Abstract
Ribonuclease A (RNase A) undergoes more rapid conformational folding with its disulfide bonds intact than during oxidative folding from its reduced form. In this study, the effects of the mutants Y92G, Y92A, and Y92L on both the conformational and oxidative folding pathways were examined to determine the role of native interactions in different types of conformational searches for the biologically active structure of a protein. These mutations did not affect the overall conformational folding pathway of RNase A. However, in the mutants Y92G and Y92A, a key structured disulfide-bonded species, des-[65-72], involved in the oxidative folding pathway of RNase A, was destabilized. These results demonstrate the importance of native interactions in the folding process, namely, protection of a native (40-95) disulfide bond by a nearby tyrosyl-prolyl stacking interaction, when disulfide bonds are allowed to undergo SH/S-S reshuffling.