Question

Math & Protein Folding:

Consider a two-state folder in a stop-flow experiment. Changing urea concentration [Urea], the rate of change of the unfolded protein fraction dU/dt = -k_fU + k_uN, whereas the rate of change of the folded protein fraction dN/dt = k_fU + k_uN. The experiment measures the overall signal associated to the state of the system as a function of time. Show that the decay towards equilibrium is governed by the rate k_{f +} k_u, whereas the equilibrium state is given by k_f/k_u.

Answer 1