Proteins..?

Question

What intrinsic (ie. Non-enviromental) factor governs protein electrostatic potential?

How does the polymer structure of protein effect this factor?

Answer 1

What class is this for? lol, this is actually a hard question.

The electrostatic potential is determined by the charges on the side chains. The polymer structure of a protein effects this because if there are charged side chains on the outside of a protein and the protein changes to shield the side chains from water by shifting the structure of the protein so that the side chains are hidden in the inside of the protein where water is excluded by hydrophobic effects. This change in protein structure would change the amount of charged side chains in the water solution, thus change the electrostatic potential.