This volume brings together information on membrane organization and dynamics from a variety of spectroscopic, microscopic and simulation approaches, spanning a broad range of time scales. The implication of such dynamic information on membrane function in health and disease is a topic of contemporary interest. The articles in this volume cover various aspects of membrane lipid and protein dynamics, explored using a battery of experimental and theoretical approaches. The synthesis of information and knowledge gained by utilizing multiple approaches will provide a comprehensive understanding of the underlying membrane dynamics and function. This will help to develop robust models for understanding membrane function in healthy and diseased states from a dynamic perspective.
Biological membranes are complex two-dimensional, non-covalent assemblies of a diverse variety of lipids and proteins. They impart an identity to the cell and its organelles and represent an ideal milieu for the proper function of a large set of membrane proteins. Membrane proteins occupy a central role in cellular physiology. They mediate a wide range of essential cellular processes such as signaling across the membrane, cell-cell recognition, and membrane transport. Almost 50% of all proteins encoded by a eukaryotic genome are membrane proteins. As a result, a majority of biological processes take place on the cell membrane.
In the last few years, crystal structures of an impressive number of membrane proteins have been reported, thanks to tremendous advances in membrane protein crystallization techniques. Some of these recently solved structures belong to the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) family, which are particularly difficult to crystallize due to their intrinsic flexibility. Nonetheless, these static structures do not provide the necessary information to understand the function of membrane proteins in the complex membrane milieu.
