Osmolytes are small organic compounds that affect protein stability and are ubiquitous in living systems. In the equilibrium protein folding reaction, unfolded (U) native (N), protecting osmolytes push the equilibrium toward N, whereas denaturing osmolytes push the equilibrium toward U. As yet, there is no universal molecular theory that can explain the mechanism by which osmolytes interact wit...

We seek to understand the link between protein thermodynamics and protein structure in molecular detail. A classical approach to this problem involves assessing changes in protein stability resulting from added cosolvents. Under any given conditions, protein molecules in aqueous buffer are in equilibrium between unfolded and folded states, U(nfolded) <==> N(ative). Addition of organic osmolytes...

Osmolytes are small organic compounds that confer to the cell an enhanced adaptability to external conditions. Many osmolytes not only protect the cell from osmotic stress but also stabilize the native structure of proteins. While simplified models able to predict changes to protein stability are available, a general physicochemical explanation of the underlying microscopic mechanism is still m...

Cellular methylamines are osmolytes (low molecular weight organic compounds) believed to offset the urea's harmful effects on the stability and function of proteins in mammalian kidney and marine invertebrates. Although urea and methylamines are found at 2:1 molar ratio in tissues, their opposing effects on protein structure and function have been questioned on several grounds including failure...

Protein misfolding and aggregation are responsible for a large number of diseases called protein conformational diseases or disorders that include Alzheimer׳s disease, Huntington׳s diseases, Prion related encephalopathies and type-II diabetes (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/35041139) (Kopito and Ron, 2000) [1]. A variety of studies have shown that some small organic molecules, known as osmolytes hav...

Chronic inflammation of skeletal muscle tissues, termed myositis, is associated with inherited muscular dystrophy and acquired inflammatory myopathy. In this review, the role of the organic osmolytes taurine, betaine, myo-inositol, and sorbitol in skeletal muscles in general, and in myositis in particular, is discussed. Evidence indicates that regulated osmolyte pathway activation contributes t...

The production and consumption of organic matter by marine organisms plays a central role in the carbon cycle. Labile compounds (metabolites) are major currency energetic demands organismal interaction, but these remain elusive because their rapid turnover concomitant minuscule concentrations dissolved pool. Organic osmolytes group small metabolites synthesized at high intracellular (mM) to reg...

Identification of metabolic attributes of drought resistance in cowpea using metabolite profiling and osmotic adjustment analysis H. Trindade, E. Rosa, P. Goufo* Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal Plants tolerate drought by producing organic solutes, which act as compatible osmolytes that accumulate in the cytosol for osmotic adjustment, or osmoprotectants that stabilize cell...