Investigating Protein Folding and Unfolding in Electrospray Nanodrops Upon Rapid Mixing Using Theta-Glass Emitters

Theta-glass emitters are used to rapidly mix two solutions to induce either protein folding or unfolding during nanoelectrospray (nanoESI). Mixing acid-denatured myoglobin with an aqueous ammonium acetate solution to increase solution pH results in protein folding during nanoESI. A reaction time and upper limit to the droplet lifetime of 9 +/- 2 mu s is obtained from the relative abundance of the folded conformer in these rapid mixing experiments compared to that obtained from solutions at equilibrium and a folding time constant of 7 mu s. Heme reincorporation does not occur, consistent with the short droplet lifetime and the much longer time constant for this process. Similar mixing experiments with acid-denatured cytochrome c and the resulting folding during nanoESI indicate a reaction time of between 7 and 25 mu s depending on the solution composition. The extent of unfolding of holo-myoglobin upon rapid mixing with theta-glass emitters is less than that reported previously (Fisher et al. Anal. Chem. 2014, 86, 4581-4588), a result that is attributed to the much smaller, similar to 1.5 mu m, average o.d. tips used here. These results indicate that the time frame during which protein folding or unfolding can occur during nanoESI depends both on the initial droplet size, which can be varied by changing the emitter tip diameter, and on the solution composition. This study demonstrates that protein folding or unfolding processes that occur on the similar to 10 mu s time scale can be readily investigated using rapid mixing with theta-glass emitters combined with mass spectrometry.