Bridging Membrane Biophysics to Microbiology: Innovating Towards New Peptide and Peptide-based Antimicrobials

Bridging Membrane Biophysics to Microbiology: Innovating Towards New Peptide and Peptide-based Antimicrobials PDF Author: Miguel A. R. B. Castanho
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 2889713520
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 109

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Book Description

Bridging Membrane Biophysics to Microbiology: Innovating Towards New Peptide and Peptide-based Antimicrobials

Bridging Membrane Biophysics to Microbiology: Innovating Towards New Peptide and Peptide-based Antimicrobials PDF Author: Miguel A. R. B. Castanho
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 2889713520
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 109

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Book Description


The World of Peptides

The World of Peptides PDF Author: Theodor Wieland
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642758509
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
Almost two centuries ago proteins were recognized as the primary materials (proteios = primary) oflife, but the significance and wide role of peptides (from pepsis = digestion) in practically all life pro cesses has only become apparent in the last few decades. Biologi cally active peptides are now being discovered at rapid intervals in the brain and in other organs including the heart, in the skin of amphibians and many other tissues. Peptides and peptide-like compounds are found among toxins and antibiotics. It is unlikely that this process, an almost explosive broadening of the field, will come to a sudden halt. By now it is obvious that Nature has used the combination of a small to moderate number of amino acids to generate a great variety of agonists with specific and often highly sophisticated functions. Thus, peptide chemistry must be regarded as a discipline in its own right, a major branch of biochemistry, fairly separate from the chemistry of proteins. Because of the important role played by synthesis both in the study and in the practical preparation of peptides, their area can be considered as belonging to bio-organic chemistry as well. The already overwhelming and still increasing body of know ledge renders an account of the history of peptide chemistry more and more difficult. It appears therefore timely to look back, to take stock and to recall the important stages in the development of a new discipline.

The Perfect Slime

The Perfect Slime PDF Author: Hans-Curt Flemming
Publisher: IWA Publishing
ISBN: 1780407416
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
The Perfect Slime presents the latest state of knowledge and all aspects of the Extracellular Polymeric Substances, (EPS) matrix – from the ecological and health to the antifouling perspectives. The book brings together all the current material in order to expand our understanding of the functions, properties and characteristics of the matrix as well as the possibilities to strengthen or weaken it. The EPS matrix represents the immediate environment in which biofilm organisms live. From their point of view, this matrix has paramount advantages. It allows them to stay together for extended periods and form synergistic microconsortia, it retains extracellular enzymes and turns the matrix into an external digestion system and it is a universal recycling yard, it protects them against desiccation, it allows for intense communication and represents a huge genetic archive. They can remodel their matrix, break free and eventually, they can use it as a nutrient source. The EPS matrix can be considered as one of the emergent properties of biofilms and are a major reason for the success of this form of life. Nevertheless, they have been termed the “black matter of biofilms” for good reasons. First of all: the isolation methods define the results. In most cases, only water soluble EPS components are investigated; insoluble ones such as cellulose or amyloids are much less included. In particular in environmental biofilms with many species, it is difficult to impossible isolate, separate the various EPS molecules they are encased in and to define which species produced which EPS. The regulation and the factors which trigger or inhibit EPS production are still very poorly understood. Furthermore: bacteria are not the only microorganisms to produce EPS. Archaea, Fungi and algae can also form EPS. This book investigates the questions, What is their composition, function, dynamics and regulation? What do they all have in common?

Free Energy Calculations

Free Energy Calculations PDF Author: Christophe Chipot
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3540384472
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 528

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Book Description
Free energy constitutes the most important thermodynamic quantity to understand how chemical species recognize each other, associate or react. Examples of problems in which knowledge of the underlying free energy behaviour is required, include conformational equilibria and molecular association, partitioning between immiscible liquids, receptor-drug interaction, protein-protein and protein-DNA association, and protein stability. This volume sets out to present a coherent and comprehensive account of the concepts that underlie different approaches devised for the determination of free energies. The reader will gain the necessary insight into the theoretical and computational foundations of the subject and will be presented with relevant applications from molecular-level modelling and simulations of chemical and biological systems. Both formally accurate and approximate methods are covered using both classical and quantum mechanical descriptions. A central theme of the book is that the wide variety of free energy calculation techniques available today can be understood as different implementations of a few basic principles. The book is aimed at a broad readership of graduate students and researchers having a background in chemistry, physics, engineering and physical biology.

Lipid Bilayers

Lipid Bilayers PDF Author: J. Katsaras
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 366204496X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
Provides the reader with an up to date insight of the current state of the art in the field of lipid bilayer research and the important insights derived for the understanding of the complex and varied behaviour of biological membranes and its function.

The Bacterial Cell Wall

The Bacterial Cell Wall PDF Author: Guntram Seltmann
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3662048787
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
The bacterial cell wall represents a very complex structure disconnecting the interior of single-cell organisms from the environment, thus protecting, but also enabling, them to interact with the surrounding milieu and to exchange both substances and information. Knowledge of the biochemistry of the cell wall (components) and the genetic background helps to understand their significance with regard to microbiology and immunology of bacteria. This book represents the second edition of a publication which was presented nearly 20 years ago in the German language (Die bakterielle Zellwand). Since that time our knowledge in this field has been significantly enlarged. Therefore, the manuscript had to be completely revised and updated. To maintain both the size and the introductory character of the book at least to a great extent, the authors had to restrict the presented material to that which appears basic and most important. This requirement must inevitably bring about many subjective factors. As pointed out in the first edition, the term cell wall was not taken too strictly. Since the constituents located outside the cytoplasmic membrane are frequently difficult to divide in structure, localisation, and/or function into true cell wall components and supplementary substances, they are all at least briefly mentioned.

Bio-Inspired Innovation and National Security

Bio-Inspired Innovation and National Security PDF Author: National Defense University
Publisher: NDU Press
ISBN: 1780390408
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
Despite the vital importance of the emerging area of biotechnology and its role in defense planning and policymaking, no definitive book has been written on the topic for the defense policymaker, the military student, and the private-sector bioscientist interested in the "emerging opportunities market" of national security. This edited volume is intended to help close this gap and provide the necessary backdrop for thinking strategically about biology in defense planning and policymaking. This volume is about applications of the biological sciences, here called "biologically inspired innovations," to the military. Rather than treating biology as a series of threats to be dealt with, such innovations generally approach the biological sciences as a set of opportunities for the military to gain strategic advantage over adversaries. These opportunities range from looking at everything from genes to brains, from enhancing human performance to creating renewable energy, from sensing the environment around us to harnessing its power.

Bacterial Cell Wall Structure and Dynamics

Bacterial Cell Wall Structure and Dynamics PDF Author: Tobias Dörr
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 2889631524
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 199

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Book Description
Bacterial cells are encased in a cell wall, which is required to maintain cell shape and to confer physical strength to the cell. The cell wall allows bacteria to cope with osmotic and environmental challenges and to secure cell integrity during all stages of bacterial growth and propagation, and thus has to be sufficiently rigid. Moreover, to accommodate growth processes, the cell wall at the same time has to be a highly dynamic structure: During cell enlargement, division, and differentiation, bacteria continuously remodel, degrade, and resynthesize their cell wall, but pivotally need to assure cell integrity during these processes. Finally, the cell wall is also adjusted according to both environmental constraints and metabolic requirements. However, how exactly this is achieved is not fully understood. The major structural component of the bacterial cell wall is peptidoglycan (PG), a mesh-like polymer of glycan chains interlinked by short-chain peptides, constituting a net-like macromolecular structure that has historically also termed murein or murein sacculus. Although the basic structure of PG is conserved among bacteria, considerable variations occur regarding cross-bridging, modifications, and attachments. Moreover, different structural arrangements of the cell envelope exist within bacteria: a thin PG layer sandwiched between an inner and outer membrane is present in Gram-negative bacteria, and a thick PG layer decorated with secondary glycopolymers including teichoic acids, is present in Gram-positive bacteria. Furthermore, even more complex envelope structures exist, such as those found in mycobacteria. Crucially, all bacteria possess a multitude of often redundant lytic enzymes, termed “autolysins”, and other cell wall modifying and synthesizing enzymes, allowing to degrade and rebuild the various structures covering the cells. However, how cell wall turnover and cell wall biosynthesis are coordinated during different stages of bacterial growth is currently unclear. The mechanisms that prevent cell lysis during these processes are also unclear. This Research Topic focuses on the dynamics of the bacterial cell wall, its modifications, and structural rearrangements during cell growth and differentiation. It pays particular attention to the turnover of PG, its breakdown and recycling, as well as the regulation of these processes. Other structures, for example, secondary polymers such as teichoic acids, which are dynamically changed during bacterial growth and differentiation, are also covered. In recent years, our view on the bacterial cell envelope has undergone a dramatic change that challenged old models of cell wall structure, biosynthesis, and turnover. This collection of articles aims to contribute to new understandings of bacterial cell wall structure and dynamics.

Amber 2021

Amber 2021 PDF Author: David A. Case
Publisher: University of California, San Francisco
ISBN:
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 959

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Book Description
Amber is the collective name for a suite of programs that allow users to carry out molecular dynamics simulations, particularly on biomolecules. None of the individual programs carries this name, but the various parts work reasonably well together, and provide a powerful framework for many common calculations. The term Amber is also used to refer to the empirical force fields that are implemented here. It should be recognized, however, that the code and force field are separate: several other computer packages have implemented the Amber force fields, and other force fields can be implemented with the Amber programs. Further, the force fields are in the public domain, whereas the codes are distributed under a license agreement. The Amber software suite is divided into two parts: AmberTools21, a collection of freely available programs mostly under the GPL license, and Amber20, which is centered around the pmemd simulation program, and which continues to be licensed as before, under a more restrictive license. Amber20 represents a significant change from the most recent previous version, Amber18. (We have moved to numbering Amber releases by the last two digits of the calendar year, so there are no odd-numbered versions.) Please see https://ambermd.org for an overview of the most important changes. AmberTools is a set of programs for biomolecular simulation and analysis. They are designed to work well with each other, and with the “regular” Amber suite of programs. You can perform many simulation tasks with AmberTools, and you can do more extensive simulations with the combination of AmberTools and Amber itself. Most components of AmberTools are released under the GNU General Public License (GPL). A few components are in the public domain or have other open-source licenses. See the README file for more information.

Advances in Planar Lipid Bilayers and Liposomes

Advances in Planar Lipid Bilayers and Liposomes PDF Author: A. Ottova-Leitmannova
Publisher: Gulf Professional Publishing
ISBN: 9780123694539
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 348

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Book Description
The lipid bilayer is central to life, as all living organisms possess a lipid bilayer structure, thereby underlying the lipid bilayer principle of biomembranes. The lipid bilayer principle and its applications are the main theme of this new book series. This new series on bilayer lipid membranes (BLMs and liposomes) include invited chapters on a broad range of topics, from theoretical investigations, specific studies, experimental methods, to practical applications. Written for newcomers, experienced scientists, and those who are not familiar with these specific research areas, the Series covers all aspects of lipid bilayer investigations, both fundamental and applied. * Covers a broad range of topics ranging from theoretical research, specific studies, experimental methods, to practical applications * Authoritative timely reviews by experts in this field * Indispensable source of information for new scientists