title: Clathrate hydrates are poor models of biomolecule hydration.
abstract: Clathrate hydrates form the basis of a general model of biomolecule hydration. In clathrate hydrate crystal structures, the size of hydrogen-bonded water rings is highly constrained to five members. The clathrate hydrate model predicts that the size of water rings near biomolecule surfaces is similarly constrained to five members. This report describes a test of this model of biomolecule hydration. We have demonstrated that five-membered water rings are not a general feature of protein or nucleic acid hydration. The clathrate hydrate model appears to be inappropriate for soluble biomolecules.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta 30332, USA.
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Lipscomb
authors.forename: F X
authors.initials: FX
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: L D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D001704:Biopolymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D003460:Crystallization; D006860:Hydrogen Bonding; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001704:Biopolymers; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D014867:Water