The folding of spectrin domains II: phi-value analysis of R16.

Studies on the folding of helical proteins have shown a wide range of different mechanisms and highlighted the importance of helical propensity as a factor in determining folding mechanism. Here, we contribute to this interesting field with the protein engineering phi-value analysis of the 16th domain of chicken brain alpha-spectrin, R16. The fortuitous curvature seen in the unfolding arm of the chevron plot allows us to investigate both early and late events in folding. R16 is the first two-state helical protein for which this has been possible.