Progress in Membrane Biotechnology

It is well known that basic science can trigger an invention of considerable technological and commercial importance. Indeed basic science and invention are often inextricably linked, each being able to catalyse the other. To engender such developments it is important that there should be good communication between the scientist and the technologist. The field of membrane biotechnology is a growing field where such communication is increasingly taking place and where new inventions are occurring. This book provides an overview of this developing field. It contains chapters by scientist and technologists working in the field of Membrane Biotechnology. The chapters cover the latest advances in basic science as well as some recent technological applications. The basic topics include the application of dynamic X-ray diffraction to lipid water systems, FTIR spectroscopy applied to membrane proteins, fluorescent analogues of phosphoinositides, studies of platelet activating factor, antibody binding to model membranes and phospholipase C induced fusion. The technological topics described include the development of new haemocompatible materials based upon biomembrane mimicry, new lung surfactant materials, drug delivery systems including liposomes and the development of new biosensors including Langmuir Blodgett films. The meeting showed that there are many other useful applications in the pipeline. The potential for new polymeric drug delivery systems, of ion selective systems based on the knowledge of ion-channel protein structures, of new plastics for cell growth and cellular engineering for artificial organs. These are among the interesting developments that are emerging in this field.

Contenu

Basic and technological studies of biomembrane components.- Dynamic X-ray diffraction studies of phase transitions in lipid-water systems.- Phase behaviour of phosphatide acid.- Tools for molecular graphics depictions of lipid structures.- Fluorescent analogues of phosphoinositides in studies on lipid- protein interactions and membrane dynamics.- Binding, interaction, and organization of proteins with lipid model membranes.- Transport, equilibrium, and kinetics of antibodies on planar model membranes measured by quantitative fluorescence microscopy.- Location and dynamics of a-tocopherol in membranes.- Platelet activating factor (PAF), a lipidie mediator with a structural activity in bilayer A model sustaining a biological relevance for the asymmetric phospholipids.- Membrane stabilization by antioxidant recycling.- Purification and some properties of E. coli ?-haemolysin.- On the mechanism of phospholipase C-induced fusion of pure lipid membranes.- Liposomes as vehicles for vaccines: intracellular fate of liposomal antigen in macrophages.- Treatment of tumors using cytostatic-containing liposomes.- Liposome encapsulated hemoglobin; in-vivo efficacy of a synthetic red cell substitute.- Role of membrane components on anthracycline cytotoxicity.- Hydrophobic pulmonary surfactant proteins in model lipid systems.- Soluble polymeric drug-carriers : haematocompatibility.- Polyhydroxyalkanoates, a family of biodegradable plastics from bacteria.- Deposition of biological lipids on solid planar substrates by Langmuir Blodgett technique.- Immobilization of hepatic microsomal cytochrome P-450 from phenobarbital treated rats in hollow-fiber bioreactors.- The binding parameters of a hydrophobic cationic drug to phospholipid membranes.- Membrane fusion activity of influenza virus and reconstituted viral envelopes (virosomes).