CD1 is an MHC class I-like antigen-presenting molecule consisting of a heavy chain and beta(2)-microglobulin light chain. The in vitro refolding of synthetic MHC class I molecules has always required the presence of ligand. We report here the use of a folding method using an immobilized chaperone fragment, a protein disulphide isomerase, and a peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase (oxidative refo...

Enveloped viruses contain surface proteins that mediate fusion between the viral and target cell membranes following an activating stimulus. Acidic pH induces the influenza virus fusion protein hemagglutinin (HA) via irreversible refolding of a trimeric conformational state leading to exposure of hydrophobic fusion peptides on each trimer subunit. Herein, we show that cells expressing fowl plag...

BACKGROUND Expression systems based on self-cleavable intein domains allow the generation of recombinant proteins with a C-terminal thioester. This uniquely reactive C-terminus can be used in native chemical ligation reactions to introduce synthetic groups or to immobilize proteins on surfaces and nanoparticles. Unfortunately, common refolding procedures for recombinant proteins that contain di...

We previously reported the set up of an automated test for screening the refolding of recombinant proteins expressed as inclusion bodies in Escherichia coli[1]. The screen used 96 refolding buffers and was validated with 24 proteins, 70% of which remained soluble in at least one buffer. In the present paper, we have analyzed in more detail these experimental data to see if the refolding process...

Studies on the Hsp70 chaperone machine in eukaryotes have shown that Hsp70 and Hsp40/Hdj1 family proteins are sufficient to prevent protein misfolding and aggregation and to promote refolding of denatured polypeptides. Additional protein cofactors include Hip and Bag1, identified in protein interaction assays, which bind to and modulate Hsp70 chaperone activity in vitro. Bag1, originally identi...

Multimeric proteins are ubiquitous in many cellular processes that require high levels of regulation. Eukaryotic gene expression is often regulated by a mechanism of combinatorial control that involves the binding of dimeric transcription factors to DNA together with the coordinated activity of additional proteins. In this study, we investigated the dimerization of the Arc-repressor on DNA with...

Refolding of the bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor protein (BPTI) after reduction of its three cysteine disulphide linkages can occur when the reduced protein is placed in a suitable oxidizing medium (ref. I and refs therein). The refolding process has been studied by trapping chemically intermediates which contain only one or two disulphide bonds (ref. I and refs therein). We report here tha...

Cyclophilins are a family of ubiquitous proteins that are the intracellular target of the immunosuppressant drug cyclosporin A. Although cyclophilins catalyze peptidylprolyl cis-trans isomerization in vitro, it has remained open whether they also perform this function in vivo. Here we show that Cpr3p, a cyclophilin in the matrix of yeast mitochondria, accelerates the refolding of a fusion prote...