ABSTRACT
A known feature of living systems is that they are constructed from self-assembled, hierarchically ordered microstructures of many different size scales. As self-organizing noncovalent aggregates, biological membranes have evolved to facilitate rapid and specific physiologic responses in multicellular systems. Connected into a complex meshwork, cell membrane proteins and agreatnumberofmembranelipids are associated with polysaccharides, which ensure membrane structural organization and intercellular adhesion and play an essential role in modulating interfacial membrane junctions (1-4).
