The refolding of type II shikimate kinase from
Erwinia chrysanthemi
after denaturation in urea
Eleonora Cerasoli
1
, Sharon M. Kelly
1
, John R. Coggins
1
, Deborah J. Boam
1
, David T. Clarke
2
and Nicholas C. Price
1
1
Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Joseph Black Building,
University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK;
2
Synchrotron Radiation Department, CLRC Daresbury Laboratory, Warrington UK
Shikimate kinase was chosen as a convenient representative
example of the subclass of a/b proteins with which to
examine the mechanism of protein folding. In this paper we
report on the refolding of the enzyme after denaturation in
urea. As shown by the changes in secondary and tertiary
structure monitored by far UV circular dichroism (CD) and
fluorescence, respectively, the enzyme was fully unfolded in
4
M
urea. From an analysis of the unfolding curve in terms of
the two-state model, the stability of the folded state could be

the huge amount of information from genome sequencing
projects to feed through to accurate predictions of three-
dimensional structure of the encoded proteins. Because of
the difficulties in applying structural techniques to the
acquisition of structure accompanying or following trans-
lation in vivo, the usual experimental approach has been to
study the refolding of denatured proteins when conditions
have been changed to promote folding. Several lines of
evidence indicate that this approach can give valid insights
into the process of protein folding in vivo [5]. Detailed
studies have allowed the pathways of folding of a number of
small proteins, such as barnase [6], dihydrofolate reductase
[7], chymotrypsin inhibitor 2 [8], lysozyme [9] and CheY
[10] to be mapped out, but a key requirement is to examine
the behaviour of protein fold families in a systematic
manner.
The most structurally diverse of the classes of proteins,
introduced by Chothia and colleagues [11], is the a/b class,
which contains nearly 100 different kinds of protein folds.
One of these subclasses is the P-loop-containing nucleotide
triphosphate hydrolases, the core of which forms a classical
mononucleotide-binding fold found in a number of struc-
turally diverse proteins such as myosin, elongation factor
EF-Tu, p21
ras
, the NDB domain of the ABC transporters,
Rec A and adenylate kinase. The structural conservation of
the core within this group of proteins is illustrated by the
fact that superimposition of the P-loops results in root mean
square deviations in alpha C atoms of only 0.3–0.4 A

(Received 14 November 2001, revised 6 February 2002, accepted
1 March 2002)
Eur. J. Biochem. 269, 2124–2132 (2002) Ó FEBS 2002 doi:10.1046/j.1432-1033.2002.ejb.02862.x
highly positively charged environment around the Trp side
chain and the shikimate binding site [15]. The use of the
iodide ion as a quencher of protein fluorescence provides an
additional means of investigating the integrity of this region
of the protein.
In the present paper, we have undertaken a study of the
unfolding and refolding of the type II SK from E. chry-
santhemi, using studies of CD, fluorescence, activity and
ANS fluorescence, and employing both manual mixing and
rapid reaction techniques. From these studies, we have been
able to formulate an outline pathway for the folding process
in which at least three intermediates are involved. The
results extend the less complete data available for the
refolding of adenylate kinase [17] indicating that the
pathway described for SK should act as a model for many
other members of this subclass of a/b proteins.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Enzyme purification
The purification protocol was based on those used for the
purification of SK II from Escherichia coli [18] and for the
previous purification of the enzyme from E. chrysanthemi
[19]. The latter method was adapted by reducing the salt
concentration so as to prevent protein precipitation. After
cell breakage, all steps were performed at 4 °C.
E. coli BL21(DE3)pLysS cells (10 g) were resuspended in
10 mL of buffer (20 m
M

M
KCl in 600 mL buffer A with a flow rate of
50 mLÆh
)1
and a fraction volume of 14 mL.
Pooled fractions were dialysed against buffer A. Before
adding the solution to a phenyl–Sepharose CL-4B column
(4 · 2 cm), solid (NH
4
)
2
SO
4
was added to 30% saturation
(164 gÆL
)1
). The solution was stirred for 20 min and then
centrifuged at 20 000 g for 15 min. The supernatant was
loaded onto the column pre-equilibrated in buffer B
[100 m
M
Tris/HCl, pH 7.5 containing 0.4 m
M
dithiothreitol
and 1.2
M
(NH
4
)
2

equilibrated Sephacryl S200 (superfine grade) column
(120 · 2.5 cm) and eluted at a flow rate of 10 mLÆh
)1
in
buffer C (50 m
M
Tris/HCl, pH 7.5 containing 0.4 m
M
dithiothreitol, 5 m
M
MgCl
2
and 500 m
M
KCl) with a
fraction volume of 4 mL. Active fractions were pooled and
dialysed overnight against 50 m
M
Tris/HCl, pH 7.5 con-
taining 0.4 m
M
dithiothreitol, 5 m
M
MgCl
2
and 50% (v/v)
glycerol. The purified SK was stored at )20 °C.
Before use, SK was dialysed against buffer D (35 m
M
Tris/HCl, pH 7.6 containing 5 m

The activity of the shikimate kinase was determined by a
double coupled assay involving pyruvate kinase (PK) and
lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). The production of ADP in
the shikimate kinase-catalysed reaction leads to the conver-
sion of NADH to NAD
+
, which is monitored by the
decrease in A
340
.
The assay was carried out at 25 °C in a buffer consisting
of 50 m
M
triethanolamine hydrochloride containing 50 m
M
KCl and 5 m
M
MgCl
2
,titratedtopH7.2withKOH.
Concentrations of the assay components were 1.6 m
M
shikimate, 5 m
M
ATP, 1 m
M
phosphoenolpyruvate,
0.2 m
M
NADH, 1 U of each of PK and LDH. Stock

were made on enzyme samples in buffer D.
Most CD measurements were made using a Jasco J-600
spectropolarimeter, using cells of pathlength 0.2 or 0.5 mm
and protein concentrations in the range 0.1–0.5 mgÆmL
)1
.
Ó FEBS 2002 Refolding of shikimate kinase (Eur. J. Biochem. 269) 2125
Some CD data were obtained on experimental station 3.1 of
the CLRC Daresbury Laboratory’s Synchrotron Radiation
Source (SRS). This facility comprises a vacuum-UV 1 m
Seya-Namioka monochromator, which provides a high flux
of linearly polarized light in the wavelength range 120–
300 nm, which is converted to circularly polarized light
using a photoelastic modulator [23]. The SRS CD facility
was particularly useful when spectra were recorded in the
presence of high concentrations of NaCl or urea which
absorb strongly in the far UV. Spectra were recorded using
cells of pathlength 0.1 or 0.01 mm and protein concentra-
tions in the range 1–2 mgÆmL
)1
. Fluorescence data were
obtained using a PerkinElmer LS50 spectrofluorimeter.
The fluorescence of ANS was measured using excitation
and emission wavelengths of 380 nm and 480 nm, respec-
tively. The concentrations of solutions of ANS were
checked spectrophotometrically using a value of 6.0 for
the A
350
of a 1-m
M

LS50 spectrofluorimeter with excitation and emission
wavelengths of 320 nm.
Unfolding and refolding studies
Stock solutions of Ultrapure grade urea (10
M
)weremade
up by weight in buffer D; the actual concentrations were
checked using refractive index data [27].
Unfolding and refolding of SK was performed essentially
as described in our previous studies on type II dehydroqu-
inase [28]. To study the extent of unfolding of SK, the
enzyme was routinely incubated in buffer D in the stated
concentration of denaturant for 1 h at 20 °C, before the
CD, fluorescence and activity data were recorded. Refolding
was routinely initiated after unfolding for 1 h in the
presence of 4
M
urea, by dilution with 10 vol. of buffer D,
to give a residual concentration of denaturant of 0.36
M
.In
preliminary experiments, it was shown that unfolding in 4
M
urea for periods ranging from 5 min to 3 h had no effect on
either the spectroscopic properties of the unfolded enzyme,
or the kinetics of refolding as monitored by changes in
protein fluorescence. Where indicated ANS was included in
the unfolding and refolding mixtures at a concentration of
40 l
M

17 ± 1kJÆmol
)1
with no significant difference in stability
observed using the two measures of structural changes
employed. The value of the stability is towards the lower
end of those observed for a range of globular proteins [29]
and is similar to the value estimated for the structurally
similar enzyme adenylate kinase (19.6 kJÆmol
)1
)from
studies of the unfolding by urea [17]. However, given the
difficulties in estimating the contributions of the various
non–covalent interactions to the overall stability of
globular proteins [29], it is not profitable to analyse this
degree of similarity in greater detail.
Changes in activity in the presence of urea. Incubation
with urea leads to losses in activity which run roughly in
parallel with the structural changes, with 85 and 40%
activity retained in the presence of 1 and 2
M
urea,
respectively. In the presence of 4
M
urea, shikimate kinase
retains no detectable activity (< 0.1% of the control value).
Refolding of enzyme
All experiments on the refolding of shikimate kinase
involved unfolding in 4
M
urea for unfolding and 11-fold

M
urea and subsequently refolded
by an 11-fold dilution using manual mixing, 75% of the
recovery of ellipticity at 225 nm was complete within the
dead time (20 s) of the start of recording the ellipticity. A
further 15% of the signal was regained over the subsequent
500 s with a rate constant of 0.009 s
)1
.Attheendofthis
period the far UV CD spectrum of the refolded enzyme was
very similar to that of native enzyme (data not shown).
Using stopped flow mixing to initiate refolding it was
shown that the regain of ellipticity at 225 nm occurred in a
number of phases. From data obtained over the first 20 s of
refolding, it was shown that, within 20 ms, 15% of the total
signal corresponding to the folded enzyme (i.e. the differ-
ence between denatured and folded enzyme) had been
regained. A further 20% of the signal was regained in a first
order process with a rate constant of 8 s
)1
; in the third phase
a further 40% was regained with a rate constant 0.08 s
)1
.
Finally from data over the time range 20–200 s, a fourth
phase was observed accounting for an additional 10%
change with a rate constant 0.008 s
)1
. Taken together, the
four phases account for a regain of 85% of the native

shikimate kinase in the presence of shikimate was carried
out in order to assess the stage in the process at which the
shikimate binding site is formed, using the quenching of the
protein fluorescence by the ligand as the index of binding.
For these experiments it was necessary to monitor the
refolding by fluorescence at 330 nm, rather than 350 nm. At
the latter wavelength, the quenching caused by the binding
of shikimate to folded enzyme was nearly equal to the
Fig. 1. The unfolding of SK in the presence of urea. (A) Structural
changes monitored by changes in ellipticity at 225 nm (triangles) and
protein fluorescence at 350 nm (squares) as described in the text. The
concentration of protein in each sample was 0.2 mgÆmL
)1
.Thedata
shown combine the results of three separate sets of experiments for
each technique, with the results of replicate determinations within 5%.
(B) Data analysed according to the two-state model [27], with the
regression line shown.
Fig. 2. The kinetics of regain of activity of SK after denaturation in 4
M
urea. Activity values are expressed relative to a control sample incu-
bated in the presence of the final concentration of urea, i.e. 0.36
M
.The
dashed line shows a fit to a first order process with a rate constant of
0.007 s
)1
.
Ó FEBS 2002 Refolding of shikimate kinase (Eur. J. Biochem. 269) 2127
enhancement of protein fluorescence which occurred on

the next 185 s. The rate constant for this decline (0.025 s
)1
)
was rather higher than that of the slow increase in the
absence of shikimate (0.009 s
)1
), which could indicate that
the presence of ligand has a nucleating effect on folding of
this area of the enzyme [5]. The folding of the protein (which
wouldbeexpectedtoleadtoanincreaseinprotein
fluorescence) leads to the formation of a Ônative-typeÕ
shikimate binding site and the consequent quenching results
in the overall decrease in fluorescence in this phase of the
process. The simplest interpretation of these results is that
the formation of this Ônative-typeÕ site is only associated with
the slowest phase of the folding process.
ANS as a probe during refolding. ANS has been used
extensively as a probe for the existence of Ômolten globuleÕ or
Ôcompact intermediateÕ states of proteins and their forma-
tion during folding [30,31]. However, there have been
concerns raised that the presence of ANS may in fact
perturb the folding process [32].
InthecaseofSK,thepresenceof40l
M
ANScausedan
18% decrease in the activity of enzyme when assayed under
the standard conditions. The presence of ANS caused less
than 10% change in the K
d
for shikimate using the

stopped flow mixing and the fluorescence signals have been corrected
for the buffer signal. (A) Refolding in the absence of shikimate. Curves
a, b and c refer to enzyme in the presence of 4
M
urea, enzyme in the
presence of 0.36
M
urea, and enzyme during refolding, respectively. (B)
Comparison of refolding in the absence and presence of 2 m
M
shiki-
mate. In (A), fluorescence was monitored at 350 nm; in (B) fluores-
cence was monitored at 330 nm. The pattern of residuals to the curve
fitting in (A) is shown.
2128 E. Cerasoli et al. (Eur. J. Biochem. 269) Ó FEBS 2002
there was a rapid increase in fluorescence within the dead
time of observation (20 s) corresponding to 10 times the
fluorescence of the starting solution (enzyme in 4
M
urea)
and 2.5 times the value of the end solution (enzyme in
0.36
M
urea). This increase was followed by a decrease over
the subsequent 600 s to reach a value similar to that
observed for the enzyme in the final concentration of urea
(0.36
M
); the rate constant for this decrease was 0.009 s
)1

)1
, compared
with 10.1
M
)1
for the model compound, N-acetyltryptophan
amide. It is likely that the high degree of quenching of SK is
due to the positively charged environment provided by the
three Arg side chains (Arg11, Arg58 and Arg139) in
the neighbourhood of Trp54 [15]. This is confirmed by the
observation that in the presence of 4
M
urea the K
sv
values
for SK is reduced dramatically to 4.0
M
)1
; by contrast the
addition of 4
M
urea has only a very small effect on the K
sv
of the model compound (9.5
M
)1
). In the presence of 0.36
M
urea the K
sv

. The changes in
fluorescence over the period from 20 to 600 s could be
fitted to a first order process with a rate constant 0.008 s
)1
,
which is very similar to that observed in the absence of NaI
(0.009 s
)1
) (data not shown). Using stopped-flow mixing to
initiate refolding (Fig. 6), the degree of quenching after 20 s
was found to correspond to a K
sv
of 12.0
M
)1
, identical to
that observed by manual mixing. After 2 s, the quenching
corresponded to a K
sv
of 6.4
M
)1
, which is similar to the
value for denatured enzyme. From these results, it is clear
that the high degree of quenching and hence the positively
charged environment of the Trp is formed progressively
during the two (relatively slow) processes during which the
changes in the Trp fluorescence itself occur.
Model of folding pathway and properties of intermedi-
ates. Detailed studies of the refolding of a number of

)1
(half-life < 7 ms), 10 s
)1
(half-life 70 ms), 0.08 s
)1
(half-life 9 s) and 0.009 s
)1
(half-life 80 s). A simple outline
model could thus be proposed which involves three interme-
diates (I
1
,I
2
and I
3
) between the unfolded state (U) and the
native state (N); these are linked in a sequential fashion:
U
!
> 100 s
À1
I
1
!
10 s
À1
I
2
!
0:08 s

similar size [5,36,37]. It has been suggested that the low rate
might be a feature of a number of a/b domain proteins,
where the formation of the central b sheet core is expected to
be a slow process requiring the formation of a large number
of specific long-range contacts in the proper orientation
[38,39]. In contrast, the formation of a helices is much more
rapid, as short-range interactions are involved. The final
steps in formation of the native structure of a/b domain
proteins can involve slow rearrangement of domains, as
observed in the case of the p21
ras
protein [40].
In the refolding of a number of proteins, the cis/trans
isomerization of Xaa–Pro imide bonds appears to account
for some or all of the slow steps involved [41,42]. Upon
unfolding of the protein, a slow isomerization (with a time
constant of the order of 100–1000 s [41]) of the Xaa–Pro
imide bonds occurs to give a mixture containing typically
10–20% cis species at equilibrium. Upon refolding, proteins
in which the Xaa–Pro bonds are in their native state can
refold rapidly. Slow refolding species represents proteins in
which a Xaa–Pro imide bond is trapped in the non-native
conformation; productive folding can only occur after
isomerization has occurred. In many such cases, the slow
step(s) can be accelerated by addition of peptidyl prolyl
isomerase. While it is possible that the slowest phase of the
folding of shikimate kinase could reflect Xaa–Pro isomeri-
zation, there is evidence that this is not the case. Firstly, none
of the seven proline residues in the native enzyme contain a
cis imide bond [15]. Secondly, as indicated in Materials and

K
sv
¼
F
0
=F À 1
0:1

m
À1
Curves a, b and c refer to enzyme in the presence of 4
M
urea, enzyme
in the presence of 0.36
M
urea, and enzyme during refolding, respect-
ively. The pattern of residuals to the curve fitting is shown.
Table 1. Properties of intermediates in the refolding of shikimate kinase
after denaturation in 4
M
urea. In the table, U and N represent the
unfolded and refolded states of the enzyme and I
1
,I
2and
I
3
the inter-
mediates inferred from the kinetic analysis of changes in activity and
spectroscopic parameters during refolding. In order to facilitate com-

)1
at 25 °C. Our
data on shikimate kinase show that 75–80% regain of
ellipticity at 225 nm occurs within 20 s, but that this occurs
in three stages. The last stage, during which most of the
remaining ellipticity is regained, occurs with a rate constant
of % 0.009 s
)1
at 20 °C. The rate constant for the regain of
activity of adenylate kinase reported by Zhang et al. [17]
was 0.025 s
)1
at 25 °C, which is of a comparable magnitude
to the value obtained for SK (0.009 s
)1
at 20 °C) in the
present work.
Zhang et al. [17] reported that in the case of adenylate
kinase there was a rapid increase in ANS fluorescence upon
initiation of the refolding process, followed by a decline as
the probe was released from the protein. The desorption
step in the case of adenylate kinase occurred with a single
rate constant (0.004 s
)1
), which is of a similar magnitude to
that of the slowest step we observed, associated with regain
of the activity of shikimate kinase.
It is clear that our results extend the results provided by
Zhang et al. [17] and indicate that the model we have
proposed for refolding, which emphasizes the rapid hydro-

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