Abstract
Anfinsen and Haber have shown that the disulphide bonds of ribonuclease (RNase) can be cleaved by treatment of the native protein in 8 M urea with mercaptoethanol1. On exposure to molecular oxygen, reduced RNase is re-oxidized with complete regeneration of secondary and tertiary structure. The kinetics of the reaction indicate either that pairing of the correct half-cystine residues is a random process with the molecule undergoing subsequent structural rearrangement to yield the native form2; or, alternatively, that the reduced protein may be sufficiently structurally similar to the native enzyme to allow correct matching and reoxidation of the half-cystinyl residues, even in the absence of the disulphide bridges3.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anfinsen, C. B., and Haber, E., J. Biol. Chem., 236, 1361 (1961).
Anfinsen, C. B., Haber, E., Sela, M., and White, jun., F. H., Proc. U.S. Nat. Acad. Sci., 47, 1309 (1961).
Haber, E., and Anfinsen, C. B., J. Biol. Chem., 237, 1839 (1962).
Arnon, R., and Perlmann, G. E., J. Biol. Chem., 238, 653 (1963).
Boyer, P. D., J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 76, 4331 (1954).
Anson, M. L., in Crystalline Enzymes, edit. by Northrop, J. H., Kunitz, M., and Herriott, R. M., second ed., 305 (Columbia Univ. Press, New York, 1948).
Steiner, R. F., and Edelhoch, H., Chem Rev., 62, 457 (1962).
Young, M., J. Biol. Chem. (in the press).
Perlmann, G. E., J. Gen. Physiol., 41, 441 (1958).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
FRATTALI, V., STEINER, R., MILLAR, D. et al. Reduction and Reoxidation of the Disulphide Bonds of Pepsinogen. Nature 199, 1186–1187 (1963). https://doi.org/10.1038/1991186a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1991186a0
This article is cited by
-
Reduction of disulfide bonds in inactivated swine pepsin
Bulletin of the Academy of Sciences, USSR Division of Chemical Science (1965)
-
Reduction and Re-oxidation of the Disulphide Bonds of Soy Bean Trypsin Inhibitor
Nature (1964)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.