The reversible thermal unfolding of the archaeal histone-like protein Ssh10b from the extremophile Sulfolobus shibatae was studied using differential scanning calorimetry and circular dichroism spectroscopy. Analytical ultracentrifugation and gel filtration showed that Ssh10b is a stable dimer in the pH range 2.5-7.0. Thermal denaturation data fit into a two-state unfolding model, suggesting that the Ssh10 dimer unfolds as a single cooperative unit with a maximal melting temperature of 99.9 degrees C and an enthalpy change of 134 kcal/mol at pH 7.0. The heat capacity change upon unfolding determined from linear fits of the temperature dependence of Delta H-cal is 2.55 kcal/(mol K). The low specific heat capacity change of 13 cal/(mol K residue) leads to a considerable flattening of the protein stability curve (Delta G (T)) and results in a maximal Delta G of only 9.5 kcal/mol at 320 K and a Delta G of only 6.0 kcal/mol at the optimal growth temperature of Sulfolobus. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.