Search results for "solvent reorganization"
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Enthalpy/entropy compensation effects from cavity desolvation underpin broad ligand binding selectivity for rat odorant binding protein 3
2014
Evolution has produced proteins with exquisite ligand binding specificity, and manipulating this effect has been the basis for much of modern rational drug design. However, there are general classes of proteins with broader ligand selectivity linked to function, the origin of which is poorly understood. The odorant binding proteins (OBPs) sequester volatile molecules for transportation to the olfactory receptors. Rat OBP3, which we characterize by X-ray crystallography and NMR, binds a homologous series of aliphatic gamma-lactones within its aromatic-rich hydrophobic pocket with remarkably little variation in affinity but extensive enthalpy/entropy compensation effects. We show that the bin…
Frozen or dynamic? : An atomistic simulation perspective on the timescales of electrochemical reactions
2023
Electrochemical systems span a wide range of timescales, and several recent works have put forth the idea that the reaction environment should remain frozen and out of equilibrium during electrochemical electron or proton transfer reactions. Furthermore, simplified treatments of the electrochemical interface model the solvent and ions as frozen molecules. However, the claims and practices of a frozen environment strongly clash with most theoretical and simulation approaches developed to study electrochemical reaction rates. It has also been suggested that the electrode potential should not be fixed when simulating reaction rates due to conductivity limitations, which indicates constant pote…