Thermal fluctuations enable rapid protein-protein associations in aqueous solution by lowering the reaction barrier

- Hydrophilic protein-protein association should accompany large dehydration penalty.
- Why is the barrier small in real systems?
- We investigate a NBD-NBD association process using molecular dynamics simulations.
- Thermal fluctuations facilitate the exclusion of water from the interfacial region.
- As a result, the barrier is significantly lowered.