Question

Proteins serve many functions within cells. They aid in cellular transport within the cell. They assist with the transport of substances across the cell membrane. They form enzymes that are involved in many cellular processes, and so on.

However, proteins do not function properly unless they are immersed in water. This is because water

Answer 1

Answer: This is because water helps in stabilizing the conformation or structure, flexibility of proteins and their movement or motion.

Explanation: Every protein have a particular conformation at which it functions optimally. A protein's conformation is stabilized largely by weak interactions and these weak interactions occur more favorably in aqueous medium. A given polypeptide chain can assume different conformations. The chemical interactions that stabilize the native conformation include include disulfide bonds, hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic and ionic interactions. Hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions are formed in the presence of water, though they are weak interactions but their cumulative effect in a protein is significant. These weak interactions helps to maintain the conformation of proteins and ultimately their function.