Hydrophobicity--getting into hot water.

In his famous 1959 review, Walter Kauzmann clarified important features of the thermodynamic stabilities of proteins. The hydrophobic effect is recognised as an important contributor to the stability of proteins and an important determinant of their structural patterns. As generally understood, it depends on the unusual properties of cold water and its interactions with nonpolar solutes. Here we comment on the relationship between this paradigm and the stabilities and structures of proteins from thermophilic organisms.