Mechanical processes in biochemistry.
Mechanical processes are involved in nearly every facet of the cell cycle. Mechanical forces are generated in the cell during processes as diverse as chromosomal segregation, replication, transcription, translation, translocation of proteins across membranes, cell locomotion, and catalyzed protein and nucleic acid folding and unfolding, among others. Because force is a product of all these reactions, biochemists are beginning to directly apply external forces to these processes to alter the extent or even the fate of these reactions hoping to reveal their underlying molecular mechanisms. This review provides the conceptual framework to understand the role of mechanical force in biochemistry.
Bustamante
Carlos
C
Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-3206, USA. carlos@alice.berkeley.edu
Chemla
Yann R
YR
Forde
Nancy R
NR
Izhaky
David
D
D000818:Animals; D001669:Biochemical Phenomena; D001671:Biochemistry; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002384:Catalysis; D004798:Enzymes / Q000737:chemistry; D007700:Kinetics; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D020409:Molecular Motor Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D013816:Thermodynamics
D004798:Enzymes; D020409:Molecular Motor Proteins