PubMed Health⌕ Search

PubMed · 9197236

Protein folding: does diffusion determine the folding rate?

Abstract

A major question about protein folding is whether the coming together by diffusion of different segments of the polypeptide chain is rate-determining. This seemingly simple question has been very difficult to answer experimentally, but a positive result has now been obtained with one small model protein.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

T E Creighton. 1997-06-01. Protein folding: does diffusion determine the folding rate?. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0960-9822(06)00180-1

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related citations

Effect of surface treatment on diffusion and domain formation in supported lipid bilayers.

Supported lipid bilayers are widely used as model systems due to their robustness. Due to the solid support, the properties of supported lipid bilayers are different from those of freestanding bilayers. In this article, we examine whether different surface treatments affect the properties of supported lipid bilayers. It will be shown that depending on the treatment method, the diffusion of the lipids can be adjusted approximately threefold without altering the composition. Additionally, as the bilayer-support interaction decreases, it becomes easier to form coexisting liquid-ordered and liquid-disordered domains. The physical/chemical alterations that result from the different treatment methods will be discussed.

Diffusion↗

An early example of evidence-based medicine: hypoxemia due to nitrous oxide.

Diffusion anoxia. By Bernard Raymond Fink. Anesthesiology 1955; 16:511-14. In 1955, Dr. Bernard Raymond Fink published his findings that described the mechanism by which hypoxemia occurred when nitrous oxide-oxygen anesthesia was discontinued and room air breathing commenced. Using an ear oximeter and brachial artery blood gases, he measured oxygen saturation in eight healthy patients who had received 75% nitrous oxide-25% oxygen for gynecologic surgery. He showed that oxygen saturation decreased from 5% to 10% and often reached a value below 90% when the patient began room air breathing after the nitrous oxide-oxygen was discontinued. The effect was seen over a 10-min period. He concluded that "anoxia arises because the outward diffusion of nitrous oxide lowers the alveolar partial pressure of oxygen." This phenomenon can become a causative factor of cardiac arrest in patients with impaired pulmonary or cardiac reserves.

Diffusion↗