In vitro protein folding by ribosomes from Escherichia coli, wheat germ and rat liver

Abstract

Ribosomes from a number of prokaryotic and eukaryotic sources (e.g., Escherichia coli, wheat germ and rat liver) can refold a number of enzymes which are denatured with guanidine/HCl prior to incubation with ribosomes. In this report, we present our observations on the refolding of denatured lactate dehydro-genase from rabbit muscle and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase from baker's yeast by ribosomes from E. coli, wheat germ and rat liver, The protein-folding activity of E. coli, ribosomes was found to be present in 50s particles and in 23S rRNA. The 30S particle or 16S rRNA did not show any protein-folding activity. The protein-folding activity of 23S rRNA may depend on its tertiary conformation. Loss of tertiary structure, by incubation with low concentrations of EDTA, inhibited the protein-folding activity of 23S rRNA. This low concentration of EDTA had no effect on folding of the denatured enzymes by themselves.