Hydrogen bonding dynamic nature

M. Tarek and D. J. Tobias, Role of protein-water hydrogen bond dynamics in the protein dynamical transition. Phys. Rev. Lett., 88 (2002), 138101 M. M. Teeter, A. Yamano, B. Stec, and U. Mohanty, On the nature of a glassy state of matter in a hydrated protein relation to protein function. Proc. Natl Acad. Set. USA, 98 (2001), 11242-11247. 

Kolano, C., Helbing, J., Kozinski. M., Sander, W., and Hamm, P. (2006) Watching hydrogen-bond dynamics in a p-turn by transient two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy. Nature, 444, 469. 

Noncovalent interactions play a key role in biodisciplines. A celebrated example is the secondary structure of proteins. The 20 natural amino acids are each characterized by different structures with more or less acidic or basic, hydrophilic or hydrophobic functionalities and thus capable of different intermolecular interactions. Due to the formation of hydrogen bonds between nearby C=0 and N-H groups, protein polypeptide backbones can be twisted into a-helixes, even in the gas phase in the absence of any solvent." A protein function is determined more directly by its three-dimensional structure and dynamics than by its sequence of amino acids. Three-dimensional structures are strongly influenced by weak non-covalent interactions between side functionalities, but the central importance of these weak interactions is by no means limited to structural effects. Life relies on biological specificity, which arises from the fact that individual biomolecules communicate through non-covalent interactions." " Molecular and chiral recognition rely on... 

Structure diffusion (i.e., the Grotthuss mechanism) of protons in bulk water requires formation and cleavage of hydrogen bonds of water molecules in the second hydration shell of the hydrated proton (see Section 3.1) therefore, any constraint to the dynamics of the water molecules will decrease the mobility of the protons. Thus, knowledge of the state or nature of the water in the membrane is critical to understanding the mechanisms of proton transfer and transport in PEMs. 

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