Protein Lipid Interactions

Protein-lipid interactions as a field of study is now a mature area, and this volume of New Comprehensive Biochemistry has been published with two objectives in mind. Firstly, to look to the future, and try to envisage how the subject may develop in the near to medium future. Secondly, to present contrasting or complementary views on the same system. For example, the acetylcholine receptor is discussed from a predominantly structural aspect by Barrantes, and from the kinetic standpoint by Rankin, et al. The volume not only gives an update on specific aspects of the field, but also shows the way in which the phenomenon of protein-lipid interactions is now seemingly infiltrating many areas of biomembrane research, from recombinant DNA studies, protein insertion and assembly and reconstitution considerations to structural studies of membrane proteins.

Biological membranes have long been identified as key elements in a wide variety of cellular processes including cell defense communication, photosynthesis, signal transduction, and motility; thus they emerge as primary targets in both basic and applied research. This book brings together in a single volume the most recent views of experts in the area of protein–lipid interactions, providing an overview of the advances that have been achieved in the field in recent years, from very basic aspects to specialized technological applications. Topics include the application of X-ray and neutron diffraction, infrared and fluorescence spectroscopy, and high-resolution NMR to the understanding of the specific interactions between lipids and proteins within biological membranes, their structural relationships, and the implications for the biological functions that they mediate. Also covered in this volume are the insertion of proteins and peptides into the membrane and the concomitant formation of definite lipid domains within the membrane.

This book provides a selection of protocols to examine protein-lipid interactions, membrane and membrane protein structure, how membrane proteins affect lipids and how they are in turn affected by the lipid bilayer and lipid properties.

This book has been conceives as a brief introduction to biomembranes physical chemistry for undergraduate students of sciences, and it is particularly dedicated to the lipid-protein membrane interactions. A general introduction is presented in Chapters 1 and 2. The following Chapters, 3 and 4, describe the most accepted theories on lipid-membrane protein interactions as well as the new experimental approaches, in particular, these arose from nano sciences as atomic for microscopy and single molecule force spectroscopy. The book emphasizes the relevance of physical parameters as the lateral surface pressure and the lipid curvature as actors for understanding the physicochemical properties of the biomembranes.

Free energy constitutes the most important thermodynamic quantity to understand how chemical species recognize each other, associate or react. Examples of problems in which knowledge of the underlying free energy behaviour is required, include conformational equilibria and molecular association, partitioning between immiscible liquids, receptor-drug interaction, protein-protein and protein-DNA association, and protein stability. This volume sets out to present a coherent and comprehensive account of the concepts that underlie different approaches devised for the determination of free energies. The reader will gain the necessary insight into the theoretical and computational foundations of the subject and will be presented with relevant applications from molecular-level modelling and simulations of chemical and biological systems. Both formally accurate and approximate methods are covered using both classical and quantum mechanical descriptions. A central theme of the book is that the wide variety of free energy calculation techniques available today can be understood as different implementations of a few basic principles. The book is aimed at a broad readership of graduate students and researchers having a background in chemistry, physics, engineering and physical biology.

In the first edition of The Enzymes of Biological Membranes, published in four volumes in 1976, we collected the mass of widely scattered information on membrane-linked enzymes and metabolic processes up to about 1975. This was a period of transition from the romantic phase of membrane biochemistry, preoccupied with conceptual developments and the general properties of membranes, to an era of mounting interest in the specific properties of membrane-linked enzymes analyzed from the viewpoints of modem enzymology. The level of sophistication in various areas of membrane research varied widely; the structures of cytochrome c and cytochrome b5 were known to atomic detail, while the majority of membrane-linked enzymes had not even been isolated. In the intervening eight years our knowledge of membrane-linked enzymes ex panded beyond the wildest expectations. The purpose of the second edition of The Enzymes of Biological Membranes is to record these developments. The first volume describes the physical and chemical techniques used in the analysis of the structure and dynamics of biological membranes. In the second volume the enzymes and met abolic systems that participate in the biosynthesis of cell and membrane components are discussed. The third and fourth volumes review recent developments in active transport, oxidative phosphorylation and photosynthesis.