Many individual aspects of the dynamics and assembly of biological membranes have been studied in great detail. Cell biological approaches, advanced genetics, biophysics and biochemistry have greatly contributed to an increase in our knowledge in this field.lt is obvious however, that the three major membrane constituents - lipids, proteins and carbohydrates- are studied, in most cases separately and that a coherent overview of the various aspects of membrane biogenesis is not readily available. The NATO Advanced Study Institute on "New Perspectives in the Dynamics of Assembly of Biomembranes" intended to provide such an overview: it was set up to teach students and specialists the achievements obtained in the various research areas and to try and integrate the numerous aspects of membrane assembly into a coherent framework. The articles in here reflect this. Statting with detailed contributions on phospholipid structure, dynamics, organization and biogenesis, an up to date overview of the basic, lipidic backbone of biomembranes is given. Extensive progress is made in the research on membrane protein biosynthesis. In particular the post- and co-translational modification processes of proteins, the mechanisms of protein translocation and the sorting mechanisms which are necessary to direct proteins to their final, intra - or extracellular destination have been characterized in detail. Modern genetic approaches were indispensable in this research area: gene cloning, hybrid protein construction, site directed mutagenesis and sequencing techniques elucidated many functional aspects of specific nucleic acid and amino acid sequences.

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Techniques to determine transbilayer organization and dynamics of membrane phospholipids..- Transbilayer organization and mobility of phospholipids in normal and pathologic erythrocytes..- Lipid localization and mobility in the plasmalemma of the aortic endothelial cells are reversibly affected by the presence of cell junctions..- Phospholipid dynamics in membrane biogenesis in hepatocytes..- The regulation of phosphatidylcholine synthesis at the subcellular level in Krebs II ascite cells..- Phospholipid asymmetry during erythropoiesis..- Factors which may alter the assembly of biomembranes so as to influence their structure or function..- Myocardial cell death and the possible role of sarcolemmal phospholipids (based on morphological observations)..- The role of mitochondrial membrane phospholipid polar headgroups in yeast cytochrome c oxidase kinetics..- The regulation of bilayer stability in bacteria..- Membrane structure and dynamics by NMR. Part I: effect of cyclopropane ring, double bonds and sterols on the structure and dynamics of phospholipid membranes..- Membrane structure and dynamics by NMR. Part II: the action of polyene antibiotics and toxins on biological membranes.- Interaction of the bibenzimidazole derivative Hoechst 33258 with lipid bilayers - a fluorescence study..- Physical membranes : a short review..- Anchoring of membrane proteins by glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol..- Fatty acylation of proteins..- Interaction of the mitochondrial precursor protein apocytochrome c with modelmembranes and its implications for protein translocation..- The LDL receptor: structural insight from human mutations..- The assembly and transfer of oligosaccharide chains to proteins..- Sequence determinants of protein sorting into and across membranes..- Components involved in protein translocation across the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum..- Import of small secretory and plasma membrane proteins into the endoplasmic reticulum..- Biogenesis and membrane topology of outer membrane proteins in Escherichia coli..- What can we learn from colicins about the dynamics of insertion and transfer of proteins into and across membranes..- Bacterial protein translocation..- The use of hybrid proteins in the study of protein targeting signals..- Pullulanase: a new specific secretion pathway in Escherichia coli..- A genetic analysis of pullulanase export from Klebsiella aerogenes..- Cloning of xcp genes possibly involved in protein secretion in Pseudomonas aeruginosa..- Vacuole division and inheritance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae..- The lactose carrier of E.coli:: protease dependent in vivo inactivation..