Abstract
Compatible solutes are small organic osmolytes including but not limited to sugars, polyols, amino acids, and their derivatives. They are compatible with cell metabolism even at molar concentrations. A variety of organisms synthesize or take up compatible solutes for adaptation to extreme environments. In addition to their protective action on whole cells, compatible solutes display significant effects on biomolecules in vitro. These include stabilization of native protein and nucleic acid structures. They are used as additives in polymerase chain reactions to increase product yield and specificity, but also in other nucleic acid and protein applications.Interactions of compatible solutes with nucleic acids and protein-nucleic acid complexes are much less understood than the corresponding interactions of compatible solutes with proteins. Although we may begin to understand solute/nucleic acid interactions there are only few answers to the many questions we have. I summarize here the current state of knowledge and discuss possible molecular mechanisms and thermodynamics.
Highlights
Compatible solutes (CS) are small organic osmolytes including sugars, polyols, amino acids and their derivatives
Research on protein stability and protein stabilization by compatible solutes has led to the development of some theories concerning solute/protein interactions
In their work we find some NMR data which imply that proximity or binding of compatible solutes to guanine might play a role in this process
Summary
Compatible solutes (CS) are small organic osmolytes including sugars, polyols, amino acids and their derivatives. This brings us back to the point, that preferential interaction and osmophobic effect and water replacement and maybe even water density fractions [141] are all related to surface effects How does this help us to apply the protein/ compatible solute models to nucleic acids? As already shown more than 30 years ago [153,154] in the presence of certain compounds nucleic acid bases tend to be more exposed in an environment, and we can draw the conclusion that protein stabilizing solutes which destabilize DNA may have a similar effect. A closer investigation into the secondary structure of nucleic acids [172] and their involvement in nucleic acid/protein interactions [173] might help us to understand how compatible solutes affect nucleic acid/protein complexes and their formation
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