Cosolvent assisted protein refolding.

The use of cosolvents in aqueous systems has been shown to enhance protein refolding and decrease aggregation. In this study, we have used polyethylene glycol (PEG) in the molecular weight range of 1000 to 8000 Daltons to effectively increase the rate of refolding and prevent aggregation of the model protein, bovine carbonic anhydrase B (CAB). At concentrations of 3 and 30 g/l, PEG increased the rate of recovery of active protein in the absence of aggregation. Using 3 g/l PEG (3350 MW), the refolding rate was three fold greater than the observed normal refolding rate. The observed rate enhancement was caused by PEG acting on the first intermediate in the CAB refolding pathway to increase the rate of formation of the second intermediate. The interaction of PEG with the first intermediate also prevented its self-association during refolding and at equilibrium. The stabilization of this first intermediate resulted in complete recovery of active protein under normal aggregating conditions.