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Protein folding in the endoplasmic reticulum: Lessons from the human chorionic gonadotropin β subunit
Author(s) -
Ruddon Raymond W.,
Sherman Simon A.,
Bedows Elliott
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
protein science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.353
H-Index - 175
eISSN - 1469-896X
pISSN - 0961-8368
DOI - 10.1002/pro.5560050801
Subject(s) - protein disulfide isomerase , endoplasmic reticulum , protein folding , protein subunit , chaperone (clinical) , biochemistry , human chorionic gonadotropin , secretory protein , microbiology and biotechnology , intracellular , in vitro , chemistry , biology , secretion , hormone , medicine , pathology , gene
Abstract There have been few studies of protein folding in the endoplasmic reticulum of intact mammalian cells. In the one case where the in vivo and in vitro folding pathways of a mammalian secretory protein have been compared, the folding of the human chorionic gonadotropin β subunit (hCG‐β), the order of formation of the detected folding intermediates is the same. The rate and efficiency with which multidomain proteins such as hCG‐β fold to native structure in intact cells is higher than in vitro, although intracellular rates of folding of the β subunit can be approached in vitro in the presence of an optimal redox potential and protein disulfide isomerase. Understanding how proteins fold in vivo may provide a new way to diagnose and treat human illnesses that occur due to folding defects.