Since most therapeutic efforts have been predominantly focused on pharmaceuticals that target proteins, there is an unmet need to develop drugs that intercept cellular pathways that critically involve nucleic acids. Progress in the discovery of nucleic acid binding drugs naturally relies on the availability of analytical methods that assess the eff

This book spans diverse aspects of modified nucleic acids, from chemical synthesis and spectroscopy to in vivo applications, and highlights studies on chemical modifications of the backbone and nucleobases. Topics discussed include fluorescent pyrimidine and purine analogs, enzymatic approaches to the preparation of modified nucleic acids, emission and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy for studying nucleic acid structure and dynamics, non-covalent binding of low- and high-...

This textbook provides a strong foundation and a clear overview for students of membrane biology and an invaluable synthesis of cutting-edge research for working scientists. The text retains its clear and engaging style, providing a solid background in membrane biochemistry, while also incorporating the approaches of biophysics, genetics and cell biology to investigations of membrane structure, function and biogenesis to provide a unique overview of this fast-moving field. A wealth of new ...

The use of biocatalysts, employed either as isolated enzymes or whole microbial cells, offers a remarkable arsenal of highly selective transformations for state-of-the-art synthetic organic chemistry. Over the last two decades, this methodology has become an indispensable tool for asymmetric synthesis, not only at the academic level, but also on an industrial scale.This well-established textbook on biocatalysis provides a basis for undergraduate and graduate courses in modern organ...

The Organic Chemistry of Enzyme-Catalyzed Reactions is not a book on enzymes, but rather a book on the general mechanisms involved in chemical reactions involving enzymes. An enzyme is a protein molecule in a plant or animal that causes specific reactions without itself being permanently altered or destroyed. This is a revised edition of a very successful book, which appeals to both academic and industrial markets. - Illustrates the organic mechanism associated with each enzyme-catalyzed r...

Kinetic studies of enzyme action provide powerful insights into the underlying mechanisms of catalysis and regulation. These approaches are equally useful in examining the action of newly discovered enzymes and therapeutic agents. Contemporary Enzyme Kinetics and Mechanism, Second Edition presents key articles from Volumes 63, 64, 87, 249, 308 and 354 of Methods in Enzymology. The chapters describe the most essential and widely applied strategies. A set of exercises and problems is include...

"Disruption of Protein-Protein Interfaces" reviews the latest developments and future perspectives in drug discovery at protein-protein interfaces. The authors detail experimental and computational tools to tackle the subject and highlight the contribution of the Italian research community to the field. Evidence shows that blocking or modulating protein-protein interactions might lead to the development of useful new drugs. Consequently, in recent years great effort has been dedicated to u...

In this monograph, the importance of fluctuations for biological reactions is discussed from various points of view. Understanding the biological reactions at the molecular level is one of the major targets in many scientific fields, including not only basic biology but also physics, physical chemistry, and medical science. One of the key factors in the process is “fluctuation”. Thermal energy causes biological molecules to be in constant fluctuation even while they are carrying out their ...

The Science of Synthesis Editorial Board, together with the volume editors and authors, is constantly reviewing the whole field of synthetic organic chemistry as presented in Science of Synthesis and evaluating significant developments in synthetic methodology. Four annual volumes updating content across all categories ensure that you always have access to state-of-the-art synthetic methodology.

An Introduction that describes the origin of cytochrome notation also connects to the history of the field, focusing on research in England in the pre-World War II era. The start of the modern era of studies on structure-function of cytochromes and energy-transducing membrane proteins was marked by the 1988 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, given to J. Deisenhofer, H. Michel, and R. Huber for determination of the crystal structure of the bacterial photosynthetic reaction center. An ab initio

Nature has long used nucleic acid aptamers and enzymes for regulatory activities, such as the recently discovered “riboswitches” involved in gene expression. The existence of a large array of natural and artificial functional nucleic acids has generated tremendous enthusiasm and new opportunities for molecular scientists from diverse disciplines to devise new concepts and real applications that take advantage of those nucleic acids for sensing and other analytical applications. This book p...

In the last ten years there has been a considerable increase of interest on the notion of the minimal cell. With this term we usually mean a cell-like structure containing the minimal and sufficient number of components to be defined as alive, or at least capable of displaying some of the fundamental functions of a living cell. In fact, when we look at extant living cells we realize that thousands of molecules are organized spatially and functionally in order to realize what we call cellul...