Premium
Effective Molarity Redux : Proximity as a Guiding Force in Chemistry and Biology
Author(s) -
Hobert Elissa M.,
Doerner Amy E.,
Walker Allison S.,
Schepartz Alanna
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
israel journal of chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.908
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1869-5868
pISSN - 0021-2148
DOI - 10.1002/ijch.201300063
Subject(s) - compartmentalization (fire protection) , context (archaeology) , covalent bond , computational biology , variety (cybernetics) , colocalization , biophysics , biology , nanotechnology , chemistry , computer science , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , artificial intelligence , enzyme , materials science , organic chemistry , paleontology
The cell interior is a complex and demanding environment. An incredible variety of molecules jockey to identify the correct position – the specific interactions that promote biology, which are often hidden among countless unproductive options. Ensuring that the business of the cell is successful requires sophisticated mechanisms to impose temporal and spatial specificity – both on transient interactions and their eventual outcomes. Two strategies employed to regulate macromolecular interactions in a cellular context are colocalization and compartmentalization. Macromolecular interactions can be promoted and specified by localizing the partners within the same subcellular compartment, or by holding them in proximity through covalent or non‐covalent interactions with proteins, lipids, or DNA – themes that are familiar to any biologist. The net result of these strategies is an increase in effective molarity: the local concentration of a reactive molecule near its reaction partners. We will focus on this general mechanism, employed by nature and adapted in the lab, which allows delicate control in complex environments: the power of proximity to accelerate, guide, or otherwise influence the reactivity of signaling proteins and the information that they encode.