TABLE 1.
Effects of reducing agents on disassembly of HPV-11 L1 VLPs
| Disassembly condition | Distribution (%)a
|
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.15 M NaCl
|
0.3 M NaCl
|
0.5 M NaCl
|
||||
| Top | Bottom | Top | Bottom | Top | Bottom | |
| Starting material | 3.8 ± 0.7 | 96.3 ± 0.8 | 3.2 ± 1.4 | 96.8 ± 1.4 | 4.2 ± 0.3 | 95.9 ± 0.6 |
| 5% βME, 16 h | 87.7 ± 3.2 | 12.4 ± 3.1 | 70.9 ± 12 | 29.1 ± 12 | 53.2 ± 6.8 | 46.8 ± 6.8 |
| 5% βME, 1 h | 68.1 ± 11 | 31.9 ± 11 | 68.0 ± 10 | 32 ± 10 | ||
| 2% βME, 16 h | 72.1 ± 2.7 | 27.9 ± 2.7 | 67.6 ± 12 | 32.3 ± 612 | ||
| 0.5% βME, 16 h | 45.8 ± 18 | 54.2 ± 18 | 28.8 ± 16 | 71.2 ± 16 | ||
| 10 mM DTT, 16 h | 44.5 ± 11 | 55.5 ± 11 | 43.8 ± 20 | 56.2 ± 20 | ||
| 10 mM DTT, 1 h | 9.5 ± 6.4 | 90.5 ± 6.4 | ||||
| 10 mM DTT, 5 mM EDTA, 16 h | 55.9 ± 6.2 | 44.1 ± 6.2 | ||||
a
VLPs (0.5 to 1.0 mg of protein per ml) were treated as indicated at 4°C, and the distribution of L1 across a 30% sucrose cushion was determined as described in Materials and Methods. Shown are the means of multiple determinations (n = 3 to 7) ± standard deviation.