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Additional
chaotropic agent
English Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia
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Chaotropic agent
A
chaotropic agent
is a molecule in water solution that can disrupt the
hydrogen bonding
network between water molecules (i.e. exerts
chaotropic activity
). This has an effect on the stability of the
native state
of other molecules in the solution, mainly
macromolecules
(
proteins
,
nucleic acids
) by weakening the
hydrophobic effect
. For example, a chaotropic agent reduces the amount of order in the structure of a
protein
formed by water molecules, both in the bulk and the hydration shells around
hydrophobic
amino acids
, and may cause its
denaturation (biochemistry)
.
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