Denaturation, reversible theory

The remarks made in Section 3i also apply here. In other words, the above theory can be extended to account for the effect of small ions and molecules on reversible denaturation in terms of the binding of these substances to hydrogen bond donor or acceptor groups. 

The high temperature coefficient of the reversible heat inactivation indicates that the phemonenon is due to a reversible denaturation of a protein, as has been described for proteolytic enzymes by Kunitz and Northrop (140) and Anson and Mirsky (8). The large pressure effects are also indicative of a very large molecule. The quantitative relation between temperature and luminescence intensity at different pressures can be described satisfactorily (Fig. 7) on the simple theory that the intensity increases with rise in temperature in proportion to the rate of the reaction, in accordance with equation (1), while at the same time it decreases in proper-... 

The relation between temperature and the quantitative effect of various inhibitors has not been a subject of intensive investigation for various reasons, for example the process in question frequently appears too complex to lend itself to simple analysis an understanding of the mechanism of the normal temperature-activity curve has been incomplete and formulations for testing the conformity of experimental data to a clearly defined theory of action with reference to the reversible denaturation of proteins, in addition to more specific effects independent of this reaction, have only recently become available. Thus, efforts have been directed primarily at analyzing the relation between concentration and inhibition at a given tem-... 

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