Trifluoroethanol-induced beta -> alpha transition in beta-lactoglobulin: hydration and cosolvent binding studied by 2H, 17O, and 19F magnetic relaxation dispersion.
Alcohols, such as 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE), have been shown to induce a cooperative transition to an open helical structure in many proteins, but the underlying molecular mechanism has not been identified. Here, we employ the technique of magnetic relaxation dispersion (MRD) to study the TFE-induced transition of -lactoglobulin at pH 2.4. Unlike traditional techniques that focus on protein sec