Abstract
Membranes are organized assemblies composed mainly of lipids and proteins. They are highly selective barriers, contain pumps and gates, and are involved in the two most important energy conversion processes, photosynthesis and oxidative phosphorylation. In photosynthesis, light is transformed into chemical energy. In oxidative phosphorylation, energy is gained by the oxidation of energy-rich materials. We will not discuss the chemical functions of membranes, but only sketch some features of their building blocks and their construction and describe some interesting physical properties. Membranes are crucial for the function of cells; an excellent description of the detailed membrane structure and function can be found in texts on cell biology, for instance [1, 2]. The physics of membranes is treated in, for instance, [3]–[6].
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Frauenfelder, H. (2010). Lipids and Membranes. In: Chan, S., Chan, W. (eds) The Physics of Proteins. Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1044-8_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1044-8_7
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