How Cosolvents and Cosolutes Affect Biomolecules Stability and Activity

Dear Colleagues,

At the interface between biology, physics and chemistry, a number of issues continue to attract great interest within the scientific community: protein folding and solvation, together with the ability of biomolecules to self-assemble under certain conditions, are certainly some of these issues.

This Special Issue focuses on biomolecules in the presence of a cosolvent or a cosolute, but its aim goes beyond this question. In fact, environmental changes induce biological systems to modify their activity and behavior in several ways, including the amyloid fibrillation process, nucleic acid thermodynamics, ion channel and membrane transporter conductance, and many others. Although the description of a biomolecule solvation shell and of protein folding are some of the most pressing biophysical challenges, several points are still unclear and debated. In simple terms, it is impossible to conceive of biological processes that do not depend at all on solvation. The stability of biomolecules is crucial for several phenomena which are of interest for molecular biology, medicine and biotechnology, and physiological liquids are not solely composed of water. However, the molecular mechanisms behind the stabilization and de­stabilization of biomolecules by cosolvents or cosolutes are not yet included in a quantitative comprehensive theory. Stabilizers have generally been considered to be preferentially excluded from the protein surface, while de-stabilizers to preferentially bind to biomolecules’ surfaces. Still others present controversial features according to their fraction in water. Considerable effort has been devoted to including these effects and the role of water­breakers in thermodynamic models. The study of mechanisms able to stabilize biomolecules can easily translate into the preservation of structure and functionality during storage and targeting, since many applications are affected by this issue.

Dr. Lucia Comez
Dr. Maria Grazia Ortore
Guest Editors

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