Biophysical Aspects of Coherence and Biological Order

Fülszöveg

Living systems maintain a high degree of order. An inconceivable number of various molecules, structures, organelles, etc. interact, enter the biochemical reactions, join together, and form larger stable structures whose properties cannot be predicted from the characteristics of their parts. The biochemical, biophysical, and biological processes are coordinated at the same time and successively in time but the mechanisms of order and selforganization are largely unknown.
The book explains self-assembly and order on the basis of a biophysical mechanism using energy. Biological molecules and structures have extraordinary polar and polarization properties. Even the thermal vibrations are accompanied by polarization waves generating oscillating electric fields capable of mediation of long range interactions. In particular, the cytoskeleton is an important structure of cellular organization. On account of non-linear properties energy supplied from metabolic sources (e.g. from GTP to... Tovább

Fülszöveg

Living systems maintain a high degree of order. An inconceivable number of various molecules, structures, organelles, etc. interact, enter the biochemical reactions, join together, and form larger stable structures whose properties cannot be predicted from the characteristics of their parts. The biochemical, biophysical, and biological processes are coordinated at the same time and successively in time but the mechanisms of order and selforganization are largely unknown.
The book explains self-assembly and order on the basis of a biophysical mechanism using energy. Biological molecules and structures have extraordinary polar and polarization properties. Even the thermal vibrations are accompanied by polarization waves generating oscillating electric fields capable of mediation of long range interactions. In particular, the cytoskeleton is an important structure of cellular organization. On account of non-linear properties energy supplied from metabolic sources (e.g. from GTP to the microtubules and from ATP to the actin filaments) can shift the vibrations in biological systems far from thermodynamic equilibrium and excite coherent states. The generated coherent electric field can be essential for creation and maintenance of order The book presents the hypothesis^j that protein phosphorylation can control the coherent vibrations whose disturbances ' may be connected with certain properties of malignant cells.
The text of the book is accessible to biophysicists, biologists, biochemists, and to other scientists working in the interdisciplinary area between biology, chemistry, and physics. As the necessary mathematical, physical, and chemical items are explained in the appendices, the book may be used by a wide community of readers Vissza