Membrane Shape and Biological Function

"For a long time, the main function ascribed to biological membranes was that of being a semi-permeable barrier defining and determining the boundaries between cells and organelles. However, this view has changed. The number of reported essential functions in cell biology ascribed to biological membranes has increased markedly. Indeed, a variety of biological processes rely on the fine-tuned interaction between the membrane and its microenvironment. The functioning of biological membranes is a consequence of the chemical structure and physical properties of the component molecules and their mixtures. One physical property of membranes is their shape. The concept of shape is intimately associated with properties of curvature, but curvature and shape are not necessarily identical. While the role of membrane shape in biological processes was believed to be a passive one, new findings have challenged this view. Membrane shape and shape changes are active ways for the membrane to trigger biological responses. Hence, the coupling between membrane shape and biological function represents a modern aspect of the function of biological membranes. This multidisciplinary book presents state-of-the-art discussions on membrane shape and its relation to biological processes at the intersection of medicine, physics, chemistry, and biology. The book includes fundamentals of membrane shape generation and recognition. In addition, there are chapters that emphasize methods to measure aspects of membrane shape as well as giving specific examples of biological phenomenon that depend on membrane shape with a discussion of the mechanism by which shape determines biological function. The book encompasses theoretical and experimental aspects with examples using model systems and cellular ones. The importance of membrane shape in determining biological function is a relatively new concept that has been rapidly developing in the past several years highlighting the timely importance of this book"--