I wonder if the protein is in the native conformation except for the presence of the disulfide bond. For two cysteine residues to make a disulfide bond, distance between the two alpha carbons must be short enough (<6A, I believe). And for them to get in enough proximity to each other, the entire protein molecule has to take the correct conformation.
Oxidizing environments are necessary for disulfide-bond formation but not sufficient by itself. |
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