MOLECULAR FORCES IN CELLULAR ASSEMBLY

我们直接测量大分子间作用力的能力 或膜表面之间的关系使我们意识到两个主要特征 (A)在分子接近的重要的最后几个纳米 接触、相互作用是以除水功为主的 从它们的表面除去溶剂； (B)大分子或膜以更远的距离移动或 通过相互碰撞的分子的“立体”作用而波动排斥。 这两种力量都可以预期在一个 以分子集合为功能单位的生物细胞 或膜在连续和受控的重组中。 。一是为更正确的理论提供信息 对分子相互作用和组装的描述。 。数据的第二个用途是观察所测量的力是如何作用的 在功能层面上，比如说，控制联系人和 膜的融合，如在分泌过程中，或在决定 DNA或其他长分子的堆积，或扰乱 影响“门控”的蛋白质结构重排 跨膜离子通道的活性，甚至影响活性 其功能依赖于特定形式的 包装组件。(我们一直在对每一项工作进行 这些过程中。) 。第三，我们看到了引入测量力量的可能性。 并将运动信息输入分子动力学算法，以 将此信息的好处带给活跃但仍然 相对正规的计算机模拟领域。

Our ability to measure directly the forces between macromolecules or between membrane surfaces has made us aware of two main features (a) In the important last few nanometers where molecules approach contact, interaction is dominated by the work of removal of water solvent from their surfaces; (b) At larger distances macromolecules or membranes move or undulate to repel by the "steric" action of colliding molecules. Both these kinds of forces can be expected to act inside a biological cell whose functioning units are assemblies of molecules or membranes in continuous and controlled reorganization. . One is to provide information for a more correct theoretical description of molecular interaction and assembly. . A second use of the data is to see how the measured forces act at the functional level of, say, controlling the contact and fusion of membranes as in a secretory process, or determining the packing of DNA or other long molecules, or perturbing the rearrangements of protein structure that effect the "gating" of trans-membrane ionic channels, or even affect the activity of enzymes whose function depends on particular forms of packing components. (We have been carrying out work on each of these processes.) . Third, we see the possibility of introducing measured force and motion information into molecular dynamics algorithms, to bring the benefit of this information to the active but still relatively formal area of computer simulation.