Abstract
The reliable prediction of the precise three-dimensional structure of proteins from their amino acid sequence is a major, still unresolved problem in biochemistry. Pressure is a parameter that controls folding/unfolding transitions of proteins through the volume change ΔV of the protein-solvent system. By varying the pressure from 30 to 2,000 bar we detected using 15N/1H 2D NMR spectroscopy a unique equilibrium unfolding intermediate I in the Ras binding domain of the Ral guanine nucleotide dissociation stimulator (Ral GDS). It is characterized by a local melting of specific structural elements near hydrophobic cavities while the overall folded structure is maintained.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the European Union, the Humboldt foundation and the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture of Japan. We thank R. Jaenicke and A. Wittinghofer for helpful discussions, and M. Geyer for aid with the sample preparation.
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Inoue, K., Yamada, H., Akasaka, K. et al. Pressure-induced local unfolding of the Ras binding domain of RalGDS . Nat Struct Mol Biol 7, 547–550 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/76764
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/76764
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