title: Unfolding energetics and stability of banana lectin.
abstract: The unfolding pathway of banana lectin from Musa paradisiaca was determined by isothermal denaturation induced by the chaotrope GdnCl. The unfolding was found to be a reversible process. The data obtained by isothermal denaturation provided information on conformational stability of banana lectin. The high values of DeltaG of unfolding at various temperatures indicated the strength of intersubunit interactions. It was found that banana lectin is a very stable and denatures at high chaotrope concentrations only. The basis of the stability may be attributed to strong hydrogen bonds of the order 2.5-3.1 A at the dimeric interface along with the presence of water bridges. This is perhaps very unique example in proteins where subunit association is not a consequence of the predominance of hydrophobic interactions.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biophysics Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India.
authors.forename: Garima
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Sharmistha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sinha
authors.forename: Avadhesha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Surolia
mesh_terms: D019281:Dimerization; D019791:Guanidine / Q000737:chemistry; D006860:Hydrogen Bonding; D037102:Lectins / Q000737:chemistry*; D028521:Musa; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011489:Protein Denaturation; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D037102:Lectins; D019791:Guanidine