X-Nico

unusual facts about hydrophobic


Hydrophobic-polar protein folding model

Even though the HP model abstracts away many of the details of protein folding, it is still an NP-hard problem on both 2D and 3D lattices.


BmTx3

Lysine plugs deep into the channel pore and Tyrosine, as penultimate or ultimate and hydrophobic residue, turns it to fixate it, leading to a physical occlusion of the channel pore.

Córdoba Synagogue

After the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, the building was devoted to various functions including a Hydrophobic hospital, a chapel for shoemakers and nursery school.

DPM2

The protein encoded by this gene is a hydrophobic protein that contains 2 predicted transmembrane domains and a putative ER localization signal near the C-terminus.

Lecithin—cholesterol acyltransferase

Lecithin—cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT, also called phosphatidylcholine-sterol O-acyltransferase) is an enzyme that converts free cholesterol into cholesteryl ester (a more hydrophobic form of cholesterol), which is then sequestered into the core of a lipoprotein particle, eventually making the newly synthesized HDL spherical and forcing the reaction to become unidirectional since the particles are removed from the surface.

Namib Desert

A number of endemic darkling beetles species- such as the Namib Desert beetle- have bumpy elytrons with a pattern of hydrophilic bumps and hydrophobic troughs.

Namib Desert beetle

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have emulated this capability by creating a textured surface that combines alternating hydrophobic and hydrophilic materials.

Minute water droplets (15-20 µm in diameter) from the fog gather on its wings; there the droplets stick to hydrophilic (water-loving) bumps, which are surrounded by waxy, hydrophobic troughs.

Superhydrophobic coating

super-hydrophobic coatings are also found in nature: they appear on plant leaves, such as the Lotus leaf, and some insect wings causing them to repel water.

Wilder Dwight Bancroft

He is known for the Bancroft rule: a predominantly hydrophilic emulsifier stabilizes an oil-in-water emulsion, whereas a predominantly hydrophobic emulsifier stabilizes a water-in oil emulsion.


see also