INTRODUCTION: Natively folded proteins generally have a significant number of hydrophobic residues that cluster together to form a hydrophobic core. However, during the vectorial synthesis on the ribosome and subsequent folding, these hydrophobic residues are exposed. Because folding occurs in a highly crowded environment, exposed residues can lead to undesired interactions that irreversibly harm the folding process. In particular, they can result in the formation of misfolded states and aggregation.