Large gain in translational entropy of water is a major driving force in protein folding

被引:87
作者
Harano, Y [1 ]
Kinoshita, M [1 ]
机构
[1] Kyoto Univ, Inst Adv Energy, Uji, Kyoto 6110011, Japan
关键词
D O I
10.1016/j.cplett.2004.09.140
中图分类号
O64 [物理化学(理论化学)、化学物理学];
学科分类号
070304 ; 081704 ;
摘要
A view lacking in earlier studies on protein folding is that the process is critically influenced by the thermal motion of water molecules. Here it is pointed out that there is a powerful driving force, a large gain in the translational entropy (TE) of water, which competes with the large loss of the conformational entropy in the folding. We analyze the TE of water in which a protein molecule with a prescribed conformation is immersed. We consider a number of conformations and show that the largest TE is attained only in the native structure. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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页码:342 / 348
页数:7
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