Hydrophobin SC3 is a protein with special self-association properties that differ depending on whether it is in solution, on an air/water interface or on a solid surface. Its self-association on an air/water interface and solid surface have been extensively characterized. The current study focuses on its self-association in water because this is the starting point for the other two association processes. Size-exclusion chromatography was used to fractionate soluble-state SC3. Real-time multiangular light scattering detection of the eluate indicated that SC3 mainly exists as a dimer in buffer, accompanied with a small amount of monomer, tetramer, and larger aggregates. Dimeric SC3 has very likely an elongated shape, as indicated by the hydrodynamic radius determined by using dynamic light scattering (DLS) and fluorescence anisotropy measurements on dansyl-labeled SC3. Size-exclusion chromatography experiments also indicated that the protein oligomerizes very slowly at low temperature (4°C) but rather rapidly at room temperature. Ionic strength plays an important role in the oligomerization; a short-lived monomeric SC3 species could be observed in pure water. Oligomerization was not affected by low pH but was accelerated by high pH. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer showed that dissociation occurred when the protein concentration was lowered; a large population of oligomers, presumably dimers, dissociate when the protein concentration is <4.5 g/mL. This value is similar to the critical concentration for SC3 self-assembly. Therefore, dimeric SC3 is indicated to be the building block for both aggregation in solution and self-assembly at hydrophobic/hydrophilic interfaces.

Hydrophobins are a class of small proteins that fulfill a wide spectrum of functions in fungal growth and development. They do so by self-assembling into an amphipathic membrane at hydrophilic-hydrophobic interfaces. The SC3 hydrophobin of Schizophyllum commune is the best-studied hydrophobin. It assembles at the air-water interface into a membrane consisting of functional amyloid fibrils that are called rodlets. Here we examine the dynamics of SC3 assembly at an oil-water and air-water interface and the permeability characteristics of the assembled layer. Hydrophobin assembled at an oil-water interface is a dynamic system capable of emulsifying oil. It accepts soluble-state SC3 oligomers from water in a unidirectional process and sloughs off SC3 vesicles back into the water phase enclosing a portion of the oil phase in their hydrophobic interior. The assembled layer is impermeable to solutes >200 Da from either the water phase or the oil phase; however, due to the emulsification process, oil and the hydrophobic marker molecules in the oil phase can be transferred into the water phase, thus giving the impression that the assembled layer is permeable to the marker molecules. By contrast, the layer assembled at an air-water interface is permeable to water vapor from either the hydrophobic or hydrophilic side.