Dimerization of Papain Induced by Mercuric Chloride and a Bifunctional Organic Mercurial

Abstract

The bifunctional mercurial meso-1,4-bis(acetatomercuri)-2,3-diethoxybutane and mercuric chloride were capable of dimerizing papain, by the attachment of the thiol group of 2 molecules of papain to each molecule of reagent. This was evident from the titration data, gel filtration and sedimentation equilibrium. The conformational change of papain necessary for this reaction was discussed.