Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Vol.172, No.2, 854-866, 2014
Ornithine Carbamoyltransferase Unfolding States in the Presence of Urea and Guanidine Hydrochloride
Ornithine carbamoyltransferase folding/unfolding is a complex and not completely understood process. Our experimental results suggest that ornithine carbamoyltransferase interacts in a completely different way with urea and guanidine hydrochloride. In fact, we noticed that, increasing concentration from 0.0 to 8.0 M of the two additives, the enzyme follows a simple one-step transition mechanism in the presence of guanidine hydrochloride, with twomacroscopic states (the native and the denatured one) significantly populated, whereas in the presence of urea a lot of different protein states can be detected and analyzed. Circular dichroism and UV-visible spectroscopy reveal a similar mechanism of perturbation at high temperature, with opening of hydrophobic core and a significant loss in alpha-helix structure in the presence of guanidine hydrochloride that cannot be found in the presence of urea.
Keywords:Urea and guanidine hydrochloride;Spectroscopic determination;UGGE;Inactivation rate constant