The meeting on "Dynamics of Membrane Assembly.", sponsored by NATO Scientific Affairs Division as an Advanced Study Institute and by FEBS as a Lecture Course was held in Cargese, France, in June 1991. The program included introductory lectures, specialized up-to-date contributions and poster sessions. Emphasis was laid on the new developments in the field of membrane biogenesis, in particular on the biosynthesis of phospholipids and the application of modern genetic techniques in these studies; on the membrane insertion and translocation of proteins; on intracellular protein and membrane traffic; and on the mutual interactions between the various events occurring during membrane biogenesis. Much progress in these research areas has been made in recent years and the ASI provided an excellent opportunity to illustrate this progress in comparison with previous meetings on a similar topic. Not only graduate students and postdocs took advantage from this program but also experienced scientists were given the opportunity to obtain a complete overview of recent progress and the remodelling of ideas and concepts.

Inhalt

The structure, genesis and dynamics of biological membranes.- Role of phospholipids in cell function.- Biosynthesis of membrane phospholipids in yeast - genetic and molecular studies.- Genetic control of membrane assembly in yeast.- Control of phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis and its role in lipoprotein assembly.- Plastid envelope membranes and the dynamics of plant membrane biogenesis.- Transbilayer and lateral motions of fluorescent analogs of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine in the plasma membrane of bovine aortic endothelial cells.- Interorganelle trafficking of phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylethanolamine.- Metabolic incorporation of a novel fluorescent fatty acid 7-methyl-BODIPY-1-dodecanoic acid to lipids of BHK cells.- Oxidative damage and repair of human erythrocyte lipids.- Recognition and elimination of malaria-infected erythrocytes by a modified phospholipase A.- Effects of nonsubstrate lipids on acylhydrolase activities of lipoprotein and hepatic lipases using defined emulsion particles.- Studies on the functions of cell surface glycoproteins during early development in the sea urchin embryo.- Characterization of polyprenylation of Drosophila nuclear lamins.- Lipid modifications of proteins.- Model studies on membrane insertion and translocation of peptides.- Reconstitution of protein translocation activity into lipid vesicles.- Membrane protein structure determination by deuterium-NMR case study: retinal in bacteriorhodopsin.- Import of proteins from the cytoplasm into mitochondria: signals, energetics and catalysts.- The use of hybrid proteins to isolate kinetic export intermediates.- The genetic dissection of protein translocation across the yeast ER membrane.- ?-Galactoside transport in Escherichia coli: the ins and outs of lactose permease.- Reconstitution of E. coli preprotein translocation using purified components.- Import of colicins into Escherichia coli.- A transferrin-binding protein in Trypanosoma brucei: does it function in iron uptake?.- Enveloped viruses as models for membrane assembly.- The biogenesis of vaccinia virus.- A viral proton channel.