FAST EVENTS IN PROTEIN-FOLDING

Understanding how proteins fold is one of the central problems in bioc hemistry. A new generation of kinetic experiments has emerged to inves tigate the mechanisms of protein folding on the previously inaccessibl e submillisecond time scale. these experiments provide the first glimp se of processes such as secondary structure formation, local hydrophob ic collapse, global collapse to compact denatured states, and fast bar rier crossings to the native state. Key results are summarized and dis cussed in terms of the statistical energy landscape theory of protein folding.