ust destroy the folded structure of the protein. How resilient the protein is to these assaults is what we often call stability," de Pablo says. "Detergents like the ones you use to wash your clothes have enzymes that break the fat in stains. When you put you clothes in hot water in your washing machine, you want your detergents to withstand those high temperatures. So what people do is engineer enzymes that do not unfold when you put them in hot water. They design enzymes that are more stable than normal enzymes at high temperatures."

To better understand protein folding, de Pablo's team built computer models of proteins under different types of confinement. These models were then simulated to gain a better understand of protein stability. Working with the UW-Madison Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC), funded by the National Science Foundation, the researchers will continue to refine their models with the goal of confining, folding and measuring the stability of proteins under more realistic conditions.

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Contact: Juan de Pablo
depablo@engr.wisc.edu
608-516-7877
University of Wisconsin-Madison
21-Mar-2006

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