Hydrophilicity of the hydrophobic group: Effect of cosolvents and ions

Abstract

Classical molecular dynamics simulations were performed to study the effect of cosolvents and ions on the solvation structure of zwitterionic glycine in liquid water. Simulations were carried out for 2 M and 1 M concentration of TMAO, Urea, KCl and LiCl solutions to observe the changes in liquid structure of water near the glycine molecule. Radial distribution functions and spatial distribution functions showed the presence of protective hydration layer near the C <inf>?</inf> in presence of TMAO which gets reduced in case of urea, KCl and minimum in case of LiCl. LiCl is found to disrupt severely the solvation structure near the glycine molecule. For LiCl system, a small hydration layer is found near C <inf>?</inf> unit at higher distances which is mainly due to the first hydration shell of lithium ion bonded to the carboxylate group. Presence of these hydration layers gives extra stabilization energy to the glycine water system. Stabilizing and destabilizing effect of water near the glycine molecule is calculated in terms of Potential Mean Force. The anomalous behaviour of lithium salts with respect to Group I cation salts in protein stabilization can be explained on the basis of this behaviour. We found maximum hydrogen bond lifetime for water molecules in presence of TMAO followed by LiCl, KCl and least in case of urea. The higher lifetimes in presence of ions are found mainly due to their electrostatic force. The stabilization of the hydrophobic part of the glycine molecule can be correlated with the stabilization of proteins in presence of these cosolvents. © 2019 Elsevier B.V.