Measuring the interaction of urea and protein-stabilizing osmolytes with the nonpolar surface of hydroxypropylcellulose.
The interaction of urea and several naturally occurring protein-stabilizing osmolytes, glycerol, sorbitol, glycine betaine, trimethylamine oxide (TMAO), and proline, with condensed arrays of a hydrophobically modified polysaccharide, hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC), has been inferred from the effect of these solutes on the forces acting between HPC polymers. Urea interacts only very weakly. The protein-stabilizing osmolytes are strongly excluded. The observed energies indicate that the exclusion of the protein-stabilizing osmolytes from protein hydrophobic side chains would add significantly to protein stability. The temperature dependence of exclusion indicates a significant contribution of enthalpy to the interaction energy in contrast to expectations from "molecular crowding" theories based on steric repulsion. The dependence of exclusion on the distance between HPC polymers rather indicates that perturbations of water structuring or hydration forces underlie exclusion.
National Institute of Standards and Technology Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA.
Christopher
C
Stanley
Donald C
DC
Rau
D000465:Algorithms; D001622:Betaine / Q000737:chemistry; D002482:Cellulose / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry; D005990:Glycerol / Q000737:chemistry; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008744:Methylamines / Q000737:chemistry; D008956:Models, Chemical; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000737:chemistry*; D009997:Osmotic Pressure; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D013012:Sorbitol / Q000737:chemistry; D013696:Temperature; D013816:Thermodynamics; D014508:Urea / Q000737:chemistry*; D014965:X-Rays
D008744:Methylamines; D009930:Organic Chemicals; D011506:Proteins; D001622:Betaine; D013012:Sorbitol; D014508:Urea; D002482:Cellulose; C008079:hydroxypropylcellulose; C005855:trimethyloxamine; D005990:Glycerol