Amphiphilic macromolecules (AMs) composed of sugar backbones modified with branched aliphatic chains and a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) tail can inhibit macrophage uptake of oxidized low-density lipoproteins (oxLDL), a major event underlying atherosclerosis development. Previous studies indicate that AM hydrophobic domains influence this bioactivity through interacting with macrophage scavenger ...

Recent experimental results revealed that lipid-mediated interactions due to hydrophobic forces may be important in determining the protein topology after insertion in the membrane, in regulating the protein activity, in protein aggregation and in signal transduction. To gain insight into the lipid-mediated interactions between two intrinsic membrane proteins, we developed a mesoscopic model of...

OBJECTIVE betagamma-crystallins are among the most long lived globular proteins known today. Interaction of the two domains through a hydrophobic interface is one of the major contributors to the stability of these crystallins. Changes in these interactions are either due to the amino acid substitutions or the changes in the orientations of the same amino acids leading to cataract formation. We...

Interactions between hydrophobic chains of lipid monolayers and interactions between hydrophilic headgroups of lipid bilayers (with or without a molecular recognition step) are now well documented, especially for commonly used lipids. Here, we report force measurements between a new class of fluorinated lipid layers whose headgroups (synthetic ligands of retinoid receptors) display a very unusu...

The formation of associative networks in semidilute aqueous solutions of hydrophobically modified hydroxyethylcellulose (HM-HEC) is dependent on intermolecular hydrophobic interactions. Addition of hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HP-beta-CD) monomers to the system provides decoupling of these associations via inclusion complex formation with the polymer hydrophobic tails. Results from viscosit...

background and aims. adhesive permeability is hindered by application of an additional layer of hydrophobic resin, which increases its concentration within the hydrophilic layer, reduces its affinity to water, and enhances its physical properties. the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of a hydrophobic layer on the microleakage of class v composite restorations using different ...

The solvation of charge at the interface between an aqueous phase and hydrophobic medium is a key question in the mechanism of a wide range of biomolecular processes. These studies report the direct measurement of the molecular properties of water surrounding an isolated charge at an oil/water interface, and show how the solvating water structure changes with progressive charge build-up. At tra...

BACKGROUND Weak intermolecular interactions such as hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions are key players in stabilizing energetically-favored ligands, in an open conformational environment of protein structures. However, it is still poorly understood how the binding parameters associated with these interactions facilitate a drug-lead to recognize a specific target and improve drugs eff...

MRG15 is a transcription factor expressed in a variety of human tissues, and its orthologs have been found in many other eukaryotes which constitute the MRG protein family. It plays a vital role in embryonic development and cell proliferation, and is involved in cellular senescence. The C-terminal part of MRG15 forms a conserved MRG domain which is involved in interactions with the tumor suppre...

Membranes are of increasing interest for the removal of human enteric viruses from wastewater, especially when the goal of treatment is reuse. Limited work has been undertaken on fundamental issues such as aggregation and the role of electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions, as opposed to the sieving of viruses by membranes. One apparently critical factor would be the iso-electric point (pI) ...