Open AccessNonnatural Phospholipids: Probing Nature's Modular Platform
Author(s) -
Andréas Zumbuehl
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
chimia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.387
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 2673-2424
pISSN - 0009-4293
DOI - 10.2533/chimia.2009.63
Subject(s) - modular design , membrane , chemistry , computational biology , nanotechnology , biology , computer science , biochemistry , materials science , programming language
Life as we know it would not be possible without a cellular membrane, without a separation between two compartments. This plasma membrane, however, remains a difficult object to study directly. The synthesis of nonnatural phospholipids thus provides valuable probes for experiments at the membrane-level and integrates organic chemistry with basic biophysics and biology. A few of the concepts are highlighted in this brief overview