Lee Maeng-Eun, van der Vegt Nico F A
Max-Planck-Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, D-55128 Mainz, Germany.
J Am Chem Soc. 2006 Apr 19;128(15):4948-9. doi: 10.1021/ja058600r.
It is generally accepted that clusters of hydrophobic moieties in water fall apart when urea is added in substantial amounts. We performed atomistic molecular dynamics simulations of hydrophobic solute pairs and found evidence that urea molecules act as "glue" bridging these pairs thereby holding them together. The picture is quite general as it applies to aliphatic-aliphatic as well as aromatic-aromatic interactions. The implications of this finding on the role of urea as a protein denaturant are discussed.
一般认为，当大量添加尿素时，水中的疏水基团簇会解体。我们对疏水溶质对进行了原子分子动力学模拟，发现有证据表明尿素分子起到“胶水”的作用，将这些溶质对连接在一起，从而使它们保持在一起。这种情况相当普遍，因为它适用于脂肪族-脂肪族以及芳香族-芳香族相互作用。本文讨论了这一发现对尿素作为蛋白质变性剂作用的影响。
