Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective chemistry describing a molecule, such as a detergent, which has both hydrophobic and hydrophilic groups.
  • adjective biochemistry often refers to the surface(s) on a protein, particularly an alpha helix, where one surface of the alpha helix has hydrophilic amino acids and the opposite face has hydrophobic (or lipophilic) amino acids.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

amphi- + -pathic

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Examples

  • I haven't seen anything to suggest that a infitesimally-improbably compination of chemicals came together to rapidly form a minimal genetic and metabolic system contained in a amphipathic membrane (i.e. a cell).

    Dawkins on the OOL 2006

  • By using bioinformatic and biochemical analyses, we showed that residues 1-18 of FliI very likely form an amphipathic alpha-helix upon interaction with FliH, and that residues 21-91 of FliI resemble the N-terminal oligomerization domain of the F1-ATPase catalytic subunits.

    Congratulations are in Order 2006

  • One consequence of the amphipathic nature of AFP's is that an ice crystal that has a surface coated with these molecules will present a hydrophobic exterior.

    Archive 2004-09-01 2004

  • They are amphipathic molecules, with one side of the rod being composed of hydrophobic residues and the other side being composed of hydrophilic residues.

    Archive 2004-09-01 2004

  • Phospholipids are amphipathic-their lipid tail is hydrophobic but their negatively charged phosphate group is hydrophilic-so phospholipid molecules spontaneously form sealed compartments in water.

    Ars Technica Diana Gitig 2011

  • The Golgi localisation depends on a predicted amphipathic helix in the C-terminal domain of the protein, the αK-helix

    PLoS ONE Alerts: New Articles Yang O. Zhao et al. 2010

  • Synthetic αK amphipathic peptide mimics the localisation of endogenous Irgm1.

    PLoS ONE Alerts: New Articles Yang O. Zhao et al. 2010

  • The lysosomal localisation of Irgm1 is mediated by the same amphipathic helix that mediates Golgi targeting.

    PLoS ONE Alerts: New Articles Yang O. Zhao et al. 2010

  • Moreover, a very recent analysis of the Frydman lab showed that polyQ aggregation kinetics is not solely a function of polyQ repeat length, but rather includes the critical contribution of the N-terminal 17 amino acid residues forming an amphipathic helix and promoting rapid Htt aggregation by direct modulation of Htt conformation

    PLoS ONE Alerts: New Articles Marc Erhardt et al. 2010

  • Green pepper contains the plant ferredoxin-like amphipathic protein (Pflp) or hypersensitive response-assisting protein (Hrap) which are considered novel plant proteins that give crops enhanced resistance against deadly pathogens.

    INTER PRESS SERVICE ,Busani Bafana 2010

Comments

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  • See usage example on guaiacol.

    August 17, 2017