Psychrophilic Enzymes: From Folding to Function and Biotechnology

Figure 13

Folding funnel model of enzyme temperature adaptation. In these schematic energy landscapes for extremophilic enzymes, the free energy of folding (E) is depicted as a function of the conformational diversity. The height of the funnels is deduced from the determination of the conformational stabilities. The top of the funnels is occupied by the unfolded states in the numerous random coil conformations, whereas the bottom of the funnels corresponds to native and catalytically active conformations. The ruggedness of the bottom depicts the energy barriers for interconversion, or structural fluctuations of the native state [160].