Entropy-Driven Micellar Aggregation

Monosaccharide induced temporal delay in cholesterol self-aggregation

Self-assembly of cholesterol (CHL) is infamous for its diverse deleterious effects on human health. Clinical research over several decades indicates that a diet rich in CHL typically leads to arterial plaques, cataracts and gall stones among others. Carbohydrates like the β-glucans efficiently lower serum CHL, possibly by inhibiting CHL absorption in the digestive tract. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we explore how β-D-glucose (BGLC), the building block of β-glucans, interferes with CHL aggregation. BGLC slows down CHL diffusion and disrupts the formation of the robust hydrophobic CHL assembly. Estimation of the translational entropy of the CHL molecules shows the extent of retardation induced by BGLC. Coordination numbers obtained from the adjacency matrix and collective variable analysis of the packing of the CHL molecules in presence of BGLC show the time evolution of CHL aggregation. In presence of BGLC, small isolated CHL islands form, consolidate and disintegrate over time as compared to the blank CHL system. The predominance of smaller CHL clusters is an effect of the significant retardation of the translational motion of CHL molecules induced by BGLC.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Solvation theory to provide a molecular interpretation of the hydrophobic entropy loss of noble-gas hydration

An equation for the chemical potential of a dilute aqueous solution of noble gases is derived in terms of energies, force and torque magnitudes, and solute and water coordination numbers, quantities which are all measured from an equilibrium molecular dynamics simulation. Also derived are equations for the Gibbs free energy, enthalpy and entropy of hydration for the Henry's law process, the Ostwald process, and a third proposed process going from an arbitrary concentration in the gas phase to the equivalent mole fraction in aqueous solution which has simpler expressions for the enthalpy and entropy changes. Good agreement with experimental hydration free energies is obtained in the TIP4P and SPC/E water models although the solute's force field appears to affect the enthalpies and entropies obtained. In contrast to other methods, the approach gives a complete breakdown of the entropy for every degree of freedom and makes possible a direct structural interpretation of the well-known entropy loss accompanying the hydrophobic hydration of small non-polar molecules under ambient conditions. The noble-gas solutes experience only a small reduction in their vibrational entropy, with larger solutes experiencing a greater loss. The vibrational and librational entropy components of water actually increase but only marginally, negating any idea of water confinement. The term that contributes the most to the hydrophobic entropy loss is found to be water's orientational term which quantifies the number of orientational minima per water molecule and how many ways the whole hydrogen-bond network can form. These findings help resolve contradictory deductions from experiments that water structure around non-polar solutes is similar to bulk water in some ways but different in others. That the entropy loss lies in water's rotational entropy contrasts with other claims that it largely lies in water's translational entropy, but this apparent discrepancy arises because of different coordinate definitions and reference frames used to define the entropy terms.

Critical fluctuations of the micellar triethylene glycol monoheptyl ether-water system

Using the equal volume criterion and also the pseudospinodal conception the critical demixing point of the triethylene glycol monoheptyl ether/water system (C7E3H2O) has been determined as Ycrit=0.1 and Tcrit=296.46 K (Y, mass fraction of surfactant). From density measurements the critical micelle concentration (cmc) followed as Ycmc=0.007 at 288.15 K and Ycmc=0.0066 at 298.15 K. The (static) shear viscosity etas and the mutual diffusion coefficient D of the C7E3H2O mixture of critical composition have been evaluated to yield their singular and background parts. From a combined treatment of both quantities the relaxation rate Gamma of order parameter fluctuations has been derived. Gamma follows power law with universal critical exponent and amplitude Gamma0=3.1 x 10(9) s(-1). Broadband ultrasonic spectra of C7E3H2O mixtures exhibit a noncritical relaxation, reflecting the monomer exchange between micelles and the suspending phase, and a critical term due to concentration fluctuations. The former is subject to a relaxation time distribution that broadens when approaching the critical temperature. The latter can be well represented with the aid of the dynamic scaling model by Bhattacharjee and Ferrell (BF) [Phys. Rev. A. 31, 1788 (1985)]. The half-attenuation frequency in the scaling function of the latter model is noticeably smaller (Omega12 (BF) approximately 1) than the theoretically predicted value Omega12 (BF)=2.1. This result has been taken as an indication of a coupling between the fluctuations in the local concentration and the kinetics of micelle formation, in correspondence with the idea of a fluctuation controlled monomer exchange [T. Telgmann and U. Kaatze, Langmuir 18, 3068 (2002)].

Structural flexibility of small GTPases. Can it explain their functional versatility?

Multiple interactions with many different partners are responsible for the amazing functional versatility of proteins, especially those participating in cellular regulation. The structural properties that could facilitate multiple interactions are examined for small GTPases. The role of cellular constraints, compartmentation and scaffolds on protein-protein interactions is considered.