Factor defining the effects of glycine betaine on the thermodynamic stability and internal dynamics of horse cytochrome C.

A compatible osmolyte such as glycine betaine (GB) and low concentrations of a denaturant constrain the internal dynamics of natively folded carbonmonoxycytochrome c (NCO) at pH 7.0. GB and subdenaturing concentrations of guanidine hydrochloride (GdnHCl) or urea have a cumulative effect on the constrained dynamics of NCO. At higher denaturant concentrations, large-scale unfolding fluctuations dominate the dynamics and inclusion of GB opposes the structural fluctuations that cause unfolding of the protein. These deductions are made from kinetic and thermodynamic parameters measured for the CO dissociation reaction of NCO at varying concentrations of denaturant in the absence and presence of 1.0 M GB. Intermolecular docking between horse ferrocytochrome c and a denaturant or GB reveals that the denaturant-mediated constrained dynamics of the protein is due to polyfunctional interactions between the denaturant and different groups of protein while the GB-mediated restricted dynamics of the protein arises fro...