Chirality of protein solvation

What is it about?

Both experiments and computations show that a protein structure can organize surrounding water solvent molecules into chiral supermolecular assemblies. The chirality of the water superstructures are determined by the absolute handedness of the protein.

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Photo by Johnny Brown on Unsplash

Photo by Johnny Brown on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Biomacromolecules are homochiral in nature, i.e., (L-) protein, (D-) DNA, and (D-) RNA. Water solvent modulates every aspect of protein structures and dynamics. The fact that protein solvation can be chiral will guide further exploration about the role of water in chiral selectivity of biomacromolecular interactions and the molecular origins of homochirality in the biology world.