Structure, Dynamics, Interactions and Evolution of Biological Macromolecules

I. Nucleic Acids. Structures, Dynamics and Associations with Proteins.- Left-handed DNA in chemical and biological systems.- Theoretical studies of the polymorphism and microheterogeneity of DNA.- Z-DNA and chemical carcinogenesis.- Initiation of carcinogenesis: from the local structural change of DNA to the setting up of a mutation.- Breathing reactions in nucleic acids and proteins.- Conformation of synthetic and natural polyelectrolytes.- DNA conformation and folding: from solution to the higher order structure of chromatin.- Higher orders of chromatin structure.- Structure and dynamics of peptide-nucleic acid complexes.- Molecular mechanisms for the recognition of nucleic acids by proteins. Present-day and prebiotic aspects.- The lac repressor. Structure and interactions.- Role of Messenger RNA specific secondary structure in the control of gene expression.- The organization of plant viral genomes.- Structure, evolution and interactions of ribosomal RNAs.- Liposome-mediated gene transfer in vivo. Uptake and expression of the preproinsulin I gene by rats and mice.- II. Protein Structure and Dynamics.- Theoretical and experimental conformational analysis of some synthetic and natural peptides.- Ligand binding as a probe of protein dynamics.- Dynamics of proteins and of protein assemblies.- Dynamics of proteins.- Conformational fluctuations and enzymatic activity.- X-ray and neutron scattering study of membrane proteins in solution.- Fast kinetic spectroscopies: laser flash photolysis and pulse radiolysis: application to the study of the structure, the dynamics and the interactions of biological molecules.- Fluorescence decay of dansylated yeast 3 phosphoglycerate kinase.- Structure and conformation of carbohydrate chains of N-glycoproteins in model systems.- Wheat germ agglutinin: a review of recent results.- III - Evolution of Biological Macromolecules.- The origin and evolution of life at the molecular level.- Condensation-polymerization and morphogenesis in aqueous medium as a model for the chemical evolution.- Reflections on molecular asymmetry and appearance of life.- Topological and quantitative relationships in evolving genomes.