Concepts For Molecular Machines

Actions of living beings at any stage of life are of general interest; molecular machines can be a replica of such activities. Stimuli guided movements and shape changes of molecules are one of the rapidly developing areas on which fundamental principles of molecular machine banks. Thus, the understanding of intriguing concepts of molecular machines is essential. Miniaturization, efficiency, stability and robustness in performing activities are some of the important points associated with molecular machines. Using molecular machines for practical purposes will further strengthen fundamentals of science and technology and also guide future market economy. Recent advent of techniques to handle materials at microscopic level has benefited the topic of molecular machines and is ready to be taken to a higher level as compared to other competing topics of science and technology. Molecular machines is a contemporary hot topic with future scope. The Nobel Prize in the year 2016 was shared by three scientists Prof. Ben Feringa, Prof. J Fraser Stoddart and Prof. Jean-Pierre Sauvage for their contribution to the topic. This book on molecular machines is aimed to cater to the need of graduate students and researchers by providing the fundamental aspects on molecular machines. Contents: Introduction to Molecular Machines:Preliminary Aspects of a Conventional MachineMiniaturization of MachinesMolecular MachineTerminology in Molecular MachinesBio-inspired Concepts in the Development of Molecular MachinesEnergetics and States of Molecular MachinesBiological Molecular MachinesOperational Aspects of Molecular Machines:BackgroundStructural EquilibrationMolecular Machine DesignInterlocked Systems as Molecular Machines:Principles for Formation of Interlocked MoleculesCatenanesRotaxanesThermodynamics of Interlocked SystemsShuttling Motion in RotaxanesSwitching in RotaxanesKnotsControllable Properties in Rotaxanes Relating to Molecular MachinesMolecular Machine for Peptide SynthesisA Molecular ElevatorLogic Gate Based on RotaxanePhotochemically and Electrochemically Guided Molecular Machines:Principles of Photochemical SwitchingElectrochemically Driven MachinesArtificial Molecular Machine Based on DNA:PrinciplesDNA TweezersDNA WalkerDNA Based Molecular GearpH Dependent DNA Nano-machineMolecular AssemblerTrends of Study Readership: Chemists, biochemists, glycobiologists, materials scientists, students in biochemistry and biology.

The concept of molecular machines in biology has transformed the medical field in a profound way. Many essential processes that occur in the cell, including transcription, translation, protein folding and protein degradation, are all carried out by molecular machines. This volume focuses on important molecular machines whose architecture is known and whose functional principles have been established by tools of biophysical imaging (X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy) and fluorescence probing (single-molecule FRET). This edited volume includes contributions from prominent scientists and researchers who understand and have explored the structure and functions of these machines. This book is essential for students and professionals in the medical field who want to learn more about molecular machines.

The miniaturization of bulky devices and machines is a process that confronts us on a daily basis. However, nanoscale machines with varied and novel characteristics may also result from the enlargement of extremely small building blocks, namely individual molecules. This bottom-up approach to nanotechnology is already being pursued in information technology, with many other branches about to follow. - Written by a team of experienced authors headed by Vincenzo Balzani, one of the pioneers in the development of molecular machines - Covers such diverse aspects as sensors, memory components, solar energy conversion, biomolecules as molecular machines, and much more - Presented in a lucid style and didactically structured, with both the expert and the newcomer in mind - Includes a glossary of terms and numerous references to the recent literature Be among the first to explore the fascinating possibilities of this future-oriented technology! A must-have for every chemist and materials scientist with an interest in nanotechnology.

Today's science tells us that our bodies are filled with molecular machinery that orchestrates all sorts of life processes. When we think, microscopic "channels" open and close in our brain cell membranes; when we run, tiny "motors" spin in our muscle cell membranes; and when we see, light operates "molecular switches" in our eyes and nerves. A molecular-mechanical vision of life has become commonplace in both the halls of philosophy and the offices of drug companies, where researchers are developing “proton pump inhibitors” or medicines similar to Prozac. Membranes to Molecular Machines explores just how late twentieth-century science came to think of our cells and bodies this way. This story is told through the lens of membrane research, an unwritten history at the crossroads of molecular biology, biochemistry, physiology, and the neurosciences, that directly feeds into today's synthetic biology as well as nano- and biotechnology. Mathias Grote shows how these sciences not only have made us think differently about life, they have, by reworking what membranes and proteins represent in laboratories, allowed us to manipulate life as "active matter" in new ways. Covering the science of biological membranes in the United States and Europe from the mid-1960s to the 1990s, this book connects that history to contemporary work with optogenetics, a method for stimulating individual neurons using light, and will enlighten and provoke anyone interested in the intersection of chemical research and the life sciences—from practitioner to historian to philosopher.

Molecular Machines presents a dynamic new approach to the physics of enzymes and DNA from the perspective of materials science. Unified around the concept of molecular deformability—how proteins and DNA stretch, fold, and change shape—this book describes the complex molecules of life from the innovative perspective of materials properties and dynamics, in contrast to structural or purely chemical approaches. It covers a wealth of topics, including nonlinear deformability of enzymes and DNA; the chemo-dynamic cycle of enzymes; supra-molecular constructions with internal stress; nano-rheology and viscoelasticity; and chemical kinetics, Brownian motion, and barrier crossing. Essential reading for researchers in materials science, engineering, and nanotechnology, the book also describes the landmark experiments that have established the materials properties and energy landscape of large biological molecules. Molecular Machines is also ideal for the classroom. It gives graduate students a working knowledge of model building in statistical mechanics, making it an essential resource for tomorrow's experimentalists in this cutting-edge field. In addition, mathematical methods are introduced in the bio-molecular context—for example, DNA conformational transitions are used to illustrate the transfer matrix formalism. The result is a generalized approach to mathematical problem solving that enables students to apply their findings more broadly. Molecular Machines represents the next leap forward in nanoscience, as researchers strive to harness proteins, enzymes, and DNA as veritable machines in medicine, technology, and beyond.

This book will contain a series of solicited chapters that concern with the molecular machines required by viruses to perform various essential functions of virus life cycle. The first three chapters (Introduction, Molecular Machines and Virus Architecture) introduce the reader to the best known molecular machines and to the structure of viruses. The remainder of the book will examine in detail various stages of the viral life cycle. Beginning with the viral entry into a host cell, the book takes the reader through replication of the genome, synthesis and assembly of viral structural components, genome packaging and maturation into an infectious virion. Each chapter will describe the components of the respective machine in molecular or atomic detail, genetic and biochemical analyses, and mechanism. Topics are carefully selected so that the reader is exposed to systems where there is a substantial infusion of new knowledge in recent years, which greatly elevated the fundamental mechanistic understanding of the respective molecular machine. The authors will be encouraged to simplify the detailed knowledge to basic concepts, include provocative new ideas, as well as design colorful graphics, thus making the cutting-edge information accessible to broad audience.

Targeted at a broad audience ranging from chemists and biochemists to physicists and engineers, this book covers advanced research while being written in an easily understandable language accessible to any interested researcher or graduate student. Following an introduction to the general concepts, the authors go on to discuss devices for processing electrons and electronic energy, memories, logic gates and related systems, and, finally, molecular-scale machines.