Biochemical Fundamentals

Different biospecific interaction processes may be considered for the construction of biosensors. Enzymes, antibodies, lectins, hormones, microorganisms, organelles, or tissue sections can be used to act as molecular 

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Terpe, K. (2006) Overview of bacterial expression systems for heterologous protein production from molecular and biochemical fundamentals to commercial systems. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 72 (2), 211-222. 

Riedel K (1991) Biochemical fundamentals and improvement of selectivity of microbial sensors - a minireview. Bioelectrochem Bioenerg 25 19-30... 

Grunwald, P., Biocatalysis Biochemical Fundamentals and Applications, Imperial College Press 2009. 

There has been a surge of research activity in the physical chemistry of membranes, bilayers, and vesicles. In addition to the fundamental interest in cell membranes and phospholipid bilayers, there is tremendous motivation for the design of supported membrane biosensors for medical and pharmaceutical applications (see the recent review by Sackmann [64]). This subject, in particular its biochemical aspects, is too vast for full development here we will only briefly discuss some of the more physical aspects of these systems. The reader is referred to the general references and some additional reviews [65-69]. 

J. E. Bailey and D. F. Ohis, Biochemical Engineering Fundamentals, 2nd ed. McGraw-HiU Book Co., Inc., New York, 1986. A very good treatise describing the apphcation of basic engineering principles to fermentation technology. 

Mode of Action. The fundamental biochemical lesion produced by arsenicals is the result of reaction between As " and the sulfhydryl groups of key respiratory enzymes such as pymvate and a-ketoglutarate dehydrogenases. 

Once kiside the host ceU, the vims must repHcate its own nucleic acid. To do this, it often uses part of the normal synthesizing machinery of the host ceU. If the vims is to continue its growth cycle, vkal nucleic acid and vkal proteki must be properly transported within the ceU, assembled kito the kifective vims particle, and ultimately released from the ceU. AH of these fundamental processes kivolve an intimate utilization of both ceUular and vkal enzymes. Certain enzymes that ate kivolved ki this process ate specificaHy suppHed by the invading vims. It is this type of specificity that can provide the best basis for antivkal chemotherapy Thus an effective antivkal agent should specificaHy inhibit the vkal-encoded or vims-kiduced enzymes without inhibition of the normal enzymes involved in the biochemical process of the host ceH. Vims-associated enzymes have been reviewed (2,3) (Table 1). 

Mercerized cellulose fibers have improved luster and do not shrink further. One of the main reasons for mercerizing textiles is to improve their receptivity to dyes. This improvement may result more from the dismption of the crystalline regions rather than the partial conversion to a new crystal stmcture. A good example of the fundamental importance of the particular crystal form is the difference in rate of digestion by bacteria. Bacteria from cattle mmen rapidly digest Cellulose I but degrade Cellulose II very slowly (69). Thus aHomorphic form can be an important factor in biochemical reactions of cellulose as well as in some conventional chemical reactions. 

In combination, the book should serve as a useful reference for both theoreticians and experimentalists in all areas of biophysical and biochemical research. Its content represents progress made over the last decade in the area of computational biochemistry and biophysics. Books by Brooks et al. [24] and McCammon and Harvey [25] are recommended for an overview of earlier developments in the field. Although efforts have been made to include the most recent advances in the field along with the underlying fundamental concepts, it is to be expected that further advances will be made even as this book is being published. To help the reader keep abreast of these advances, we present a list of useful WWW sites in the Appendix. 

Burn has pointed out that the grouping together of many properties as fundamentally the same, brings into some sort of order the long list of apparently pharmacologically unrelated alkaloids, and that the similarity in many properties of atropine, papaverine and quinine, and of conessine and quinine, suggests points of biochemical similarity. 

Baily, J.E. and Ollis, D.F., Biochemical Engineering Fundamentals , 2nd edn. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1986. 

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