Coil dimensions of the mussel adhesive protein Mefp-1

To obtain a better understanding of factors controlling cross-linking rates of Mussel adhesive proteins, we study the conformation of the Mussel Adhesive Protein Mefp-1. The dimensions of Mefp-1 in solution are determined by dynamic light scattering. Under physiological conditions, the hydrodynamic radius RH of Mefp-1 is found to be 10.5+/-1.1 nm. Measured Mefp-1 dimensions are compared with theoretical dimensions of Mefp-1 in random coil conformations. We have strong indications that Mefp-1, under dilute and physiological conditions, has a self-avoiding random walk conformation with helix-like deca-peptide segments. With a number of segments of approximately 90, the segment length is found to be 2.7 nm. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.