19th International School of Biophysics "Ettore Majorana"

This book contains aseries of review papers related to the lectures given at the Third Course on Bioelectrochemistry held at Erice in November 1988, in the framework of the International School of Biophysics. The topics covered by this course, "Charge Separation Across Biomembranes, " deal with the electrochemical aspects of some basic phenomena in biological systems, such as transport of ions, ATP synthesis, formation and maintenance of ionic and protonic gradients. In the first part of the course some preliminary lectures introduce the students to the most basic phenomena and technical aspects of membrane bioelectrochemistry. The remaining part of the course is devoted to the description of a selected group of membrane-enzyme systems, capable of promoting, or exploiting, the processes of separation of electrically charged entities (electrons or ions) across the membrane barrier. These systems are systematically discussed both from a structural and functional point of view. The effort of the many distinguished lecturers who contributed to the course is aimed at offering a unifying treatement of the electrogenic systems operating in biological membranes, underlying the fundamental differences in the molecular mechanisms of charge translocation.