Figure 2.

Chaperone-like activity of pepsin. Aggregation assays with thermally denatured citrate synthase (A) and chemically denatured rhodanese (B) in the absence of pepsin (▴); an equal molar amount (•), 2.5-fold (▪), or fivefold (♦) molar excess of pepsin; a 2.5-fold molar excess of pepsin inhibited with pepstatin (B, □); a fivefold molar excess of pepsin inhibited with pepstatin (⋄); a fivefold molar excess of BSA (▵). (Bottom) SDS-PAGE analysis of the assay solutions to show protein composition and to exclude remnant proteolytic activity of pepsin.