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The Physics of Proteins

An Introduction to Biological Physics and Molecular Biophysics

  • Textbook
  • © 2010

Overview

Authors:
  1. Hans Frauenfelder

    1. , Theory Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, USA

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Editors:
  1. Shirley S. Chan

    1. Technology, Department of Physics, Hong Kong University of Science &, Kowloon, Hong Kong/PR China

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  2. Winnie S. Chan

    1. , Grainger Engineering Library Information, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champai, Urbana, USA

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  • The discussion concentrates on physical tools and properties, emphasizing techniques that are contributing to new developments and avoiding those that are already well established and whose results have already been exploited fully
  • New tools appear regularly – synchrotron radiation, proton radiology, holography, optical tweezers, and muon radiography, for example, have all been used to open new areas of understanding
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Part of the book series: Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering (BIOMEDICAL)

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Table of contents (30 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
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  2. Biomolecules

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-2
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    2. The Hierarchy of Living Things

      • Hans Frauenfelder
      Pages 5-7

    3. Information and Function

      • Hans Frauenfelder
      Pages 9-11

    4. Biomolecules, Spin Glasses, Glasses, and Solids (R. H. Austin1)

      • Hans Frauenfelder
      Pages 13-17

    5. Proteins

      • Hans Frauenfelder
      Pages 19-35

    6. Nucleic Acids

      • Hans Frauenfelder
      Pages 37-46

    7. The Genetic Code

      • Hans Frauenfelder
      Pages 49-52

    8. Lipids and Membranes

      • Hans Frauenfelder
      Pages 53-58

  3. Spatial Structure of Proteins: Measurement and Consequence

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 61-62
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    2. The Secondary Structure

      • Hans Frauenfelder
      Pages 65-73

    3. Tertiary Structure of Proteins

      • Hans Frauenfelder
      Pages 75-81

    4. Myoglobin and Hemoglobin

      • Hans Frauenfelder
      Pages 83-91

  4. The Energy Landscape and Dynamics of Proteins

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 93-94
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    2. Conformational Substates

      • Hans Frauenfelder
      Pages 97-112

    3. The Organization of the Energy Landscape

      • Hans Frauenfelder
      Pages 113-124

    4. Reaction Theory

      • Hans Frauenfelder
      Pages 125-155

    5. Supercooled Liquids and Glasses

      • Hans Frauenfelder
      Pages 157-169

  5. Function and Dynamics

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 171-172
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    2. Protein Dynamics

      • Hans Frauenfelder
      Pages 175-196
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Keywords

About this book

Physics and the life sciences have established new connections within the past few decades, resulting in biological physics as an established subfield with strong groups working in many physics departments. These interactions between physics and biology form a two-way street with physics providing new tools and concepts for understanding life, while biological systems can yield new insights into the physics of complex systems. To address the challenges of this interdisciplinary area, The Physics of Proteins: An Introduction to Biological Physics and Molecular Biophysics is divided into three interconnected sections. In Parts I and II, early chapters introduce the terminology and describe the main biological systems that physicists will encounter. Similarities between biomolecules, glasses, and solids are stressed with an emphasis on the fundamental concepts of living systems. The central section (Parts III and IV) delves into the dynamics of complex systems. A main theme is the realization that biological systems, in particular proteins, do not exist in unique conformations but can assume a very large number of slightly different structures. This complexity is captured in the concept of a free energy landscape and leads to the conclusion that fluctuations are crucial for the functioning of biological systems. The final chapter of this section challenges the reader to apply these concepts to a problem that appears in the current literature. An extensive series of appendices (Part V) provide descriptions of the key physical tools and analytical methods that have proven powerful in the study of the physics of proteins. The appendices are designed to be consulted throughout the section on protein dynamics without breaking the deductive flow of the logic in the central section of the book.

Reviews

From the reviews:

“It appears to be written for advanced undergraduates and graduates in physics who are newcomers to biophysics and biochemistry. … The book builds from Frauenfelder’s sketches and hand-drawn diagrams, which impart to the volume a personal touch, to its major theme:  Frauenfelder’s insight that protein structures undergo conformational transitions – proteinquakes – through sub-states of approximately equal energy in a rugged, multi-dimensional, conformational-energy landscape.” (H. Richard Leuchtag, Physics Today, May, 2011)

Authors, Editors and Affiliations

  • Technology, Department of Physics, Hong Kong University of Science &, Kowloon, Hong Kong/PR China

    Shirley S. Chan

  • , Grainger Engineering Library Information, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champai, Urbana, USA

    Winnie S. Chan

  • , Theory Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, USA

    Hans Frauenfelder

About the editors

A leader in physics research for more than half a century, Hans Frauenfelder spent 40 years as a professor and researcher at the University of Illinois before moving on to Los Alamos Laboratory, where he was the director of the Center for Nonlinear Studies and is now a Laboratory Fellow. Frauenfelder has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Academy Leopoldina and the American Philosophical Society. He also is the recipient of numerous prestigious scientific fellowships and honors.

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