Browsing by Author "Benson, Sven P."

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Open Access
Molecular modeling of hydrophobic effects in complex biomolecular systems : from simple mixtures to protein-interface aggregation
(2014) Benson, Sven P.; Pleiss, Jürgen (Prof. Dr.)
Hydrophobicity is a term commonly used to discuss the formation of molecular structures in aqueous solution, and since water is ubiquitous in cellular systems, it may be applied in virtually every biomolecular context. Hydrophobicity is not a first-principle parameter but an abstract concept to describe the “behavior” of molecules in aqueous environments. The terminology of hydrophobicity is misleading, because it implies repulsion or a lack of attraction between nonpolar groups and water, when in fact attractive interactions persist due to atom dipoles. Although it has long been recognized that the driving force of structure formation in aqueous environments is founded in water’s “narcissism”, i.e., water self-preference, rather than in a general “fear of water”, the term hydrophobicity has established itself ever since Kautzmann related protein stability to hydrophobic interactions. Due to its false implications, hydrophobicity can be a cause of confusion and the culprit of misleading deductions. Presented in this dissertation is the author’s work on the structural and dynamical characterization of hydrophobic effects in biomolecular systems in the broadest sense, whereby molecular systems on three different size scales are covered: binary mixtures of methanol and water, aggregation of triglyceride droplets in aqueous solution and enzymes that interact with triglyceride-water interfaces of large-scale triglyceride aggregates.