Biological Membranes

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiii

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2. Computational Issues Regarding Biomembrane Simulation

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Time Scales of Lipid Dynamics and Molecular Dynamics

      • Richard W. Pastor, Scott E. Feller

      Pages 3-29

   3. An Empirical Potential Energy Function for Phospholipids: Criteria for Parameter Optimization and Applications

      • Michael Schlenkrich, Jürgen Brickmann, Alexander D. MacKerell Jr., Martin Karplus

      Pages 31-81

   4. Statistical Mechanics and Monte Carlo Studies of Lipid Membranes

      • H. Larry Scott

      Pages 83-104

   5. Strategic Issues in Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Membranes

      • Eric Jakobsson, Shankar Subramaniam, H. Larry Scott

      Pages 105-123

3. Experimental Probes of Biomembrane Structure and Dynamics

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 125-125

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   2. The Liquid-Crystallographic Structure of Fluid Lipid Bilayer Membranes

      • Stephen H. White, Michael C. Wiener

      Pages 127-144

   3. Infrared Spectroscopic Determination of Conformational Disorder and Microphase Separation in Phospholipid Acyl Chains

      • Richard Mendelsohn, Robert G. Snyder

      Pages 145-174

   4. Membrane Structure and Dynamics Studied with NMR Spectroscopy

      • Michael F. Brown

      Pages 175-252

4. Small Molecules and Peptides in Biomembranes

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 253-253

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   2. Movement of Small Molecules in Lipid Bilayers: Molecular Dynamics Simulation Studies

      • Terry R. Stouch, Donna Bassolino

      Pages 255-279

   3. Structural Basis and Energetics of Peptide Membrane Interactions

      • Huey W. Huang

      Pages 281-298

   4. Computational Refinement Through Solid State NMR and Energy Constraints of a Membrane Bound Polypeptide

      • Randal R. Ketchem, Benoît Roux, Timothy A. Cross

      Pages 299-322

   5. Bilayer-Peptide Interactions

      • K. V. Damodaran, Kenneth M. Merz Jr.

      Pages 323-352

5. Membrane Proteins

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 353-354

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   2. Peripheral Membrane Proteins

      • Barbara A. Seaton, Mary F. Roberts

      Pages 355-403

   3. Thermodynamics of the Interaction of Proteins with Lipid Membranes

      • Thomas Heimburg, Derek Marsh

      Pages 405-462

   4. Role of Lipid Organization and Dynamics for Membrane Functionality

      • Ole G. Mouritsen, Paavo K. J. Kinnunen

      Pages 463-502

   5. Prediction of the Structure of an Integral Membrane Protein: The Light-Harvesting Complex II of Rhodospirillum molischianum

      • Xiche Hu, Dong Xu, Kenneth Hamer, Klaus Schulten, Juergen Koepke, Hartmut Michel

      Pages 503-533

The interface between a living cell and the surrounding world plays a critical role in numerous complex biological processes. Sperm/egg fusion, virus/cell fusion, exocytosis, endocytosis, and ion permeation are a few examples of processes involving membranes. In recent years, powerful tools such as X-ray crystal­ lography, electron microscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, and infra-red and Raman spectroscopy have been developed to characterize the structure and dy­ namics of biomembranes. Despite this progress, many of the factors responsible for the function of biomembranes are still not well understood. The membrane is a very complicated supramolecular liquid-crystalline structure that is largely composed of lipids, forming a bilayer, to which proteins and other biomolecules are anchored. Often, the lipid bilayer environment is pictured as a hydropho­ bic structureless slab providing a thermodynamic driving force to partition the amino acids of a membrane protein according to their solubility. However, much of the molecular complexity of the phospholipid bilayer environment is ignored in such a simplified view. It is likely that the atomic details of the polar head­ group region and the transition from the bulk water to the hydrophobic core of the membrane are important. An understanding of the factors responsible for the function of biomembranes thus requires a better characterization at the molec­ ular level of how proteins interact with lipid molecules, of how lipids affect protein structure and of how lipid molecules might regulate protein function.

• Monte Carlo
• Termination
• biomembrane
• cell
• dynamics
• electron microscopy
• environment
• membrane
• microscopy
• peptides
• protein
• proteins
• simulation
• thermodynamics
• water

• Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA

  Kenneth M. Merz

• Groupe de Recherche en Transport Membranaire (GRTM) Départements de physique et de chimie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada

  Benoît Roux

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