COLD AND HOT DENATURATION OF POLYSOAPS

A simple phenomenological model predicting the hot and cold denaturati on of polysoaps is presented. Polysoaps are flexible water-soluble pol ymers that incorporate, at intervals, covalently bound amphiphiles. In water, these self-assemble into intrachain micelles, thus giving rise to hierarchical self-organization. This structure is predicted to den ature, to disassemble, both upon heating and upon cooling. It is possi ble to narrow the stability range of the intrachain structure by incre asing the length of the spacer chain joining the amphiphilic monomers. A similar erect may influence the stability range of protein-polymer conjugates and certain glycosylated proteins.