This book consists of a series of reviews on selected topics within the rapidly and vastly expanding field of membrane biology. Its aim is to highlight the most significant and important advances that have been made in recent years in understanding the structure, dynamics, and functions of cell membranes. The progress that is being made in research in this field is due to the application of integrated experimental ap- proaches, utilizing sophisticated and novel techniques in molecular biology, cell biology, biophysics and biochemistry. Due to the advances made, many problems have been or are being solved at the molecular level. With the help of an Editorial Advisory Board consisting of Jean-Pierre Changeux (Paris), Paolo Comoglio (Torino), Rainer Jaenicke (Regens- burg), Sten Orrenius (Stockholm), Lorenzo Pinna (Padova), Konrad Sandhoff (Bonn), and Gottfried Schatz (Basel), we have selected a number of topics in areas in which progress has been particularly rapid, and have invited internationally acknowledged experts in the field to review these topics.The areas covered in this monograph are: 1) Signal transduction; 2) Membrane traffic: Proteins and lipids; 3) Bioenergetics: Energy transfer and membrane transport; 4) Cellular ion homeostasis; 5) Growth factors and adhesion molecules; 6) Structural analysis of mem- brane proteins; and 7) Membranes and disease.
