Supramolecular Structure and Function

Supramolecular Structure and Function

Supramolecular Structure and Function Edited by Greta Pifat Rudjer BoJkovitlnstitute Zagreb, Yugoslavia and Janko N. Herak University of Zagreb Zagreb, Yugoslavia PLENUM PRESS NEW YORK AND LONDON

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data International Summer School in Biophysics (1981: Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia) Supramolecular structure and function. "Lectures given at the International Summer School in Biophysics, held September 16-25, 1981, in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia"-T.p. verso. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Molecular biology-addresses, essays, lectures. 2. Macromolecules-Addresses, essays, lectures. I. Pifat, Greta. II. Herak, Janko N. III. Title. QH506.149 1983 574.8'8 82-24604 ISBN-13:978-1-4684-4480-3 e-isbn-13:978-1-4684-4478-0 DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4684-4478-0 Lectures given at the International Summer School in Biophysics, held September 16-25, 1981, in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia 1983 Plenum Press, New York Softcover reprint of the hardcover lst edition 1983 A Division of Plenum Publishing Corporation 233 Spring Street, New York, N.Y. 10013 All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher

PREFACE The molecular basis of life has been a rapidly growing field of science. There is perhaps no other field where such diverse profiles of scientists, ranging from applied mathematicians and theoretical physicists to experimental biologists and medical doctors (physicians), are compelled to communicate and even to collaborate. This diversity makes the exchange of information richer but at the same time more cumbersome. One way to facilitate the exchange of information and to overcome the barriers between the different languages used by physicists, chemists and biologists is to organize a meeting on a subject of common interest. A particularly suitable form of such a meeting for younger scientists is a school at an undergraduate or postgraduate level. This volume contains a collection of lectures presented at the International Summer School in Biophysics, held under the title "Supramolecular Structure and Function" in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia, in September 1981. The topics discussed at the school were inter- and intramolecular interactions in biological systems, and structure, organization and function of biological macromolecules and supramolecular structures. Although not all the lectures could be prepared in a written form on time for publication, we hope that the present volume contains valuable up-to-date information on various aspects of the molecular basis of life. We wish to express our gratitude to the eminent authors and to state that, having received so much valuable assistance from them, we as editors can only attach our names to apologies for any erro~s that may remain. The School was sponsored by the International Union for Pure and Applied Biophysics (IUPAB), the Yugoslav Biophysical Society and the Croatian Biophysical Society as well as by the Scientific Councils of Croatia and Yugoslavia. Financial aid granted by the v

vi PREFACE Councils has also been used in part for the preparation of this volume. Greta Pifat Janko N. Herak Zagreb, June 1982

CONTENTS Potential Energy Functions for Structural Molecular Biology......... S. Lifson Theoretical and Experimental Aspects of Protein Folding......... H.A. Scheraga Some Aspects of the Macromolecular Chemistry of Carbohydrate Polymers....... V. Crescenzi Hydration and Interactions in Aqueous Solutions of Ions and Molecules. F. Franks Biomembranes D. Marsh X-Ray and Neutron Small-Angle Scattering on Plasma Lipoproteins P. Laggner 1 45 59 95 127 179 Structure and Dynamics of Human Plasma Lipoproteins. 205 L.C. Smith, J.B. Massey, J.T. Sparrow, A.M. Gotto, Jr., and H.J. Pownall Crystallographic Studies of the Protein Biosynthesis System... 245 A. Liljas and M. Leijonmarck vii

viii Hemoglobin Oxygen Binding, Erythrocyte Shape Transformations, and Modeling of Cell Differentiation as Examples of Theoretical Approaches in Studying the Structure-Function Relationship in Biological Systems..... S. Svetina Evolution of Polynucleotides P. Schuster CONTENTS 275 309 List of Contributions Subject index.... 357 359