Characterization of tertiary interactions in a folded protein by NMR methods: studies of pH-induced structural changes in human growth hormone.

The pH-induced conformational changes in human growth hormone (hGH) have been studied, using a new quantitative NMR approach that combines 13C labeling of specific backbone carbonyl carbons with a complete spectral analysis of the corresponding 13C resonances. Thus, a complete analysis of the carbonyl resonances of the 26 Leu residues of hGH and their variation with pH provided detailed information about the equilibrium folding processes of the protein, including information about the kinetics of the folding. By combining this information with the pH dependence of readily identifiable 1H resonances, the pH-induced changes observed in the carbonyl carbon spectra can be associated with specific regions in the protein and can be ascribed to a series of localized adjustments in the tertiary structure, brought about by changes in the hydrogen bond interactions or electrostatic interactions between different residues in the globular folded protein. The preexchange lifetimes of these adjustments range from a fraction of a millisecond to a few milliseconds.