Levinthal's question revisited, and answered

Journal of Biomolecular Structure & Dynamics
Arieh Ben-Naim

Abstract

Attempts to answer the Levinthal question "How proteins fold to give such a unique structure" are discussed. In the first part of this article, we focus on a few reasons as to why the solution to the protein-folding problem (PFP) has been elusive for a very long time. One is a result of the misinterpretation of Anfinsen's Thermodynamic hypothesis which led to the conclusion that the native structure of a protein must be at a global minimum of the Gibbs energy. The second is the result of the adherence to the hydrophobic paradigm, and at the same time ignoring a whole repertoire of hydrophilic effects. It is argued that switching from a target-based to a caused-based approach, and adopting the hydrophilic paradigm leads straightforwardly to a simple answer to Levinthal's question, as well as to a solution of the PFP.

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Citations

Jan 10, 2013·Journal of Biomolecular Structure & Dynamics·Aditya Mittal, Chanchal Acharya
Feb 7, 2013·Journal of Biomolecular Structure & Dynamics·Jihua WangZanxia Cao
Jan 10, 2013·Journal of Biomolecular Structure & Dynamics·R Nagaraj
Jan 16, 2013·Journal of Biomolecular Structure & Dynamics·Paul S Agutter
Jan 10, 2013·Journal of Biomolecular Structure & Dynamics·Rajendra R Joshi
Jan 10, 2013·Journal of Biomolecular Structure & Dynamics·R P Bywater
Jan 10, 2013·Journal of Biomolecular Structure & Dynamics·Ricardo Graña-Montes, Salvador Ventura
Jan 16, 2013·Journal of Biomolecular Structure & Dynamics·Jayanth R Banavar, Saraswathi Vishveshwara
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Jan 10, 2013·Journal of Biomolecular Structure & Dynamics·Youtao SongJianwei He
Jan 10, 2013·Journal of Biomolecular Structure & Dynamics·Li-Quan YangShu-Qun Liu
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Methods Mentioned

BETA
protein folding
the protein
for protein

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