Evidence for Unfolding and Refolding of Gas-Phase Cytochrome c Ions in a Paul Trap

The folding pathways of gas-phase cytochrome c ions produced by electrospray ionization have been studied by an ion trapping/ion mobility technique that allows conformations to be examined over extended timescales (10 ms to 10 s). The results show that the +9 charge state emerges from solution as a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry 2005-09, Vol.16 (9), p.1493-1497
Main Authors: Badman, Ethan R., Myung, Sunnie, Clemmer, David E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Conformational dynamics in molecular biology
Cytochrome
Cytochromes c - chemistry
Cytochromes c - ultrastructure
Elongated structure
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gases - chemistry
Ionic mobility
Ionization
Ions
Kinetics
Mass spectrometry
Molecular biophysics
Phase Transition
Protein Conformation
Protein Folding
Protein Renaturation
Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization - instrumentation
Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization - methods
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Summary:The folding pathways of gas-phase cytochrome c ions produced by electrospray ionization have been studied by an ion trapping/ion mobility technique that allows conformations to be examined over extended timescales (10 ms to 10 s). The results show that the +9 charge state emerges from solution as a compact structure and then rapidly unfolds into several substantially more open structures, a transition that requires 30–60 ms; over substantially longer timescales (250 ms to 10 s) elongated states appear to refold into an array of folded structures. The new folded states are less compact than those that are apparent during the initial unfolding. Apparently, unfolding to highly open conformations is a key step that must occur before +9 ions can sample more compact states that are stable at longer times.
ISSN:1044-0305
1879-1123
DOI:10.1016/j.jasms.2005.04.013