6. Transformation of macromolecules in solution

6.1 Denaturation of globular proteins

Thermal denaturation" of proteins in solution is a mechanism whereby certain "weak" bonds, responsible for the "native" structure of proteins, are broken. As a result, the initial architecture of proteins is transformed into a more disordered spatial structure. Globular proteins, with their compact initial architecture (figure 14 ), are affected by this mechanism, which is reversible at low concentrations and in the absence of interaction between proteins. In the opposite case, the denaturation mechanism is accompanied by an aggregation phenomenon as follows: $P_{\text{N}}\underset{k_{\text{N}}}{\overset{k_{\text{D}}}{\rightleftarrows }}{P}_{\text{D}}\stackrel{k_{\text{A}}}{\to }\text{A}$