Overview
- Answers the question of what life on the earth is in terms of energy by providing examples such as the origin and evolution of cells and the regulation of cellular functions
- Shows that regulation of the activities of enzymes and functional proteins such as receptors, channels, etc is achieved by conformational changes in those proteins
- Describes the essentials of free energy transduction and the regulation of cellular functions in biological systems and several models of force production for growing polymers
- Demonstrates the importance of efficiently using solar energy to solve worldwide problems such as the food crisis and global warming
Part of the book series: Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering (BIOMEDICAL)
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Table of contents (8 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
This book describes how biologically available free energy sources (ATP, chemical potential, and membrane potentials, among others) can be used to drive synthetic reactions, signaling in cells, and various types of motion such as membrane traffic, active transport, and cell locomotion. As such, it approaches the concept of the energy cycle of life on Earth from a physical point of view, covering topics ranging from an introduction to chemical evolution, to an examination of the catalytic activity of enzymes associated with the genome in Darwinian evolution.
The author introduces the relationship between functions and physical properties in biomembranes, explaining the methods and equipment used in biophysics research to help researchers unravel the still-unsolved mysteries of life. The physical principles needed to understand the cellular functions are provided; these functions are associated with biomembranes and regulated by physical properties of the lipid bilayer such as membrane fluidity, phase transition, and phase separation, as shown in lipid rafts. Other key dynamic aspects of life (cell locomotion, cytoskeletal dynamics, and sensitivities of the cell to physical stimuli such as external forces and temperature) are also discussed. Lastly, readers will learn how life on Earth and its ecological system are maintained by solar energy, and be provided further information on the problems accompanying global warming.
Authors and Affiliations
About the authors
Prof.Kazuo Ohki
Emeritus Professor of Tohoku University
ohki@bio.phys.tohoku.ac.jp
Prof.Hidetake Miyata
Department of Physics, Tohoku University
miyata@bio.phys.tohoku.ac.jp
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Physical Principles of Biomembranes and Cells
Authors: Kazuo Ohki, Hidetake Miyata
Series Title: Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-56841-4
Publisher: Springer Tokyo
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Japan KK, part of Springer Nature 2018
Hardcover ISBN: 978-4-431-56839-1Published: 23 October 2018
Softcover ISBN: 978-4-431-56872-8Published: 10 January 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-4-431-56841-4Published: 10 October 2018
Series ISSN: 1618-7210
Series E-ISSN: 2197-5647
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIII, 170
Number of Illustrations: 69 b/w illustrations, 25 illustrations in colour
Topics: Biological and Medical Physics, Biophysics, Cell Biology, Biotechnology, Biogeosciences