Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

High and low density intracellular water.

P M Wiggins1

  • 1Genesis Research and Development Corp. Ltm., Auckland, New Zealand. p.wiggins@genesis.co.nz

Cellular and Molecular Biology (Noisy-Le-Grand, France)
|December 1, 2001
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Changes in ionic selectivity with changes in density of water in gels and cells.

Biophysical journal·2009
Same author

Donnan membrane equilibrium is not directly applicable to distributions of ions and water in gels or cells.

Biophysical journal·2009
Same author

Preservation of murine embryos in a state of dormancy at 4 degreesC.

The American journal of physiology·1999
Same author

High and low density water and resting, active and transformed cells.

Cell biology international·1996
Same author

Micro-osmosis in gels, cells and enzymes.

Cell biochemistry and function·1995
Same author

Role of water in some biological processes.

Microbiological reviews·1990

Liquid water exists as distinct high and low-density microdomains. Solutes interacting with these domains influence biological processes like protein folding and enzyme function.

Area of Science:

  • Biophysics
  • Physical Chemistry
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • The structure of liquid water is often simplified, yet its complex nature, potentially involving distinct microdomains, may be crucial for biological functions.
  • Understanding water's role in biological systems requires considering its microscale properties and interactions with solutes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the implications of a proposed model of liquid water, consisting of rapidly exchanging high- and low-density polymorphs, on the roles of water in biological processes.
  • To explore how solutes partition between these water polymorphs and the resulting thermodynamic consequences.

Main Methods:

  • Theoretical examination of the microdomain model of liquid water.
  • Analysis of solute partitioning (chaotropes and kosmotropes) between high- and low-density water polymorphs.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Thermodynamic assessment of water equilibrium displacement.

    • Main Results:

    • Chaotropes favor low-density water, shifting the equilibrium towards high-density water.
    • Kosmotropes favor high-density water, inducing low-density water.
    • Thermodynamic costs associated with water equilibrium displacement are significant and appear to drive protein folding, DNA folding, biopolymer aggregation, and non-polar kosmotrope insolubility.

    Conclusions:

    • The microdomain model provides a framework for understanding water's influence on protein and DNA folding, biopolymer aggregation, and solute solubility.
    • Cells appear to regulate intracellular water microdomains and solute concentrations to optimize enzyme function.
    • While bulk water properties may be averaged, local nanoscale differences in intracellular water are significant and utilized by enzymes for various functions, including cation transport and synthesis.