HYDRATION AND PARTIAL COMPRESSIBILITY OF BIOLOGICAL COMPOUNDS

We review the results of compressibility studies on proteins, nucleic acids, and systematically altered low molecular weight compounds that model the constituents of these biopolymers. The model compound data a llow one to define the compressibility properties of water surrounding charged, polar, and nonpolar groups. These results, in conjunction wi th compressibility data on proteins and nucleic acids, were used to de fine the properties of water that is perturbed by the presence of thes e biopolymers in aqueous solutions. Throughout this review, we emphasi ze the importance of compressibility data for characterizing the hydra tion properties of solutes (particularly, proteins, nucleic acids, and their constituents), while describing how such data can be interprete d to gain insight into role that hydration can play in modulating the stability of and recognition between biologically important compounds.