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Biology and the properties of water

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Biology and the properties of water

The chemical nature of water determines the structure, function and hydration of intracellular biomolecules and assemblies.  It is now considered that biomolecules in cells don’t just function in water but actively interact with water for their structural formation and function.

A water molecule contains one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms. The bonds between oxygen and the two hydrogen atoms are splayed by an angle of 104.5°.  The large electronegative difference between the hydrogen atoms and the oxygen atom confers an ionic character to the oxygen-hydrogen bond and makes the water molecule a polar molecule. It is the polar nature of a water molecule that allows water molecules to bond with each other and to bond with biological molecules in an intermolecular association called hydrogen bonding. Hydrogen bonding is of paramount importance in determining the structure and consequent function of water and a range of biological molecules including proteins and nucleic acids.  The 'strength' of a hydrogen bond is approximately an order of magnitude less than a chemical bond.

The water molecule has an intramolecular arrangement which affords the greatest distance between each of four entities within the molecule - two hydrogen atoms and two lone pairs of electrons from the oxygen atom.  Hydrogen bonds are formed when the hydrogen atoms of a water molecule point towards the lone electron pairs of other water molecules.  Hydrogen bonding leads to a tetrahedral arrangement of molecular neighbors around each water molecule.  This is the central motif of the structure of water and the key to most of its properties(1).

The polar nature of a water molecule gives rise to the dissociation of some water molecules into hydroxide ions and protons and to the dissociation of some dissolved entities into protons and associated anions. This allows body cells to utilize proton concentration gradients for energy transduction and to utilize hydroxide ions to produce bicarbonate from the carbon dioxide gas produced in metabolism. The polar nature of water allows also for many cations and other entities to form hydration complexes. These hydration complexes may vary in form with temperature, concentration of entity and chemical nature of entity (ion, lipid, alcohol, etc.). The presence of various entities in water result in either strengthening or weakening of hydrogen bonds between water molecules.

It is known that non polar molecules associate with each other in water. According to the simplest theory, this association reduces the net surface area of contact with water(2).  In addition, the hydrophobic surfaces of biological molecules attract one another in water.  In body cells, this hydrophobic interaction is one of the key stabilizing forces of protein folding and of multi-subunit assemblies(3).  Water is far from an inert substance.  Life cannot exist without it.  Indeed, the famous double-helical structure of DNA relies on appropriate hydration. Hence, appropriate hydration determines the function of DNA.

A former consultant editor of the journal Nature, Dr Philip Ball, describes the importance of water in the following way:  "Biological structures and processes can only be understood in terms of the physical and chemical properties of water.  Biology starts with water, historically, ontologically, pedagogically"(1).

Each of the trillions of cells in the human body contains up to 85 per cent water (except fat cells). Too much water in a cell causes the cell to excessively hydrate and swell. Too little water in a cell causes the cell to dehydrate and shrink. Both outcomes are detrimental to cell survival. Hence, the human body possesses exquisite physiological means to maintain a total body water (TBW) steady state and appropriate cell hydration.

There are many textbooks of physiology that describe the roll of water in biology and human physiology (for example, 4,5).  There are excellent literature reviews describing the active participation of water in cell biology (for example, 6).  There are textbooks also that describe the properties of water, and constituents dissolved in water, in terms of thermodynamics (for example, 2,7,8). There is no doubt that the physiology, biochemistry and thermodynamics of water are complex and that water consumption and body hydration are associated with, or correlated to, a range of hormone activities (for example, antidiuretic hormone, ADH or vasopressin), cell receptor activities (for example, calcium-sensing receptors), and electrolyte concentration gradients (for example, sodium-potassium gradients across cell membranes).  Whether these associations can be utilized to prevent diseases and maintain health is yet to be determined. It cannot be denied however, that water per se and concentrations of ions dissolved in water such as sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium are central and essential to cell life.

It is considered that ions, and other entities such as biomolecules, that are dissolved in water may affect water in various ways.  Rearrangement of water's hydrogen-bonded network is greatest for small, highly charged ions such as magnesium.  These ions are known as 'structure-making' ions because the degree of ordering in the hydration sphere around these ions can outweigh the disordering generated in the hydrogen-bonded network further afield.  Large entities and ions with a small charge are known as 'structure-breaking' because they do not appear to generate local ordering of water molecules (1,9).  In the end, the fundamental questions are:  What is the structure of water in and around biomolecules, such as nucleic acids and proteins, inside body cells?  How does the structure of intracellular water affect the structure and function of these biomolecules?  These questions are among the most important unresolved issues in biology and medicine because the structure and function of intracellular biomolecules define differences between health and disease.

Science is a complex human social activity consisting of multiple disciplines. The fundamental link between scientific disciplines is that ideas must be subject to experiment. The discipline of physiology may argue that the human body is superbly able to maintain an internal stability, known as homeostasis, and extra water consumption is not required. However, it may be argued that homeostasis is not perfect and this imperfection results eventually in diminished organ function, degenerative disease, aging and death. The discipline of thermodynamics may argue that variations in external control parameters, such as water consumption, may allow the body to reach a new ordered steady state which maintains organ function and, therefore, extra water consumption may be beneficial. This thermodynamic argument may certainly explain many of the claims made for drinking extra water or drinking water with specific constituents. Properly conducted clinical trials may allow the issue to be resolved.

1. Ball P. H2O A Biography of Water.  1999. Orion Books, London.

2. Dill KA and Bromberg S. Molecular Driving Forces, Statistical Thermodynamics in Chemistry and Biology. 2003. Garland Science, New York.

3. Ball P. 2003. How to keep dry in water.  Nature 423: 25-26.

4. Schmidt-Nielsen K. Animal Physiology, Adaptation and Environment, Fifth Edition. 1997. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

5. Guyton AC and Hall JE. Textbook of Medical Physiology, Ninth Edition. 1996. W.B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia.

6. Ball P.  2008.  Water as an Active Constituent in Cell Biology. Chem Rev 108: 74-108.

7. Haynie DT. Biological Thermodynamics. 2001. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

8. Nicholls DG and Ferguson SJ. Bioenergetics 2. 1992. Academic Press, London.

9. Franks F. Water: A Matrix of Life Second Edition. 2000. The Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge.

Biology and the properties of water

Biology and the properties of water