Atomic-level description of ubiquitin folding

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations, in which proteins spontaneously and repeatedly fold and unfold, have recently been used to help elucidate the mechanistic principles that underlie the folding of fast-folding proteins. The extent to which the conclusions drawn from the analysis of such proteins, which fold on the microsecond timescale, apply to the millisecond or slower folding of naturally occurring proteins is, however, unclear. As a first attempt to address this outstanding issue, we examine here the folding of ubiquitin, a 76-residue-long protein found in all eukaryotes that is known experimentally to fold on a millisecond timescale. Ubiquitin folding has been the subject of many experimental studies, but its slow folding rate has made it difficult to observe and characterize the folding process through all-atom molecular dynamics simulations. Here we determine the mechanism, thermodynamics, and kinetics of ubiquitin folding through equilibrium atomistic simulations. The picture emerging from the simulations is in agreement with a view of ubiquitin folding suggested from previous experiments. Our findings related to the folding of ubiquitin are also consistent, for the most part, with the folding principles derived from the simulation of fast-folding proteins, suggesting that these principles may be applicable to a wider range of proteins.
Original languageEnglish
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume110
Issue number15
Pages (from-to)5915-5920
Number of pages6
ISSN0027-8424
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2013
Externally publishedYes

    Research areas

  • Computer Simulation, Humans, Kinetics, Models, Molecular, Molecular Dynamics Simulation, Protein Folding, Protein Structure, Secondary, Temperature, Thermodynamics, Ubiquitin

ID: 99733195