Difference of carboxybetaine and oligo(ethylene glycol) moieties in altering hydrophobic interactions: A molecular simulation study

Qing Shao, Andrew D. White, Shaoyi Jiang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

32 Scopus citations

Abstract

Polycarboxybetaine and poly(ethylene glycol) materials resist nonspecific protein adsorption but differ in influencing biological functions such as enzymatic activity. To investigate this difference, we studied the influence of carboxybetaine and oligo(ethylene glycol) moieties on hydrophobic interactions using molecular simulations. We employed a model system composed of two non-polar plates and studied the potential of mean force of plate-plate association in carboxybetaine, (ethylene glycol)4, and (ethylene glycol)2 solutions using well-tempered metadynamics simulations. Water, trimethylamine N-oxide, and urea solutions were used as reference systems. We analyzed the variation of the potential of mean force in various solutions to study how carboxybetaine and oligo(ethylene glycol) moieties influence the hydrophobic interactions. To study the origin of their influence, we analyzed the normalized distributions of moieties and water molecules using molecular dynamics simulations. The simulation results showed that oligo(ethylene glycol) moieties repel water molecules away from the non-polar plates and weaken the hydrophobic interactions. Carboxybetaine moieties do not repel water molecules away from the plates and therefore do not influence the hydrophobic interactions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)189-194
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Physical Chemistry B
Volume118
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 9 2014

Funding

FundersFunder number
National Science Foundation (NSF)CBET-126477, CMMI-0758358, CBET-0854298
Office of Naval ResearchN00014-10-1-0600
National Science Foundation (NSF)1264477

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
    • Surfaces, Coatings and Films
    • Materials Chemistry

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Difference of carboxybetaine and oligo(ethylene glycol) moieties in altering hydrophobic interactions: A molecular simulation study'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this