Figure 3.
(A) Illustration of the effect of multiple parallel folding pathways on predicted folding kinetics, according to five different kinetic models. Rapid interconversion of unfolded state populations is assumed. Folding rate constants and initial unfolded state populations were set to the same values as in Figure 2. Unfolded state interconversion rates were set to kinter-U = 106 sec−1. (B) Effect of number of unfolded state conformations on the observed single-exponential kinetic rate constant for folding. Simulations have been run under identical conditions to those used in A except that the number of unfolded state microscopic states has been varied, as shown in the plot. The folding rate constants for Model IV, for different number of unfolded states, were determined according to Equations 5 and 6, as discussed in Materials and Methods.