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.