[Structure and function of biological membranes (author's transl)].

Biological membranes are essentially asymmetric two-dimensional solutions of proteins in a bimolecular lipid layer. The overall structure and many physical properties of biological membranes can be explained by the fact that membrane proteins and membrane lipids contain hydrophilic as well as hydrophobic domains. Most biological properties of the membrane are determined by the membrane proteins which can catalyze directional processes. With the membrane protein cytochrome oxidase it will be demonstrated how the three-dimensional arrangement of membrane proteins can be studied by chemical, fluorometric, and electron optical methods. However, it is in most cases still impossible to explain the function of a membrane on the basis of its molecular architecture.