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Entropy Tug-of-War Determines Solvent Effects in the Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation of a Globular Protein.
- Source :
-
The journal of physical chemistry letters [J Phys Chem Lett] 2024 Apr 18; Vol. 15 (15), pp. 4047-4055. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Apr 05. - Publication Year :
- 2024
-
Abstract
- Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) plays a key role in the compartmentalization of cells via the formation of biomolecular condensates. Here, we combined atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and terahertz (THz) spectroscopy to determine the solvent entropy contribution to the formation of condensates of the human eye lens protein γD-Crystallin. The MD simulations reveal an entropy tug-of-war between water molecules that are released from the protein droplets and those that are retained within the condensates, two categories of water molecules that were also assigned spectroscopically. A recently developed THz-calorimetry method enables quantitative comparison of the experimental and computational entropy changes of the released water molecules. The strong correlation mutually validates the two approaches and opens the way to a detailed atomic-level understanding of the different driving forces underlying the LLPS.
- Subjects :
- Humans
Solvents
Entropy
Calorimetry
Phase Separation
Water
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1948-7185
- Volume :
- 15
- Issue :
- 15
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- The journal of physical chemistry letters
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 38580324
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c03421