Advances in Structural, Dynamic, and Functional Biophysics of Membrane Proteins
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Biophysics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 156
Special Issue Editor
Interests: membrane proteins; molecular biophysics; protein folding binding and stability
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Membrane proteins constitute approximately 25–30% of proteins encoded in sequenced genomes and play central roles in cellular signaling, transport, and energy transduction, being the target of the vast majority of current therapeutic drugs. Their function depends on a complex structural organization that allows them to operate in the interphase between the lipid bilayer and the aqueous environment. From an experimental point of view, the low expression yields and poor stability of purified and reconstituted samples, pose substantial challenges for structural and biophysical characterization. Furthermore, many biophysical approaches commonly used to study globular proteins are difficult to apply to membrane proteins, contributing to a long-standing gap between the characterization of membrane and globular proteins.
In recent years, advances in purification strategies, membrane mimetics, and reconstitution methods, together with powerful biophysical approaches—most notably cryo-electron microscopy, single-molecule techniques, and large-scale molecular dynamics simulations—have enabled unprecedented insights into membrane protein structure, dynamics, and mechanisms. These approaches are enabling quantitative links between molecular architecture, conformational fluctuations, and biological function.
In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include, but are not limited to, membrane protein structure, folding, and stability; conformational dynamics and transitions; structure–function relationships; lipid–protein interactions; single-molecule biophysics; theoretical and computational modeling; and methodological developments that enable or advance these analyses.
I look forward to receiving your contributions.
Prof. Dr. F. Luis González Flecha
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- cryo-EM
- x-ray crystallography and scattering
- NMR spectroscopy
- neutron scattering and reflectometry
- single-molecule biophysics
- molecular dynamics simulations
- membrane protein dynamics
- free energy analysis
- mechanistic models of transport and signaling
- membrane mimetics (nanodiscs, SMALPs, etc)
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