Phosphoinositides (PIs) are minor components of cellular membranes that
play critical regulatory roles in several intracellular functions. This
book describes the main enzymes regulating the turnover of each of the
seven PIs in mammalian cells, some of their intracellular functions and
some evidence of their involvement in human diseases. Due to the complex
inter-relation between the distinct PIs and the plethora of functions
that they can regulate inside a cell, this book is not meant to be a
comprehensive coverage of all aspects of PIs signalling but rather an
overview on the current state of the field and where it could go from
here. Phosphoinositide and inositol phosphates interact with and
modulate the recruitment and activation of key regulatory proteins and
in doing so control diverse functions including cell growth and
proliferation, apoptosis, cytoskeletal dynamics, insulin action, vesicle
trafficking and nuclear function. Initially, inositide signaling was
limited to the PLC pathway; however, it is now clear that all the seven
phosphoinositides and more than 30 different inositol phosphates likely
have specific signaling functions. Moreover there is a growing list of
proteins that are regulated by inositol signaling. This has raised the
question as to how inositol signaling can control diverse processes and
yet maintain signaling specificity. Controlling the levels of inositol
signaling molecules and their subcellular compartmentalisation is likely
to be critical. This meeting will bring together scientists from
different backgrounds to discuss how understanding inositol signaling
may be used to target complex human diseases that manifest themselves
when inositol signaling is deregulated.
