Life in a crowded world

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Abstract
This workshop took place at the Palacio de Magalia (Las Navas del Marqués, Avila, Spain), between 14 and 18 June 2003, and was organized by J. Ellis, A. Minton and G. Rivas. Further details on the workshop can be found at http://www.cib.csic.es/~revers/embo2003/index.htm ![][1] Macromolecules are present as soluble species and/or structural arrays at total concentrations of up to several hundred grams per litre in essentially all physiological compartments. Although local composition varies widely between different systems, it is evident that most macromolecular reactions and processes in vivo —as opposed to typical experiments in vitro in which the total concentration of macromolecules rarely surpasses 1 g l−1 (Ralston, 1990; Ellis, 2001)—take place in environments in which macromolecules occupy a considerable fraction (between 10% and 40%) of the total volume (Fulton, 1982; Record et al , 1998). These media are termed ‘crowded’ or ‘volume‐occupied’ rather than ‘concentrated’, because no single species of macromolecule is necessarily present at a high concentration. The term ‘macromolecular crowding’ connotes the non‐specific influence of steric repulsions on specific reactions and processes that occur in highly volume‐occupied media. During recent decades it has gradually become recognized that crowding can considerably alter the reactivity of individual macromolecules, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Crowding can be mimicked experimentally by adding high concentrations of inert synthetic or natural macromolecules, termed crowding agents or crowders, to the system in vitro (Ellis, 2001). Experimental and theoretical work has demonstrated substantial (order‐of‐magnitude) effects of crowding on a broad range of biochemical, biophysical and physiological processes, including—but not limited to—nucleic acid and protein conformation and stability, protein–protein and protein–DNA association equilibria and kinetics (including protein crystallization, protein fibre formation and bundling), catalytic activity of enzymes and cell volume regulation (Zimmerman & Minton, 1993; Minton 1997, 2001; Ellis, 2001). The fact that biological … [1]: pending:yes

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