Water and Biomolecules

Life is produced by the interplay of water and biomolecules. This book deals with the physicochemical aspects of such life phenomena produced by water and biomolecules, and addresses topics including “Protein Dynamics and Functions”, “Protein and DNA Folding”, and “Protein Amyloidosis”. All sections have been written by internationally recognized front-line researchers. The idea for this book was born at the 5th International Symposium “Water and Biomolecules”, held in Nara city, Japan, in 2008.

Author Biography

Kunihiro Kuwajima is Professor of Biophysical Chemistry at the Okazaki Institute for Integrative Bioscience. He also serves as a professor at the Institute for Molecular Science and at the Graduate University for Adavanced Studies (SOKENDAI). His major research interests are protein folding and molecular chaperones. Yuji Goto is Professor of Protein Science at the Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University. His major research interests are protein folding and misfolding including amyloid fibril formation. Fumio Hirata is Professor of Theoretical Chemistry at the Institute for Molecular Science. He also serves as a professor at the Graduate University for Adavanced Studies (SOKENDAI). His major interests are molecular theory of chemical processes in solution. Mikio Kataoka is Professor of Biophysics at the Graduate School of Materials Science at Nara Institute of Science and Technology. He also serves as a group leader of Neutron Biophysics Group at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency. His major research interests are the molecular basis of protein folding and functioning. He is also interested in the photoenergy conversion mechanism of light absorbing proteins.