Molten globule state

Definition - It is an intermediate stage  in the protein folding pathway .(unfolded protein- molten globule -folded protein)
  
The protein folding pathaway is complicated . There are many models in support of this one of them is the hydrophobic collapsed model (molten globule) . It is called as a collapsed stage as the protein folding is initiated by a spontaneous collapse of the unfolded stage into a globular stage mediated by hydrophobic interactions.

This event is very fast (milliseceond).

Properties-

• It has most of the secondary structure in the native form.
• It is less compact.
• It lacks proper packing interactions in the interior of protein.
• The interior side remain mobile just like liquids.
• It can be measured by Circular dichroism (CD) and NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) .
• It has a slowly fluctuating tertiary structure .
• Not specific assembly of secondary structure and the interactions.
• The initial collapsed state of a folding protein is known as a molten globule. However, a molten globule’s side chains are extensively disordered, its structure fluctuates far more than that of the native protein, and it has only marginal thermodynamic stability. 

                                         

                           Image source-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrophobic_collapse#/media/File:Folding_funnel_schematic.svg

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