Abstract

CHANEZ-CARDENAS, María Elena  and  VAZQUEZ-CONTRERAS, Edgar. ¿Es el glóbulo fundido un intermediario general en la vía de plegamiento de las proteínas globulares?. Rev. Soc. Quím. Méx [online]. 2003, vol.47, n.4, pp.320-327. ISSN 0583-7693.

The molten globule state has been considered like a third thermodynamic state of the protein molecules (in addition to the two previously established states -the native and the unfolded-). This intermediate state is observed under certain denaturant conditions, and represents a conformational state with properties between those observed in the native and unfolded states. In protein folding studies it is important to understand the structure and energy changes associated with the formation of transient intermediate states involved during the acquisition of the three-dimensional structure. Many, but not all globular proteins in folding studies show this compact intermediate state under equilibrium conditions.

Keywords : Protein folding; molten globule.