirical and theoretical relationships predicting the rates with which proteins fold. Our ability to test and refine these relationships has been limited, however, by a variety of difficulties associated with the comparison of folding and unfolding rates, thermodynamics, and structure across diverse sets of proteins. These difficulties include the wide, potentially confounding range of experimental conditions and methods employed to date and the difficulty of obtaining correct and complete sequence and structural details for the characterized constructs. The lack of a single approach to data analysis and error estimation, or even of a common set of units and reporting standards, further hinders comparative studies of folding. In an effort to overcome these problems, we define here a "consensus" set of experimental conditions (25 degrees C at pH 7.0, 50 mM buffer), data analysis methods, and data reporting standards that we hope will provide a benchmark for experimental studies. We take the first step in this initiative by describing the folding kinetics of 30 apparently two-state proteins or protein domains under the consensus conditions. The goal of our efforts is to set uniform standards for the experimental community and to initiate an accumulating, self-consistent data set that will aid ongoing efforts to understand the folding process.
authors.affiliation: Ontario Cancer Institute and Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Karen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Maxwell
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wildes
authors.forename: Arash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zarrine-Afsar
authors.forename: Miguel A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: De Los Rios
authors.forename: Andrew G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Claire T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Friel
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hedberg
authors.forename: Jia-Cherng
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Horng
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bona
authors.forename: Erik J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Alexis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vallée-Bélisle
authors.forename: Ewan R G
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Main
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bemporad
authors.forename: Linlin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Kaare
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Teilum
authors.forename: Ngoc-Diep
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Vu
authors.forename: Aled M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: Ingo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ruczinski
authors.forename: Flemming M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Poulsen
authors.forename: Birthe B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Kragelund
authors.forename: Stephen W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Michnick
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chiti
authors.forename: Yawen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hagen
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Serrano
authors.forename: Mikael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oliveberg
authors.forename: Daniel P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Raleigh
authors.forename: Pernilla
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wittung-Stafshede
authors.forename: Sheena E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Radford
authors.forename: Sophie E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: Tobin R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Sosnick
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marqusee
authors.forename: Alan R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Davidson
authors.forename: Kevin W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Plaxco
mesh_terms: D001671:Biochemistry / Q000379:methods*; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D007700:Kinetics; D011489:Protein Denaturation; D017510:Protein Folding; D020673:Protein Renaturation; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins