Structural and Thermal Stability Characterization of Escherichia colid‐Galactose/d‐Glucose‐Binding Protein
S. d'Auria, Fabrizio Alfieri, M. Staiano, Fabrizio Pelella, M. Rossi, Andrea Scirè, F. Tanfani, E. Bertoli, Zigmunt Grycznyski, J. Lakowicz
The effect of temperature and glucose binding on the structure of the galactose/glucose‐binding protein from Escherichia coli was investigated by circular dichroism, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and steady‐state and time‐resolved fluorescence. The data showed that the glucose binding induces a moderate change of the secondary structure content of the protein and increases the protein thermal stability. The infrared spectroscopy data showed that some protein stretches, involved in α‐helices and β strand conformations, are particularly sensitive to temperature. The fluorescence studies showed that the intrinsic tryptophanyl fluorescence of the protein is well represented by a three‐exponential model and that in the presence of glucose the protein adopts a structure less accessible to the solvent. The new insights on the structural properties of the galactose/glucose‐binding protein can contribute to a better understanding of the protein functions and represent fundamental information for the development of biotechnological applications of the protein.