Developments in Biophysical Research

ISBN-13: 9781468410792 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 366 str.

Antonio Borsellino

Opis

This volume derives from papers presented at the 4th biennial meeting of the Italian Biophysical Society, held in Parma in October 1979. It includes review lectures presented by guest scientists (R.H. Adrian, E. Neher, S. Ottolenghi, and G. Zaccai); the remaining reviews and papers present some of the problems currently under study in our country. One can see that biophysical problems are studied under differ ent academic roofs, i.e., at physiological or biochemical departments. We consider this a strength and a weakness at the same time. The "Italian Bioenergetics Group" contributed to the success of the meeting, as much as the groups working in various laboratories of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, in particular those of the National Group of Cybernetics and Biophysics. To them, and to the University of Parma, which contributed financial and organiza tional support, the Editors of this volume wish to express their appreciation. Particular thanks are to Drs. E. Carbone and V. Lenci, who spent time and effort for the meeting and in collecting the papers. The special care in the typing goes to the credit of Miss Rampello, to whom the Editors express their deepest gratitude.

Spis treści

Excitable Membranes.- Channel Noise Measurements in Nerve.- Internal pH and K+ Channel Rate Constants.- The Effect of Hydrostatic Pressure on the Voltage-Clamp Currents of the Squid Giant Axon.- Single Channel Conductance Measurements at the Neuromuscular Junction.- The Time Course of Membrane Conductance Change Evoked by Iontophoretically Applied Acetylcholine.- The Capacity of Cell Membranes: Gating Current Measurements.- Charge Movement and Contraction Threshold in Skeletal Muscle Fibres.- Properties of the Current (if) Which Underlies Adrenaline Action in the SA Node. Comparison with iK2 in the Purkinje Fibre.- A Model to Account for Firing Behaviour of Neurons Stimulated by Rectangular and Sinusoidal Currents.- Visual Adaptation and Changes in the Time Course of the Receptor Potential in the Retinula Cells of the Honeybee Drone.- Nonexcitable Membranes and Artificial Systems.- Photopigment Inducing Pores in Lipid Bilayer Membranes.- Ionic Transport Properties of the Hemocyanin Channel.- On the Structure of Melittin in Aqueous Solutions and upon Interaction with Membrane Model Systems.- Temperature Dependence of Matter Transport in Valoniautricularis.- Activation Energies in Isothermal and Non-isothermal Membrane Transport.- Transport Coefficients in a Nonlinear Membrane Array.- Structural Aspects of Energy Transducing Membranes.- Kinetic Aspects of Energy Coupling in Bacterial Photophosphorylation under Controlled Thermodynamic Conditions.- Role of a “Critical” Fatty Acid Concentration on a Phospholipid Exchange and Size Enlargement of Sonicated Vesicles.- Depolarization Current Analysis and Electrical Birefringence in Water-in-Oil Micro-emulsions.- Photobiology.- On the Nature of the Primary Photochemical Events in Bacteriorhodopsin.- New Experimental Approaches to the Study of the Photoresponses of Flagellated Algae.- Photomotile Responses in Oohromonasdanica.- Photo sensory Transduction in Euglenagracilis: Ineffectiveness of Some Protonophores.- Biomacromolecules: Protein Structure and Function.- Magnetic Properties and Structure of Oxyhemoglobin and Carbonmonoxyhemoglobin.- Effects of Organic Solvents on the Conformational and Functional Stability of Some Biological Macromolecules.- Isotopie Effects on the Kinetics of Thermal Denaturation of Met-Hemoglobin.- The Effect of Hydrogen Peroxide on Spin- Labeled Alcohol Dehydrogenase from Equine Liver.- Polyfunctionality of Horse Liver Alcohol Dehydrogenase.- Biomacromolecules: Nucleic Acids.- Application of Small Angle Neutron Scattering to RNA-Protein Complexes.- A Spectrophotometric Study of the Structure of rRNA in the Ribosome and in the Free State.- Polypeptide Sequences Coded by Complementary DNA Strands: A Computer Investigation of Gene Polynucleotide Sequences.- Complex Formation between 9-Aminoacridine and DNA.- Variation of DNA Physico-Chemical Parameters in Its Interaction with Mutagenic and/or Carcinogenic Compounds.- Compartmentalization in the Control of RNA and Protein Synthesis during Nutritional Shift-Down in the Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.- Contributor Index.