• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.1742-1750
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• 2003

In order to characterize the hydrophobic parameters of N-acetyl amino acid amides in 1-octanol/water, a theoretical calculation was carried out using a solvation free energy density model. The hydrophobicity parameters of the molecules are obtained with the consideration of the solvation free energy over the solvent volume surrounding the solute, using a grid model. Our method can account for the solvent accessible surface area of the molecules according to conformational variations. Through a comparison of the hydrophobicity of our calculation and that of other experimental/theoretical works, the solvation free energy density model is proven to be a useful tool for the evaluation of the hydrophobicity of amino acids and peptides. In order to evaluate the solvation free energy density model as a method of calculating the activity of drugs using the hydrophobicity of its building blocks, the contracture of Bradykinin potentiating pentapeptide was also predicted from the hydrophobicity of each residue. The solvation free energy density model can be used to employ descriptors for the prediction of peptide activities in drug discovery, as well as to calculate the hydrophobicity of amino acids.

• Proceeding of EDISON Challenge
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• 2015.03a
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• pp.70-75
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• 2015

Fasciclin 1 (FAS1) is an extracellular protein whose aggregation in cornea leads to visual impairment. While a number of FAS1 mutants have been studied that exhibit enhanced/decreased aggregation propensity, no structural information has been provided so far that is associated with distinct aggregation potential. In this study, we have investigated the structural and thermodynamic characteristics of the wild-type FAS1 and its two mutants, R555Q and R555W, by using molecular dynamics simulations and three-dimensional reference interaction site model (3D-RISM) theory. We find that the hydrophobic solvent accessible surface area increases due to hydrophobic core repacking in the C-terminus caused by the mutation. We also find that the solvation free energy of the mutants increases due to the enhanced non-native H-bonding. These structural and thermodynamic changes upon mutation contribute to understand the aggregation of these mutants.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.33-40
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• 2004

Thermodynamic properties of ubiquitin transient folding intermediate were studied by measuring folding kinetics in varying temperatures and denaturant concentrations. Through quantitative kinetic modeling, the equilibrium constant, hence folding free energy, between unfolded state and intermediate state in several different temperatures were calculated. Using these values, the thermodynamic parameters were estimated. The heat capacity change $({\Delta}C_p)$ upon formation of folding intermediate from unfolded state were estimated to be around 80% of the overall folding reaction, indicating that ubiquitin folding intermediate is highly compact. At room temperature, the changes of enthalpy and entropy upon formation of the intermediate state were observed to be positive. The positive enthalpy change suggests that the breaking up of the highly ordered solvent structure surrounding hydrophobic side-chain upon formation of intermediate state. This positive enthalpy was compensated for by the positive entropy change of whole system so that formation of transient intermediate has negative free energy.