Protein Physics: A Course of Lectures (Soft Condensed Matter, Complex Fluids and Biomaterials) [Hardcover]

Alexei V. Finkelstein (Author), Oleg Ptitsyn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 28, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0122567811 | ISBN-13: 978-0122567810 | Edition: 1

Protein Physics is a lively presentation of the most general problems of protein structure, folding and function from the physics and chemistry perspective, based on lectures given by the authors. It deals with fibrous, membrane and, most of all, with the best studied water-soluble globular proteins, in both their native and denatured states. The major aspects of protein physics are covered systematically, physico-chemical properties of polypeptide chains; their secondary structures; tertiary structures of proteins and their classification; conformational transitions in protein molecules and their folding; intermediates of protein folding; folding nuclei; physical backgrounds of coding the protein structures by their amino acid sequences and protein functions in relation to the protein structure. The book will be of interest to undergraduate and graduate level students and researchers of biophysics, biochemistry, biology and material science.

* Designed for a wide audience of undergraduate and graduate students, as well as being a reference for researchers in academia and industry
* Covers the most general problems of protein structure, folding, and function and introduces the key concepts and theories
* Deals with fibrous, membrane and especially water-soluble globular proteins, in both their native and denatured states
* Summarizes and presents in a systematic form the results of several decades of world wide fundamental research on protein physics, structure and folding
* Examines experimental data on protein structure in the post-genome era

Editorial Reviews

Review

"It is not always easy to translate a good lecture course into an equally engaging textbook, but Finkelstein and Ptitsyn have succeeded in this difficult task. The twenty-five chapters are not only an accurate and detailed introduction to the physics of proteins, but also remarkably lively. ...the book is a pleasure to read and is well suited both as a textbook used in a course on protein science and as a tool for self-study."
-Ulrich H. E. Hansmann for the BULLETIN OF MATHEMATICAL BIOLOGY, Sept. 2003

"The lectures are unique... anticipating questions from the students, and answering them, with an interspersion of simple examples...a good introduction to protein physics for students, ...will help chemists, physicists, and biologists acquire a widespread knowledge of current issues in protein structure, properties, and reactions."
- Harold A. Scheraga, Todd Professor of Chemistry, Cornell University, USA

"Protein Physics provides all the essential information. ...concise, reliable and very well written"
- Israel M. Gelfand, Distinguished Professor Rutgers University, USA.

"Rigorous and thorough analysis of physical basis of protein structure...unique in its profound professionalism ... free, colloquial style."
- Alexander S. Spirin, Professor of Biochemistry, Moscow University, Russia

From the Back Cover

Protein science is at the forefront of the biotechnology revolution. Vast amounts of experimental data on protein structure, folding and action have been accumulated during the past decades and at an accelerated rate in the post-genome era. There is a large and growing number of
students and young researchers entering the field and we need to ensure that their research
is not impeded by their lack of understanding of the basic physics and physical chemistry
behind protein structure and function, in particular behind protein engineering and design.

Protein Physics: A Course of Lectures covers the most general problems of protein structure, folding and function and introduces the concepts and theories. It deals with fibrous, membrane and water-soluble globular proteins, in both their native and denatured states. The book summarizes and presents in a systematic way the results of several decades of worldwide fundamental research on protein physics, structure and folding.

Protein Physics is aimed at a broad audience of undergraduate and graduate students, as well as being a reference for researchers in academia and industry.

For those with a physics, chemistry or materials science background, the book provides details of protein structure, folding, action and design.
For the biophysicists, biochemists, biologists and medical students it is an invaluable resource on the principles of protein physics and spontaneous self-organization. To ensure a complete understanding of the course by those with a biological background, the book includes simple short-cut material on thermodynamics, statistical physics, and quantum mechanics.

This course is based on lectures now read by Professor A.V.Finkelstein at Moscow State
University. Many of the lectures from this course have been read at international schools and
conferences on protein physics. The book will appeal to those on a wide-range of courses,
including advanced courses on biophysics, biochemistry and soft matter physics and undergraduate courses on chemical physics, chemistry, chemical biology and physics.

"The lectures are unique... anticipating questions from the students, and answering them, with an interspersion of simple examples...a good introduction to protein physics for students, ...will help chemists, physicists, and biologists acquire a widespread knowledge of current issues in protein structure, properties, and reactions."
Harold A. Scheraga, Todd Professor of Chemistry, Cornell University, USA

"Protein Physics provides all the essential information. ...concise, reliable and very well written"
Israel M. Gelfand, Distinguished Professor Rutgers University, USA.

"Rigorous and thorough analysis of physical basis of protein structure...unique in its profound professionalism ... free, colloquial style."
Alexander S. Spirin, Professor of Biochemistry, Moscow University, Russia

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 354 pages
• Publisher: Academic Press; 1 edition (May 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0122567811
• ISBN-13: 978-0122567810
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,566,974 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, December 13, 2005

By 

Robert C. Penner (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Protein Physics: A Course of Lectures (Soft Condensed Matter, Complex Fluids and Biomaterials) (Hardcover)

This is a magnificent book, remarkable for its breadth, depth, and accessibility.

Elegant discussions of background material including topics in quantum chemistry

and thermodynamics render this book a self-contained tutorial on the many-faceted problems of

protein physics. Because of its structure as a series of increasingly sophisticated lectures, it should be accessible to a wide variety of audiences with diverse backgrounds.

To top it off, the text is beautifully written, at points nearly poetic including even a Greek chorus, a pleasure to read and to study. I am reminded of a few other great lecture series in science where razor-sharp intellects explain complicated phenomena from soup to nuts with wisdom and wit.

Anyone from professional scientist to motivated novice in almost any analytic discipline should find this a valuable introduction and detailed study of protein physics.

R. C. Penner, Professor of Math and Physics,

University of Southern California

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars By far the best book on this subject, October 8, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Protein Physics: A Course of Lectures (Soft Condensed Matter, Complex Fluids and Biomaterials) (Hardcover)

Excellent book for both beginners and experts. I will recommend it to students as a source of initial knowledge not only on proteins, but also on biopolymers and biophysics in general. For instance, presentation of forces is superb. I am also positive that every expert will find new non trivial insights on great many subtle points of this difficult topic.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique, October 13, 2007

By 

A reader (Copenhagen, Denmark) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Protein Physics: A Course of Lectures (Soft Condensed Matter, Complex Fluids and Biomaterials) (Hardcover)

I know of no other book that explains the physics behind protein structure in such a clear and accessible way. The illustrations are simply fantastic, and the book is written in a very lively way. Highly recommended. It would be the ideal text book for students in structural bioinformatics or biophysics, but it's a pity that it is so expensive.