General Biophysics

General Biophysics, Volume I deals with the theoretical physics underlying biological phenomena and presents some pertinent experimental results. It explores the molecular foundations of biophysics, the thermodynamics of nonequilibrium systems and membrane transport, nerve impulses, and mechanochemical processes.
Comprised of five chapters, this volume begins with an overview of molecular biophysics and the concept of molecular recognition, followed by a discussion of the interaction between antibodies and antigens, the primary processes that determine odor reception, and the importance of intercellular interactions in the existence and development of multicellular organisms. The next chapters explain how protein biosynthesis is regulated by molecules and how proteins are biosynthesized in eukaryotic cells, along with the application of thermodynamics to the analysis of biophysical problems and the coupling of chemical reactions near equilibrium. The reader is also introduced to the stability conditions of a steady state, the concept of entropy for an open system, the thermodynamics of the sodium pump, ionic equilibrium between sodium and potassium solutions separated by an active membrane, the conformational properties of membranes, and the general phenomenological theory of facilitated transport and the role of the carriers. The book concludes with a chapter on biological mechanochemical processes and their thermodynamics.
This book is a valuable resource for physicists and biophysicists, graduate and postgraduate students having the necessary knowledge of physics, and anyone acquainted with proteins and nucleic acids.

Contenu

Preface
Contents of Volume II

1. Molecular Foundations of Biophysics
   1.1 The Subject Matter of Molecular Biophysics
   1.2 Molecular Recognition
   1.3 Antigen-Antibody Interaction
   1.4 Reception of Odor
   1.5 Intercellular Interactions
   1.6 Molecular Regulation of Protein Biosynthesis
   1.7 Protein Biosynthesis in the Eukaryotic Cell
2. The Thermodynamics of Nonequilibrium Systems
   2.1 The Dissipation Function
   2.2 The Coupling of Chemical Reactions
   2.3 The Steady State of a Linear System
   2.4 The Coupling of Chemical Reactions with Diffusion Processes
   2.5 Processes Remote from Equilibrium
   2.6 Entropy
   2.7 Entropy and Information in Biology
3. Membrane Transport
   3.1 Cell Membranes
   3.2 The Thermodynamics of Passive Membrane Transport
   3.3 The Thermodynamics of Active Membrane Transport
   3.4 The Thermodynamic Model of the Sodium Pump
   3.5 The Model Theory of Passive Membrane Transport
   3.6 The Model Theory of Active Membrane Transport
   3.7 The Structure of Membranes
   3.8 The Conformational Properties of Membranes
   3.9 Induced Ion Transport
4. Nerve Impulses
   4.1 Axons and Nerve Impulses
   4.2 Propagation of the Nerve Impulse
   4.3 Generation of the Impulse
   4.4 Activation and Inactivation of Sodium Conductivity
   4.5 Synaptic Transmission
5. Mechanochemical Processes
   5.1 The Thermodynamics of Mechanochemical Processes
   5.2 The Structure of Muscle and Muscle Proteins
   5.3 Biochemistry and Mechanics of Muscle
   5.4 Thermomechanical Properties of Muscle
   5.5 Theories of Muscle Contraction
   5.6 The Theory of Stationary Muscle Contraction
   5.7 The Theory of Muscle Thermomechanical Properties
   5.8 The Initiation of Muscle Contraction
   5.9 The Kinetic Properties of Muscle
   5.10 Problems of the Physics of Muscle
   5.11 The Movements of Flagella and Cilia
   5.12 Other Mechanochemical Systems
   Index