Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 12, 2026
12:42
Microfluidic Mixers for Studying Protein Folding
Published on: April 10, 2012
Minimizing frustration by folding in an aqueous environment.
1Department of Molecular and Structural Biochemistry, 128 Polk Hall, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7622, USA. carla_mattos@ncsu.edu <carla_mattos@ncsu.edu>
Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics
|August 28, 2007
Summary
Water actively guides protein folding and stability, challenging the view of it as a passive solvent. Understanding water's properties is crucial for protein science.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Physical Chemistry
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Life evolved in water, yet its properties remain incompletely understood.
- Water's role in biological processes, particularly protein dynamics, is a key area of research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the critical role of water in protein folding and stability.
- To elucidate the mechanisms by which water influences protein structure and function.
Main Methods:
- Literature review focusing on water-protein interactions.
- Analysis of existing data on protein folding energy landscapes.
- Examination of water's effect on transition state ensembles and folded protein states.
Main Results:
- Water is not a passive solvent but actively participates in protein folding.
- Water influences the protein folding energy landscape.
- Water mediates interactions critical for the stability of the folded protein state.
Conclusions:
- Water plays an indispensable and active role in protein folding and stability.
- A deeper understanding of water's properties is essential for advancing protein science.
- Future research should continue to explore the dynamic interactions between water and proteins.
Related Concept Videos
01:09Colloidal precipitates
The high insolubility of some precipitates can result in an unfavorable relative supersaturation. This can lead to colloidal particles with a large surface-to-mass ratio, where adsorption is promoted. For instance, in the precipitation of silver chloride, silver ions are adsorbed on the surface of the colloidal particles, forming a primary layer. This layer attracts ions of opposite charge (such as nitrate ions), forming a diffuse secondary layer of adsorbed ions. This electric double layer...
01:25Protein Folding
Proteins are chains of amino acids linked together by peptide bonds. Upon synthesis, a protein folds into a three-dimensional conformation, critical to its biological function. Interactions between its constituent amino acids guide protein folding, and hence the protein structure is primarily dependent on its amino acid sequence.
Protein Structure Is Critical to Its Biological Function
Proteins perform a wide range of biological functions such as catalyzing chemical reactions, providing...
Protein Structure Is Critical to Its Biological Function
Proteins perform a wide range of biological functions such as catalyzing chemical reactions, providing...
01:22Protein Folding
Overview
03:00Molecular Chaperones and Protein Folding
The native conformation of a protein is formed by interactions between the side chains of its constituent amino acids. When the amino acids cannot form these interactions, the protein cannot fold by itself and needs chaperones. Notably, chaperones do not relay any additional information required for the folding of polypeptides; the native conformation of a protein is determined solely by its amino acid sequence. Chaperones catalyze protein folding without being a part of the folded protein.
The...
The...
02:42Aqueous Solutions and Heats of Hydration
Water and other polar molecules are attracted to ions. The electrostatic attraction between an ion and a molecule with a dipole is called an ion-dipole attraction. These attractions play an important role in the dissolution of ionic compounds in water.
When ionic compounds dissolve in water, the ions in the solid separate and disperse uniformly throughout the solution because water molecules surround and solvate the ions, reducing the strong electrostatic forces between them. This process...
When ionic compounds dissolve in water, the ions in the solid separate and disperse uniformly throughout the solution because water molecules surround and solvate the ions, reducing the strong electrostatic forces between them. This process...
04:01Factors Affecting Solubility
Compared with pure water, the solubility of an ionic compound is less in aqueous solutions containing a common ion (one also produced by dissolution of the ionic compound). This is an example of a phenomenon known as the common ion effect, which is a consequence of the law of mass action that may be explained using Le Chȃtelier’s principle. Consider the dissolution of silver iodide: