Folding initiation sites and protein folding.

Abstract

The paper discusses the role of local structural preferences of protein segments in the folding of proteins. First a short overview of the local, secondary structures detected in peptides, protein fragments, denatured proteins and early folding intermediates is given. Next the discussion of their role in protein folding is presented based on recent literature and data obtained in our laboratory. In conclusion it is pointed out that, during folding, local structures populated at low levels in denatured state may facilitate the crossing of the folding transition state barrier, and consequently accelerate the rate limiting step in folding. However, the data show that this effect does not follow simple rules.