Chain length is the main determinant of the folding rate for proteins with three‐state folding kinetics

We demonstrate that chain length is the main determinant of the folding rate for proteins with the three‐state folding kinetics. The logarithm of their folding rate in water (kf) strongly anticorrelates with their chain length L (the correlation coefficient being −0.80). At the same time, the chain length has no correlation with the folding rate for two‐state folding proteins (the correlation coefficient is −0.07). Another significant difference of these two groups of proteins is a strong anticorrelation between the folding rate and Baker's “relative contact order” for the two‐state folders and the complete absence of such correlation for the three‐state folders. Proteins 2003;51:162–166. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

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