Solvent properties of water in aqueous solutions of elastin-like polypeptide

  • Luisa A. Ferreira
  • , James T. Cole
  • , Christian Reichardt
  • , Nolan B. Holland
  • , Vladimir N. Uversky
  • , Boris Y. Zaslavsky

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

The phase-transition temperatures of an elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) with the (GVGVP)40 sequence and solvent dipolarity/polarizability, hydrogen-bond donor acidity, and hydrogen-bond acceptor basicity in its aqueous solutions were quantified in the absence and presence of different salts (Na2SO4, NaCl, NaClO4, and NaSCN) and various osmolytes (sucrose, sorbitol, trehalose, and trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO)). All osmolytes decreased the ELP phase-transition temperature, whereas NaCl and Na2SO4 decreased, and NaSCN and NaClO4 increased it. The determined phase-transition temperatures may be described as a linear combination of the solvent’s dipolarity/polarizability and hydrogen-bond donor acidity. The linear relationship established for the phase-transition temperature in the presence of salts differs quantitatively from that in the presence of osmolytes, in agreement with different (direct and indirect) mechanisms of the influence of salts and osmolytes on the ELP phase-transition temperature.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)13528-13547
Number of pages20
JournalInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences
Volume16
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 12 2015

Keywords

  • And hydrogen-bond acceptor basicity
  • Elastin-like polypeptide
  • Hydrogen-bond donor acidity
  • Osmolyte
  • Phase-transition temperature
  • Solvent dipolarity/polarizability
  • Solvent properties

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