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Some thermodynamic implications for the thermostability of proteins

¹ Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
² Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA

Reprint requests to: Douglas C. Rees, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, 147-75CH, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA; e-mail: dcrees{at}caltech.edu; fax: (626) 744-9524.

An analysis of the thermodynamics of protein stability reveals a general tendency for proteins that denature at higher temperatures to have greater free energies of maximal stability. To a reasonable approximation, the temperature of maximal stability for the set of globular, water-soluble proteins surveyed by Robertson and Murphy occurs at T* 283K, independent of the heat denaturation temperature, T_m. This observation indicates, at least for these proteins, that thermostability tends to be achieved through elevation of the stability curve rather than by broadening or through a horizontal shift to higher temperatures. The relationship between the free energy of maximal stability and the temperature of heat denaturation is such that an increase in maximal stability of 0.008 kJ/mole/residue is, on average, associated with a 1°C increase in T_m. An estimate of the energetic consequences of thermal expansion suggests that these effects may contribute significantly to the destabilization of the native state of proteins with increasing temperature.

Keywords: Protein stability; thermal expansion; protein volumes; stability curve

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