Kinetics of Biologically Significant Large Ligand Interactions

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

A series of modeling studies of a variety of biologically significant phenomena involving the interactions of biopolymers with smaller molecules and with other biopolymers is proposed. Systems in which molecules bind to a long biopolymer represented by a one-dimensional lattice will be studied. Specifically: a.) The effects of multiple maxima (biomodality) in the probability distribution of the number of ligands bound to the lattice will be examined; b.) earlier methods, which take the lattice to be homogenous, with information about the sequence of monomers along the lattice will be augmented; c.) new approximation techniques more appropriate to heterogenous lattices will be sought; and d.) a new, simple model for ion transport through multi-ion membrane channels will be explored. In considering the aggregation of biopolymer chains with one another, e.) both the kinetic and the structural aspects of the process by which biopolymers aggregate to form clusters will be investigated; f.) methods for studying the kinetics of linear aggregation phenomena with emphasis on the polymerization of tubulin to form microtubules will be developed; and g.) approaches to designing molecules that disrupt the aggregation process will be sought. The interaction of biological macromolecules with smaller molecules and with other biopolymers is an ever present occurrence in the normal (and abnormal) processes of biological systems. An understanding of these interactions is essential for an understanding of the functioning of biological systems. //