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Cumulative Exam June 2019

Exam Topic

Transition State Theory applied to two-state protein folding kinetics: chevron plots, phi-value analysis, and rate limiting steps

Writer: Vincent Voelz

The main reading assignment to prepare for the exam is Chapters 17, 18 and 19 of the book:

Fersht, A. (1998). Structure and mechanism in protein science: a guide to enzyme catalysis and protein folding. WH Freeman.  

You will be asked more specific questions/problems about:

  • two-state folding kinetics(Chapter 18)
  • chevron plots (Chapter 18, starting at p. 543)
  • phi-value analysis (Chapter 18, starting at p. 559)
  • m-values and βT-values(Chapter 18, starting at p. 543)

Other good phi-value references can be found in the text and citations on: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phi_value_analysis

A very good reference on measuring and analyzing protein folding kinetic data, and chevron plots can be found here:

Zarrine-Afsar, A., & Davidson, A. R. (2004). The analysis of protein folding kinetic data produced in protein engineering experiments. Methods, 34(1), 41–50. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymeth.2004.03.013

Solution Key