Membrane Fluidity

The aim of this book is to bring together in one volume the current research and thought on the concept of membrane fluidity as a biological phenomenon. The invited articles are intended to review recent develop ments in the areas of membrane research covered and to summarize the current concepts and theories in those areas. The authors have been given ample opportunity to present their thoughts and speculation on membrane fluidity and related phenomena in a more expanded form than is usually possible in reviews of this type. It is hoped that this approach will have a stimulating effect on research and theoretical development in the biomem brane field. The chapters in this book are arranged in three sections, the first of which covers physical studies of membrane fluidity and related phenomena on the molecular level. Included are chapters on intermolecular hydrogen bonding between membrane lipids, thermal analysis of membranes, appli cation of fluorescence and NMR spectrometry to the study of membrane fluidity, and the effect of drugs and other compounds on membrane stability and fluidity. The second section deals with the regulation of membrane fluidity in microorganisms, plants, and higher organisms by factors such as tem perature, fatty acid chain length, lipid desaturation, and polar head group structure.

Contenu
I. Physical Studies of Membrane Fluidity and Related Phenomena.- 1 Intermolecular Hydrogen Bonding between Membrane Lipids.- 2 Thermal Analysis of Membranes.- 3 Fluorescence Polarization Studies of Membrane Fluidity: Where Do We Go from Here?.- 4 Conformational and Motional Properties of Lipids in Biological Membranes as Determined by Deuterium Magnetic Resonance.- 5 Fluidity of Cell Membranes in the Presence of Some Drugs and Inhibitors.- 6 Lipid Bilayer Stability in Biological Membranes.- II. Regulation of Membrane Fluidity.- 7 The Relationship between Membrane Lipid Fluidity and Phase State and the Ability of Bacteria and Mycoplasmas to Grow and Survive at Various Temperatures.- 8 Thermal Control of Fatty Acid Synthetases in Bacteria.- 9 Regulation and Pathways of Membrane Lipid Biosynthesis in Bacilli.- 10 The Regulation of Membrane Fluidity in Bacteria by Acyl Chain Length Changes.- 11 The Control of Membrane Fluidity in Plasmalogen-Containing Anaerobic Bacteria.- 12 Regulation of Membrane Fluidity by Lipid Desaturases.- 13 The Regulation of Membrane Fluidity in Tetrahymena.- 14 Control of Membrane Fluidity in Fusarium.- 15 Regulation of Hepatic Phospholipid N-Methylation.- III. Correlation of Membrane Fluidity and Physiological Activity.- 16 Fluidity of Membrane Lipids.- 17 Membrane Lipid Adaptation in Yeast.- 18 The Dynamic State of Membrane Lipids: The Significance of Lipid Exchange and Transfer Reactions to Biomembrane Composition, Structure, Function, and Cellular Lipid Metabolism.- 19 Role of Phospholipid Head Group Structure and Polarity in the Control of Membrane Fusion.- 20 Membrane Fluidity and Receptor Function.- 21 Glycosphingolipid Domain Formation and Lymphocyte Activation.- 22 Dynamics of Membrane Lipids during Lymphocyte Stimulation by Mitogens.- 23Membrane Permeability in Porcine Malignant Hyperthermia.