Biomembranes

It has become increasingly clear during the last few years that metabolic processes in plant, bacterial, and mammalian cells can no longer be thought of as taking place in a homogeneous intracellular phase. Many enzymes and blood group and histocompatibility antigens have been found associated with subcellular organelles; some chemotherapeutic agents are active because they interfere with the biosynthesis of membranes, and studies of hormonal regulation involve investigations of various aspects of membrane function. The integration of structure and function has become one of the most exciting areas of biochemical investigation, e.g., the brilliant investigations correlating the mechanisms of bioenergetics with the structure of the mitochondrion and the biochemical understanding of the 'p-galactoside permease in Es cherichia coli as it relates to transport phenomena across the cell surface membrane. Many other intracellular processes are being defined as membrane associated phen

Contenu
1: The Bacterial Membrane.- I. Introduction.- II. Membranes and Surface Organization of the Bacterial Cell.- III. Intracellular Membrane Systems in Bacteria.- IV. Anatomy of Bacterial Membranes.- V. Chemical Composition of Isolated Membranes.- VI. Molecular Interactions in Membranes, Dissociation, and Reassociation.- VII. Membrane Functions.- VIII. Biogenesis of Bacterial Membranes.- IX. Conclusions.- References.- 2: Complex Carbohydrates of Animal Cells: Biochemistry and Physiology of the Cell Periphery.- I. Complex Carbohydrate Structures.- II. Biosynthesis of Complex Carbohydrate Structures.- III. Complex Carbohydrates of Cells and Membranes.- IV. Function.- 3: The Structure and Function of Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Membranes..- I. The Morphology of Sarcoplasmic Reticulum and Its Physiological Function.- II. Regulation of Sarcoplasmic Ca2+ Concentration by Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Membranes.- III. The Mechanism of Ca2+ Transport by Fragmented Sarcoplasmic Reticulum.- IV. The Role of Phospholipids in the ATPase Activity and Ca2+ Transport of Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Membranes.- V. Effect of Proteolytic Enzymes on Ca2+ Transport.- VI. The Role of SH Groups.- VII. The Role of Sterols and the Effect of Detergents.- VIII. Attempts to Detect Conformational Change in Microsomal Membranes.- IX. The Release of Ca2+ from Sarcoplasmic Reticulum.- X. The Protein Composition of Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Membranes.- XI. Solubilization and Reconstitution of Microsomal Membranes.- XII. Inhibitors of Ca2+ Transport.- XIII. Ca2+ Transport in Muscle Disease.- References.- 4: The Isolation of the Surface Membranes of Animal Cells: A Survey.- I. Introduction.- II. General Comments on the Isolation.- III. Isolation of Surface Membranes.- IV. Conclusions.- References.