A
molten globule (
MG) is an intermediate state in the
folding pathway of a
protein that has some
secondary and
tertiary structure, but lacks the well packed
amino acid side chains that characterize the
native state[?] (
N) of a protein. The transition from a
denatured (
U) state to a molten globule may be a two state process
- U ↔ MG
Or it may be a continuous transition, with no cooperativity and no apparent "switch" from one form to the other. In any event, a model that can be used in some proteins is a three step process:
- U ↔ MG ↔ N
That the products of de novo protein design[?] have been found to be molten globules instead of native state proteins is an issue in the design of purely synthetic proteins.
Further information
- Is the molten globule a third phase of proteins?
http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/papers/MGpnas.pdf