A practical guide on how osmolytes modulate macromolecular properties.

Osmolytes are a class of compounds ubiquitously used by living organisms to respond to cellular stress or to fine-tune molecular properties in the cell. These compounds are also highly useful in vitro. In this chapter, we give an overview of the possible uses of osmolytes in the laboratory, and how we can investigate and understand their modes of action. Experimental procedures are discussed with a specific emphasis on osmolyte-related aspects and on the theoretical aspects that are important to both introductory and more advanced interpretations of such experiments.