EMBL Chemical Biology: George Whitesides on Ligand Binding. In the

? EMBL Chemical Biology: Greasy Labels | Main | EMBL Chemical Biology: Substrate Activity Screening ?

September 27, 2012

EMBL Chemical Biology: George Whitesides on Ligand Binding

Posted by Derek

Now the conference day is winding up with a big talk by George Whitesides. He's talking about his thoughts on enzyme function, with reference to his group's work using carbonic anhydrase as a model. He praises its stability ("a ceramic brick") and other characteristics, as you might expect from someone who's published an entire review on its use in biophysical studies.

So what makes compounds bind to enzyme sites? His take on the hydrophobic effect is that he thinks it's due as much (or more) to changes in networks of water molecules, rather than just the release of structured water at the protein-ligand contact. The latter is important, for sure, but not the whole story. "There is no one hydrophobic effect", he says, "there are many hydrophobic effects".

Another quote: "There ain't nothin' like water", and I definitely agree. We're used to water, since it's the most common chemical substance that we deal with in our lives, but water is weird.

And there's a lot we don't know about it still. For example, Whitesides has just pointed out that we have a reasonable understanding of surface tension in the bulk phase - but not at all for molecular-sized holes. This is crucial for understanding ligand behavior. His view of protein-ligand binding, he says, is very water-centric. . .

Comments (8) + TrackBacks (0) | Category: Chemical Biology

POST A COMMENT

RELATED ENTRIES

? EMBL Chemical Biology: Substrate Activity Screening

? EMBL Chemical Biology: George Whitesides on Ligand Binding

? EMBL Chemical Biology: Greasy Labels

? EMBL Chemical Biology: How Receptors Really Work

? EMBL Chemical Biology: Unnatural Amino Acid Labels

? EMBL Chemical Biology: Discovering Catalysts

? EMBL Chemical Biology: Labeling Proteins

? EMBL Chemical BIology: Natural Product Multiheterocycles

Source: http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2012/09/27/embl_chemical_biology_george_whitesides_on_ligand_binding.php

peyton manning 49ers andy pettitte tyler clementi kevin kolb sarah shahi george clooney rutgers