Biophysical Properties of Membranes

Dear Colleagues,

The International Journal of Molecular Sciences will publish a Special Issue entitled "Biophysical Properties of Membranes". This subject is fundamentally important in understanding membrane biology and developing membrane-based biotechnology.

Many critical and interesting cell membrane events, such as membrane contacts, trogocytosis, microvesicle secretion, and membrane raft formation, have been known for many years. However, our understanding of these events at the molecular level is still very limited, partly due to the complexity of the membrane systems and the dynamic and non-covalent nature of lipid-protein assemblies required for these processes to occur. This situation presents many challenges and perhaps opportunities to researchers.

Biophysical approaches have been fruitful in gaining a better molecular understanding of membranes. The advent of modern technologies such as super-resolution fluorescence microscopy and cryo-electron microscopy has made it possible to study the "nano-structures" of membrane dynamics and organization. In recent years, more sophisticated theoretical membrane models and computer simulation methodologies, as well as statistical mechanical calculations, have been used to advance our knowledge of concentration-induced phase transitions and membrane organizations in model systems. Many other examples of using biophysical approaches in membrane studies can be found in the literature.

This Special Issue will serve as a platform to present and discuss recent novel and exciting findings in the biophysical research of cell membranes, cell-derived membranes (such as microvesicles), and artificial model membranes (such as liposomes). For articles on biological membranes, both eukaryotic (including animals, plants, fungi) and prokaryotic (including bacteria and archaea) cell membranes will be considered. Original research articles and up-to-date reviews on experimental, theoretical, or computational works broadly related to membranes, especially those articles that convey new biophysical concepts or introduce novel biophysical approaches, are all welcome. All manuscripts will be peer-reviewed before their acceptance for publication, and will be published online once accepted.

Prof. Dr. Parkson Chong
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• plasma and intra-cellular membranes
• microvesicles or exosomes
• liposomes
• dynamics and organization
• lipid-protein interactions
• biophysical tools
• membrane structure