Searching for quantitative entropy-enthalpy compensation among protein variants
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 29, 2026

Differential Scanning Calorimetry — A Method for Assessing the Thermal Stability and Conformation of Protein Antigen
Published on: March 4, 2017
James R Beasley1, Donald F Doyle, Lixin Chen
1Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3290, USA.
Abstract:
Entropy-enthalpy (SH) compensation occurs when a small change in DeltaG is caused by large, and nearly compensatory, changes in DeltaH and DeltaS. It is considered a ubiquitous property of reactions in water. Because water is intimately involved in protein stability, SH compensation among protein variants, if it exists, could lead to important knowledge about protein-water interactions. In light of recent theoretical work on SH compensation, we gathered thermodynamic data for >200 protein variants to seek evidence for the simplest quantitative model of SH compensation (i.e., The van't Hoff denaturation enthalpy divided by the van't Hoff denaturation entropy is a constant). We conclude that either the data are insufficient to support the idea that quantitative SH compensation is a general feature of variant proteins or that such compensation does not exist. This study reinforces the idea that DeltaH-versus-DeltaS plots should not be used to provide evidence for SH compensation.
Related Concept Videos
Standard Entropy Change for a Reaction
Conservation of Protein Domains Over Different Proteins
A limited set of protein domains often duplicate and recombine during evolution. These domains can be organized in different combinations to form...
Enthalpy of Solution
Conserved Binding Sites
Binding sites are often located in large pockets, and if their location on a protein’s surface is unknown, it can be predicted using various approaches. The energetic method computationally analyses the...
Conservation of Protein Domains
A limited set of protein domains often duplicate and recombine during evolution. These domains can be organized in different combinations to form...
Calculating Standard Free Energy Changes

