Theoretical Molecular Biophysics

ISBN-13: 9783642264115 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 371 str.

Philipp O.J. Scherer;Sighart F. Fischer

Opis

Biophysics deals with biological systems, such as proteins, which ful?ll a va- ety of functions in establishing living systems. While the biologistuses mostly a phenomenological description, the physicist tries to ?nd the general c- cepts to classify the materials and dynamics which underly speci?c processes. The phenomena span a wide range, from elementary processes, which can be induced by light excitation of a molecule, to communication of living s- tems. Thus, di?erent methods are appropriate to describe these phenomena. From the point of view of the physicist, this may be Continuum Mechanics to deal with membranes, Hydrodynamics to deal with transportthrough vessels, Bioinformatics to describe evolution, Electrostatics to deal with aspects of binding, Statistical Mechanics to account for temperature and to learn about the role of the entropy, and last but not least Quantum Mechanics to und- stand the electronic structure of the molecular systems involved. As can be seen from the title, Molecular Biophysics, this book will focus on systems for which su?cient information on the molecular level is available. Compared to crystallizedstandard materials studied in solid-state physics, the biological systems arecharacterizedby verybig unit cells containingproteinswith th- sands of atoms. In addition, there is always a certain amount of disorder, so that the systems can be classi?ed as complex. Surprisingly, the functions like a photocycle or the folding of a protein are highly reproducible, indicating a paradox situation in relation to the concept of maximum entropy production.

Recenzje

From the book reviews:

"This is a good text deriving formulae of interest to Biophysicists, students of mathematics, fellows, and theoretical physicists. The dynamic predicate calculus and differential forms inc. Kramer's Rules and Theorems are defined and further developed in sequential linear theory." (Joseph J. Grenier, Amazon.com, August, 2014)

"Biophysics is a fast growing area at the interface between physics and biology ... . The book by Scherer and Fischer is a first attempt in this direction. Their effort is laudable. ... The book will be a useful text for students and researchers wanting to go through the mathematical derivations in the theories presented. ... this book will attract a group of applied mathematically oriented students and scholars to the exciting field of molecular biophysics." (Hong Qian, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2012 c)

"Intended for graduate students, Theoretical Molecular Biophysics by Philipp Scherer and Sighart Fischer grew out of a biophysics course taught by the authors in the physics department of the Technical University of Munich. ... A striking feature of Theoretical Molecular Biophysics is the large number of equations relative to text ... . chapters close with challenging problems whose solutions are provided at the end of the book. ... The book closes with an interesting review of molecular-motor models." (H. Richard Leuchtag, Physics Today, May, 2011)

Spis treści

Statistical Mechanics of Biopolymers.- Random Walk Models for the Conformation.- Flory–Huggins Theory for Biopolymer Solutions.- Protein Electrostatics and Solvation.- Implicit Continuum Solvent Models.- Debye–Hückel Theory.- Protonation Equilibria.- Reaction Kinetics.- Formal Kinetics.- Kinetic Theory: Fokker–Planck Equation.- Kramers’ Theory.- Dispersive Kinetics.- Transport Processes.- Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics.- Simple Transport Processes.- Ion Transport Through a Membrane.- Reaction–Diffusion Systems.- Reaction Rate Theory.- Equilibrium Reactions.- Calculation of Reaction Rates.- Marcus Theory of Electron Transfer.- Elementry Photophysis.- Molecular States.- Optical Transitions.- The Displaced Harmonic Oscillator Model.- Spectral Diffusion.- Crossing of Two Electronic States.- Dynamics of an Excited State.- Elementry Photoinduced Processes.- Photophysics of Chlorophylls and Carotenoids.- Incoherent Energy Transfer.- Coherent Excitations in Photosynthetic Systems.- Ultrafast Electron Transfer Processes in the Photosynthetic Reaction Center.- Proton Transfer in Biomolecules.- Molecular Motor Models.- Continuous Ratchet Models.- Discrete Ratchet Models.- The Grand Canonical Ensemble.- Time Correlation Function of the Displaced Harmonic Oscillator Model.- The Saddle Point Method.

Blurb

"Theoretical Molecular Biophysics" is an advanced study book for students, shortly before or after completing undergraduate studies, in physics, chemistry or biology. It provides the tools for an understanding of elementary processes in biology, such as photosynthesis on a molecular level. A basic knowledge in mechanics, electrostatics, quantum theory and statistical physics is desirable. The reader will be exposed to basic concepts in modern biophysics such as entropic forces, phase separation, potentials of mean force, proton and electron transfer, heterogeneous reactions coherent and incoherent energy transfer as well as molecular motors. Basic concepts such as phase transitions of biopolymers, electrostatics, protonation equilibria, ion transport, radiationless transitions as well as energy- and electron transfer are discussed within the frame of simple models.