Water near extended hydrophobic surfaces is like that at a liquid-vapor interface, where fluctuations in water density are substantially enhanced compared to those in bulk water. Here we use molecular simulations with specialized sampling techniques to show that water density fluctuations are similarly enhanced, even near hydrophobic surfaces of complex biomolecules, situating them at the edge of a dewetting transition. Consequently, water near these surfaces is sensitive to subtle changes in surface conformation, topology, and chemistry, any of which can tip the balance toward or away from the wet state and thus significantly alter biomolecular interactions and function. Our work also resolves the long-standing puzzle of why some biological surfaces dewet and other seemingly similar surfaces do not.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 10. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 26 April 2014.
All research outputs
#4,838,555
of 34,377,743 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Physical Chemistry B
#863
of 17,745 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#27,989
of 202,271 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Physical Chemistry B
#6
of 84 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,377,743 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 85th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 17,745 research outputs from this source. They receive a mean Attention Score of 3.5. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 202,271 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 86% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 84 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 92% of its contemporaries.
