Contents -- Preface -- 1. From Kuru to Nucleation, Aggregation, Polymerization and Crystallization in Biology and Medicine D. Carleton Gajdusek -- Molecular Casting -- Infectious amyloid nucleants -- Can we preserve biological specificity of antibodies, antigens, pheronemes, receptors, transmitters, ion channels and enzymes in organic molecular casts or atomic moulds? -- Dermatoglyphic preserving of biological specificity -- Fossils show accurate speciation in paleobotany and paleozoology -- Osmium shading in electron microscopy reveals details of molecular structure at nanometric distances -- Mineral nucleants for crystal growth in outer space -- What makes a diamond hold together? -- Twinning of minerals -- Industrial viruses and "ice nine" -- Amyloid enhancing factors are scrapie infectious amyloid nucleants -- Any β-pleated polymeric assembly as a two-dimensional sheet or as a fibril may act as a heteronucleant for different amyloidogenic proteins -- Synthesis of prion-like infectious nucleants -- Biological macromolecules all interact strongly with SiO2, the most common solid mineral on the surface of Earth. Montmorillonite clay deposits cause delayed neurodegenerative diseases -- Nucleation is speleology -- Nucleation in extragalactic space -- References -- 2. Gels Mimicking Antibodies in Their Selective Recognition of Proteins and Its Potential Use for Protein Crystallization Jan Sedzik, Nasim Ghasemzadeh, Fred Nyberg and Stellan Hjertén -- Introduction -- Experimental Details -- Materials -- Preparation of a ribonuclease-specific gel -- Preparation of a gel for specific adsorption of human growth hormone -- Can a bed be designed with selectivity for more than one protein? -- The degree of selectivity of the adsorption -- Selective bed with higher flow rate -- Results and Discussion -- The selectivity of the artificial gel antibodies.

Do some protein molecules become attached covalently to the gel matrix? -- What conclusions can be drawn from the finding that (bio-)affinity methods do not always give the selectivity theoretically expected? -- Classification of chromatographic techniques in terms of the number of bonds between the solute and the stationary phase and the strength of these bonds -- Some comments on the mechanism of selective recognition -- Artificial gel antibodies for detection of biomarkers -- Selectivity, protein capacity and imprinting of bioparticles -- Potential applications -- The design of a chromatographic bed for removal of impurifying proteins ("negative purification") -- Forthcoming studies -- Conclusions -- Acknowledgments -- References -- 3. Bioinformatics of Myelin Membrane Proteins Gunnar von Heijne and Jan Sedzik -- Introduction -- Definition of Bioinformatics -- The Basis of Biological Membranes -- Biological Membranes - Protein/Lipid Ratio -- Basic Bioinformatics -- Focus on the Myelin Membrane -- Water Soluble Versus Integral Myelin Proteins -- Myelin basic protein -- P2 protein -- P0 protein -- PMP22 protein -- PLP protein -- MAG -- MOG -- Summary -- Acknowledgment -- References -- 4. Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry: Applications to Proteins and Peptides Leopold L. Ilag and Gianluca Maddalo -- Introduction -- Proteomics -- Techniques and strategies -- Peptide mass fingerprinting -- De novo sequencing -- Post-translational and Chemical Modifications -- MALDI Imaging -- MS in structural biology -- Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) and fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) -- RNA polymerase -- Ribosome -- Protein-lipid interactions -- Conclusion -- Acknowledgments -- References -- 5. Myelin: A One-Dimensional Biological "Crystal" for X-Ray and Neutron Scattering Hideyo Inouye and Daniel A. Kirschner -- Introduction.

Electron Density Profile on an Absolute Scale -- Chemical Interpretation of the Electron Density and Neutron Scattering Length Density Profiles -- Method -- Model calculation -- Conclusion -- Acknowledgments -- References -- 6. Two-Dimensional Crystallization of Biological Macromolecules Hans Hebert -- Introduction -- Why Two-Dimensional Crystals? -- Electron Crystallography: Initial Characterization -- How to Make 2D Crystals of Proteins -- Membrane proteins -- Soluble proteins -- Properties of 2-D crystals -- Symmetry -- Size -- Order -- Flatness -- Stacking, multilayers -- Electron Crystallography: Data Collection and Processing -- Specimen preparation and temperature -- Electron diffraction -- Images -- Data processing -- 2D or 3D Crystallization? -- Summary -- Acknowledgments -- References -- 7. Crystallization of Proteins: Principles and Methods Lata Govada -- Introduction -- Principles of Crystallization -- The crystallization phase diagram -- The solubility curve -- The supersolubility curve -- Precipitation zone -- Nucleation zone -- Metastable zone -- Construction of Supersolubility Curve -- Crystallization Methodologies -- Batch crystallization -- Modified microbatch -- Diffusion methods -- Vapor diffusion -- Hanging drop -- Sitting drop -- Sandwich drop -- Liquid-liquid interface diffusion -- Granada crystallization box® (GCB) -- Dialysis -- Bulk dialysis -- Microdialysis -- Conclusions -- Acknowledgments -- References -- 8. The Role of Oil in Protein Crystallization Naomi E. Chayen -- Introduction -- The Microbatch Techniques -- The mechanism of crystallization under oil -- The application of oil to improve vapour diffusion experiments -- The contribution of oil to the control of heterogeneous nucleation -- Cleanliness of trials -- Effect of surface contact -- Protection of crystallization samples and crystals by the oil.

Limitation of Crystallizing Under Oil -- Application of organic molecules as precipitants and/or additives -- Harvesting and mounting of crystals -- Crystallization of membrane proteins under oil -- Summary -- Acknowledgment -- References -- 9. Introduction to Crystallization of Fine Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Åke C. Rasmuson -- Introduction -- Fundamentals -- Solubility and Supersaturation -- Nucleation -- Crystal Growth -- The Product -- Productivity -- Solid phase -- Particle size -- Crystal shape -- Product purity -- The Process -- The role of agitation -- Control of the product crystal mean size -- Conclusions -- References -- 10. Myelin Basic Protein, A Saucy Molecule With High Responsiveness to the Environment or Just an Unusual Membrane Protein? Paolo Riccio -- Introduction -- Myelin Basic Protein: What Is It and What Does It Do? -- The IUPs -- MBP Ligands and Functions -- Post-Translational Modifications of MBP -- Is MBP a Natively Unfolded Protein? -- The absence of structure in the acid-extracted molecule -- MBP as a membrane protein: The discovery of lipid-bound MBP -- Partitioning of MBP in the Myelin Membrane -- Incorporation of myelin basic protein in liposomes made of myelin lipids -- Concluding Remarks -- Acknowledgments -- References -- 11. The Use of a Magnetic Field and Magnetic Force as a Means to Improve the Quality of Protein Crystals Mitsuo Ataka -- Introduction -- Theoretical Background -- Magnetic field orientation -- Magnetic force -- Technical Background -- Generation of magnetic fields by various magnets -- Superconducting magnets for supplying uniform magnetic force -- Modes of operation of various magnets -- Historical Background -- Our Studies on Magnetic Orientation -- Protein crystals grown in a magnetic field exhibit orientation -- Sedimenting crystals -- Other Studies on Magnetic Orientation of Protein Crystals.

Other Uses of Magnetic Orientation -- Other Possible Mechanisms Through Which Homogeneous Magnetic Fields May Contribute to Quality Improvement -- Studies on Crystal Perfection in Homogeneous Magnetic Fields -- Magnetic Force -- Our studies on the use of a magnetic force -- Convection Suppression or Damping in the Presence of Magnetic Force -- Summary -- References -- 12. Interactive Crystallomic Jan Sedzik -- Introduction -- Experimental Procedure - An Example -- Pre-crystallization assumptions -- Chemicals and crystallization set-up -- Rationale and design of the crystallization trials -- Algorithm -- Results -- Discussion -- Summary -- Acknowledgments -- References -- 13. Virtual Molecule: P0 Myelin Glycoprotein. I. Homology Modeling and Prediction of the Secondary and Tertiary Structure Jan Pawel Jastrzebski and Jan Sedzik -- Introduction -- Methods and Tools for Homology Prediction -- Amino Acid Sequence - A Basic Input for Modeling -- Construction and Analysis of a Three-Dimensional Atomic Model of P0 Glycoprotein -- The P0 extracellular domain - Soluble part -- The P0 transmembrane segment is 21 amino residues long -- The P0 intracellular part -- Theoretical model of P0 -- Hydrophobicity and Electrostatic Potential of P0 Protein -- Structural Effects of Breaking the Disulfide Bridge -- Medical Implications - Autoimmune Epitopes of Myelin P0 Protein -- Summary and Discussion -- Acknowledgments -- References -- 14. In meso Approaches to Membrane Protein Crystallization Valentin I. Gordeliy and Ekaterina S. Moiseeva -- Introduction -- Membrane Protein Crystallization: A Standard Approach -- In mesoMembrane Protein Crystallization -- Cubic phase crystallization -- Crystallization in the sponge phase -- Crystallization from vesicles -- Crystallization from bicelles -- Towards a General Method of Membrane Protein Crystallization -- Summary.

Acknowledgments.