The goal of these two volumes is to help fill the gap between theory and experiment in membrane science. This is the only work available today which covers the domain of computer-aided conformational analyses of membranes. Written in a detailed, yet comprehensive manner, this book uses the semi-empirical approach as a way to give a molecular description of the membrane structure in organized systems. This interesting work establishes the validity and quality of the prediction by making a permanent comparison with the experimental data. This reference aims to use this comparison to open a new avenue in the molecular description of the biological membrane. Those involved with biochemistry, biophysics, pharmacology, and biology will find these volumes interesting and informative.

The molecular description of the membrane constituents is difficult to achieve experimentally, and therefore depends upon theoretical calculations to simulate the behavior of amphiphilic molecules, including both statistical and semi-empirical methods. Such approaches enable the unraveling of some of the mechanisms accounting for the membrane stability and for the function of compounds inserted in a lipid bilayer such as drugs, amphiphilic helices, and transmembrane peptides. Volume one addresses topics in computer aided description and experimental data as related to lipid structures and organizations. (See also following entry.)
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