Spectroscopy For The Biological Sciences

An introduction to the physical principles of spectroscopy and their applications to the biological sciences Advances in such fields as proteomics and genomics place new demands on students and professionals to be able to apply quantitative concepts to the biological phenomena that they are studying. Spectroscopy for the Biological Sciences provides students and professionals with a working knowledge of the physical chemical aspects of spectroscopy, along with their applications to important biological problems. Designed as a companion to Professor Hammes's Thermodynamics and Kinetics for the Biological Sciences, this approachable yet thorough text covers the basic principles of spectroscopy, including: * Fundamentals of spectroscopy * Electronic spectra * Circular dichroism and optical rotary dispersion * Vibration in macromolecules (IR, Raman, etc.) * Magnetic resonance * X-ray crystallography * Mass spectrometry With a minimum of mathematics and a strong focus on applications to biology, this book will prepare current and future professionals to better understand the quantitative interpretation of biological phenomena and to utilize these tools in their work.

The authors describe basic theoretical concepts of vibrational spectroscopy, address instrumental aspects and experimental procedures, and discuss experimental and theoretical methods for interpreting vibrational spectra. It is shown how vibrational spectroscopy provides information on general aspects of proteins, such as structure, dynamics, and protein folding. In addition, the authors use selected examples to demonstrate the application of Raman and IR spectroscopy to specific biological systems, such as metalloproteins, and photoreceptors. Throughout, references to extensive mathematical and physical aspects, involved biochemical features, and aspects of molecular biology are set in boxes for easier reading. Ideal for undergraduate as well as graduate students of biology, biochemistry, chemistry, and physics looking for a compact introduction to this field.

This volume contains the proceedings of the NATO-Advanced Study Institute on the "Spectroscopy of Biological Molecules", which took place on July 4-15, 1983 in Acquafredda di Maratea, Italy. The institute concentrated on three main subiects: the structure and dymanics of DNA, proteins, and visual and plant pigments. Its timeliness has been linked to rapid advances in certain spectroscopic techniques which yielded a consider able amount of new information on the structure and inter actions of biologically important molecules. Among these techniques Fourier transform infrared, resonance and surface enhanced 'Raman spectroscopies, Raman microscopy and micro probing, time resolved techniques, two photon and ultrafast electronic, and C-13, N-15 and P-31 NMR spectroscopies and kinetic and static IR difference spectroscopy receiced a great deal of attention at the Institute. In addition, an entirely new technique, near-millimeter-wave spectroscopy has been presented and discussed. Two introductory quantum chemical lectures, one on the structure of water in DNA, and another pn the energy bands in DNA and proteins set the stage for the experimentally oriented lectures that followed. Fundamental knowledge on hydrogen bonding was the topic of two other lectures. Panel discussions were held on the structure and confor mations of DNA, metal-DNA adducts and proteins and on visual pigments. Many scientists who normally attend different conferences and never meet, met at Aquafredda di Maratea. We feel, that at the end of our Institute a synthetic vi~w emerged on the powerful spectroscopic and theoretical methods which are now available for the study of biological molecules.

Leading practitioners describe in detail advanced methods of mass spectrometry used in structural characterization of biomacromolecules of both natural and recombinant origin. They demonstrate by example how these methodologies can solve a wide array of real-world problems in protein biochemistry, immunology, and glycobiology, as well as for human bacterial pathogens, lipids, and nucleic acids. The book offers a unique opportunity to learn these techniques that are revolutionizing the field. Its authoritative assessment in the context of how to solve important and challenging problems in bioscience and medicine ensures a competitive advantage for today's researchers.

The intent of this book a collection of manuscripts - is to provide general descriptions of analytical techniques which we believe to be useful to the biological scientist, and to provide examples of the utility of each technique. The contributing authors were asked to focus on examples in which their particular technique has proven particularly useful in studies of biological systems. Many commonly used analytical techniques such as NMR and ESR are not included in this work, it is preferred to focus on techniques which perhaps have not received as much coverage as in the recent literature. All of the analytical tools covered in this volume have great utility, and the scientific community can expect to see increasing usage of most if not all of these techniques.

The 1997 European Conference on Spectroscopy of Biological Molecules (ECSBM) is the seventh in a biennial series of conferences devoted to the applications of molecular spectroscopy to biological molecules and related systems. The interest of these conferences rests mainly on the relationship between the structure and physiological activity of biological molecules and related systems of which these molecular species form part. This volume ofECSBM contains articles prepared by the invited lecturers and those making poster presentations at the seventh ECSBM. The reader will find mainly applications of vibrational spectroscopy to protein structure and dynamics, biomembranes, molecular recognition, nucleic acids and other biomolecules and biological systems containing specific chromophors. Biomedical applications of vibrational spectroscopy are expanding rapidly. On the other hand, a significant number of the papers describe applications of other methods, such as NMR, circular dichroism, optical absorption and fluorescence, X-ray absorption and diffraction and other theoretical methods. One aim has been to achieve a well balanced, critically comparative review of recent progress in the field of biomolecular structure, bonding and dynamics based on applications of the above spectroscopic methods. A great part of the contributions included in this volume are devoted to biomedical and biotechnological applications and provide a broadly based account of recent applicationS in this field. The content of this book has been organized in sections corresponding mainly to the different types of biological molecules investigated. This book includes also another section related to theoretical methods where MO calculations of vibrational frequencies dominate clearly the topic.

During teaching NMR to students and researchers, we felt the need for a text-book which can cover modern trends in the application of NMR to biological systems. This book covers the entire area of NMR in Biological Sciences (Biomolecules, cells and tissues, animals, plants and drug design). As well as being useful to researchers, this is an excellent book for teaching a course on NMR in Biological Systems.

Raman spectroscopy has been known and used as a technique for 80 years, originally for the study of inorganic substances. Recent advances in underlying technology, such as lasers, detectors, filters and components, have transformed the technique into a very effective modern tool for studying complex biological problems. Professor Mahmoud Ghomi (of the University of Paris XIII) has edited this book on the applications of Raman spectroscopy to biology, covering in a readily accessible way the area from basic studies to the diagnosis of disease. The early chapters provide background information on basic principles underlying the main Raman methods covered in the book, with information on Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) and Surface-Enhanced Fluorescence (SEF), as well as giving accounts of applications to biomolecular and cellular investigations. Among the topics covered are studies of drugs and their complexes with biomolecules on nanoparticles, application of SERS to blood analysis, studies of single cells and of applications to human cancer diagnostics.This will be a useful book for experimental scientists in academic, governmental, industrial and clinical environments and for those entering the field of biomolecular spectroscopy.