Research Projects

The interesting outcome of this work is that addition of the co solutes stabilizes an intermediate state of an intact protein, which is of novel significance. The intermediate state is prone to aggregation due to sticky surfaces and exposed hydrophobic patches. The kidney osmolyte stabilizes the intermediate state into native like conformations. The practical outcome of this study is that kidney osmolytes provides a favorable environment for refolding of proteins from their aggregated states. The counteraction mechanism predicts that the intracellular environment (the solution) has evolved through the ages without affecting the intracellular proteins themselves. The advantage of this strategy is that the nature has prevented mutational changes in the vast number of intracellular proteins, which would be otherwise necessary for adaptation of the organism to the environmental stresses. The beauty of the system is that by simply providing an appropriate intracellular solution, the organism is protected against the environmental stress while permitting adaptation to such extreme conditions such as high intracellular concentrations of urea, dehydration and low or high temperatures.