Temperature dependence of the folding and unfolding kinetics of the GCN4 leucine zipper via ¹³C^α-NMR

Studies by one-dimensional NMR are reported on the interconversion of folded and unfolded forms of the GCN4 leucine zipper in neutral saline buffer. The peptide bears 99% ¹³C^α labels at three sites: V9, L12, and G31. Time-domain ¹³C^α-NMR spectra are interpreted by global Bayesian lineshape analysis to extract the rate constants for both unfolding and folding as functions of temperature in the range 47-71°C. The data are well fit by the assumption that the same rate constants apply at each labeled site, confirming that only two conformational states need be considered. Results show that 1) both processes require a free energy of activation; 2) unfolding is kinetically enthalpy-opposed and entropy-driven, while folding is the opposite; and 3) the transition state dimer ensemble averages ∼40% helical. The activation parameters for unfolding, derived from NMR data at the elevated temperatures where both conformations are populated, lead to estimates of the rate constant at low temperatures (5-15°C) that agree with extant values determined by stopped-flow CD via dilution from denaturing media. However, the corresponding estimated values for the folding rate constant are larger by two to three orders of magnitude than those obtained by stopped flow. We propose that this apparent disagreement is caused by the necessity, in the stopped-flow experiment, for initiation of new helices as the highly denaturant-unfolded molecule adjusts to the newly created benign solvent conditions. This must reduce the success rate of collisions in producing the folded molecule. In the NMR determinations, however, the unfolded chains always have a small, but essential, helix content that makes such initiation unnecessary. Support for this hypothesis is adduced from recent extant experiments on the helix-coil transition in single-chain helical peptides and from demonstration that the folding rate constants for coiled coils, as obtained by stopped flow, are influenced by the nature of the denaturant used.