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A new theoretical approach to biological self-assembly

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Abstract

Upon biological self-assembly, the number of accessible translational configurations of water in the system increases considerably, leading to a large gain in water entropy. It is important to calculate the solvation entropy of a biomolecule with a prescribed structure by accounting for the change in water–water correlations caused by solute insertion. Modeling water as a dielectric continuum is not capable of capturing the physical essence of the water entropy effect. As a reliable tool, we propose a hybrid of the angle-dependent integral equation theory combined with a multipolar water model and a morphometric approach. Using our methods wherein the water entropy effect is treated as the key factor, we can elucidate a variety of processes such as protein folding, cold, pressure, and heat denaturating of a protein, molecular recognition, ordered association of proteins such as amyloid fibril formation, and functioning of ATP-driven proteins.

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Acknowledgments

The author thanks all the collaborators. Sincere appreciation should be expressed to Prof. Kuniaki Nagayama for his continuous encouragement. This work was supported mainly by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (No. 20118004) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.

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  1. Institute of Advanced Energy, Kyoto University, Uji, Kyoto, 611-0011, Japan

    Masahiro Kinoshita

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  1. Masahiro Kinoshita
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Correspondence to Masahiro Kinoshita.

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Kinoshita, M. A new theoretical approach to biological self-assembly. Biophys Rev 5, 283–293 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12551-013-0100-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12551-013-0100-8

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