Sphingolipid Mediated Signal Transduction

Lipid-derived molecules are increasingly appreciated as key regulators of cell responses and signal transduction. Sphingolipid-derived bioactive molecules are emerging as critical regulators of some of the most exciting and, until recently, poorly-understood areas of biology such as growth suppression, programmed cell death and tumor invasion. Written by leading investigators in these areas of study, this book presents a thorough, current and accessible review of how sphingolipids function to regulate these important activities.

This book attempts to analyze the latest discoveries in sphingolipid biology and how the alteration of their metabolism leads to altered signaling events and to the development of pathobiological disorders, such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, asthma, diabetes, inflammation and infectious diseases.

As the highly anticipated update to Lipid Second Messengers (CRC Press, 1999), Lipid-Mediating Signaling is a current and comprehensive overview of research methods used in lipid-mediated signal transduction. Pioneering experts provide a much-needed distillation of a decade’s worth of advances in research techniques that are pertinent in understanding how lipid-mediated signal transduction ties to pathologic disorders. Part I describes methods used to identify activities of and assay the expression of different enzymes involved in lipid-mediated signaling. Part II highlights the use of mass spectrometry to ascertain the lipid content in various systems. Part III contains two chapters devoted to techniques used to determine the role of lipids in the activation of gene transcription. Part IV rounds out the book’s solid coverage by focusing on methods used to assess fatty acid uptake and metabolism. Lipid-Mediating Signaling is an unrivaled reference for this rapidly expanding, yet resource-limited field, and it is a valuable resource for for cell biologists, biochemists, and pharmacologists, as well as for researchers studying signaling transduction.

This book provides the most updated information of how membrane lipids mediate protein signaling from studies carried out in animal and plant cells. Also, there are some chapters that go beyond and expand these studies of protein-lipid interactions at the structural level. The book begins with a literature review from investigations associated to sphingolipids, followed by studies that describe the role of phosphoinositides in signaling and closing with the function of other key lipids in signaling at the plasma membrane and intracellular organelles.

The volume assembles current information on the role of ceramide as a signalling molecule in 16 chapters written by leading workers in this area. Specific attention is given to mechanisms of analysis of ceramide and its biophysical properties, on enzymes of ceramide metabolism and down-stream targets of ceramide, on the cross-talk of ceramide signalling with other signalling pathways, and on the role of ceramide in neuronal signalling. Finally, the book closes with a section on the therapeutic implications of ceramide action, in the areas of cannabinoid action, chemotherapy, and atherosclerosis, and illustrates the potential medical significance of delineating the roles of ceramide in cell signalling. This is the first volume specifically devoted to ceramide signalling, and will act as an invaluable resource for basic and medical researchers and graduate students wishing to get a state of the art overview of this rapidly moving field.