An analysis of the folding of the 94 residue tenth
fibronectin type III (fnIII) domain of human fibronectin
(FNfn10) is presented. Use of guanidine isothiocyanate
as a denaturant allows us to obtain equilibrium and kinetic
data across a broad range of denaturant concentrations
that are unavailable in guanidine hydrochloride. Equilibrium
unfolding experiments show that FNfn10 is significantly
more stable than has been reported previously. Comparison
of equilibrium and kinetic parameters reveals the presence
of an intermediate that accumulates at low denaturant concentrations.
This is the first demonstration of three-state folding
kinetics for a fnIII domain. We have previously shown that
a homologous domain from human tenascin (TNfn3) folds by
a two-state mechanism, but this does not necessarily indicate
that the two proteins fold by different folding pathways.