Macromolecular Crowding - Study

Study

Due to macromolecular crowding enzyme assays and biophysical measurements performed in dilute solution may fail to reflect the actual process and its kinetics taking place in the cytosol. One approach to produce more accurate measurements would be to use highly-concentrated extracts of cells, to try to maintain the cell contents in a more natural state. However, when using such extracts it is very difficult to study one process in isolation. Consequently, the crowded effects may be mimicked in vitro by adding high concentrations of an inert molecule such as polyethylene glycol or ficoll to assays containing purified components. However, using such artificial crowding agents can be complicated, as these crowding molecules can sometimes interact in other ways with the process being examined, such as by binding weakly to one of the components.

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