The volumes in this series include contemporary techniques significant to a particular branch of neuroscience. They are an invaluable aid to the student as well as the experienced researcher not only in developing protocols in neuroscience but in disciplines where research is becoming closely related to neuroscience. Each volume of Methods in Neurosciences contains an index, and each chapter includes references. Dr. Conn became Editor-in-Chief of the series beginning with Volume 15, so each subsequent volume could be guest-edited by an expert in that specific field. This further strengthens the depth of coverage in Methods in Neurosciences for students and researchers alike. - Cloning - Expression systems - Signal transduction - Structure-function techniques - Antireceptor antibodies - Regulation - 3-D receptor modeling and computational probing

This multi-volume set within International Review of Cytology encompasses the recent advances in the understanding of structure-function relationships at the molecular level of receptors, transporters, and membrane proteins. Several diverse families of membrane receptors/proteins are discussed with respect to the molecular and cellular biology of their synthesis, assembly, turnover, and function. Included are such receptor superfamilies as G-proteins, immunoglobulins, ligand-gated receptors, interleukins, and tyrosine kinases as well as such transporter/protein families as pumps, ion channels, and bacterial transporters. Each section of each volume features a "perspectives/commentary" chapter which includes comments on the recent advances and predictions on new directions. Written by acknowledged experts in the field, this volume, 137B, highlights the recent developments in receptors.

LESLIE L. IVERSEN The present series of volumes is well timed, as the impact of molecular genetics on pharmacology has been profound, and a comprehensive review of the rapid advances of the past decade is much needed. Since the pioneering work of Dale, Ariens, and others in the early years of this century, much of pharmacology has been founded on the concept of receptors. To begin with, the receptor was conceived of as a "black box," which recognized and transduced the biological effects of neurotransmit ters, hormones, or other biological messengers-and which could also represent a target for man-made drugs. It is only in the last two decades that "molecular pharmacology" has blossomed, first with the advent of radioligand binding techniques and second messenger studies which greatly facilitated the biochemical study of drug-receptor interactions, and latterly with increasing knowledge of the molecular architecture of the receptor proteins themselves. This started with the traditional biochemical approach of isolating and purifying the receptor molecules. This proved to be a task of immense technical difficulty because of the low density of receptors in most biological source tissues, although there were some notable successes, e. g. , the purification of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor from the electric organ of Torpedo. It was the ap plication of molecular genetics technology during the 1980s, however, which really accelerated progress in this field.

Intracellular Receptors: New Instruments for a Symphony of Signals In the late eighteenth century, it was proposed on theoretical grounds that each of the body's organs, beginning with the brain, must be "a factory and laboratory of a specific humor which it returns to the blood", and that these circulating signals "are indispensable for the life of the whole" (Bordeu 1775). During the nineteenth cen tury, some remarkable physiological experiments revealed the actions of humoral factors that affected the for and function of multiple tissues, organs and organ sys tems within the body (Berthold 1849); much later, the chemical and molecular na ture of some of those factors was determined. Against this deep historical backdrop of the founding studies of intercellular signaling, molecular biology sprang into existence a mere forty years ago, rooted in the revelation of regulable gene expression in bacteria. But contemporaneous with those classical analyses of transcriptional regulation of the lactose operon, the mod em era of signal transduction was inaugurated by the identification of cAMP as a second messenger -- an intracellular mediator of hormonal activation of glycogen catabolism (Sutherland and RaIl 1960). Later in that same decade, it emerged that cAMP is a critical signal not only in metazoans, but even in bacteria, where it serves an analogous function as a critical switch that activates expression of genes re quired for catabolism of complex carbon sources, including those of the lactose operon.

This multi-volume set within International Review of Cytology encompasses the recent advances in the understanding of structure-function relationships at the molecular level of receptors, transporters, and membrane proteins. Several diverse families of membrane receptors/proteins are discussed with respect to the molecular and cellular biology of their synthesis, assembly, turnover, and function. Included are such receptor superfamilies as G-proteins, immunoglobulins, ligand-gated receptors, interleukins, and tyrosine kinases as well as such transporter/protein families as pumps, ion channels, and bacterial transporters. Each section of each volume also features a "perspectives/commentary" chapter which includes comments on the recent advances and predictions on new directions. Volume 137A highlights the recent advances in bacterial and glucose transporter mechanisms.

This multi-volume set within International Review of Cytology encompasses the recent advances in the understanding of structure-function relationships at the molecular level of receptors, transporters, and membrane proteins. Several diverse families of membrane receptors/proteins are discussed with respect to the molecular and cellular biology of their synthesis, assembly, turnover, and function. Included are such receptor superfamilies as G-proteins, immunoglobulins, ligand-gated receptors, interleukins, and tyrosine kinases as well as such transporter/protein families as pumps, ion channels, and bacterial transporters. Each section of each volume features a "perspectives/commentary" chapter which includes comments on the recent advances and predictions on new directions. Written by acknowledged experts in the field, this volume, 137C, highlights recent developments in pumps, channels, and transporters. - The latest on several important protein families, including: - The G-protein-coupled receptors - The interleukin receptors - Sugar transporters - Several ion channels and pumps

The Second IUPHAR Satellite Meeting on Serotonin was held under the auspices of the Serotonin Club in Basel, Switzerland in July 1990. The scope was wide, ranging from molecular biology through in vitro and in vivo pharmacology to new drug tools and their clinical signifi cance. There were three invited review lectures, by J. M. Palacios, D. I. Wallis and A. Kaumann, and S. Peroutka gave the first Serotonin Club Irvine H. Page Lecture. The rest of the oral programme was put together by the Scientific Organizing Committee based on volunteered research contributions. The invited review lecturers, the platform speak ers and selected poster contributors were invited to write up their contributions for inclusion in this volume. Most complied and this book is the result of their efforts. When instructing the authors prior to the meeting, we emphasized that selected new data should be put in the context of the literature findings. In this way we hoped to achieve topicality yet preserve the review perspective which facilitates its appreciation by the non-special ist. It was truly a pleasure to read the interesting papers which resulted and to prepare them for publication. We believe they convey to a remarkable degree the spirit of what was generally felt to be a highly stimulating exchange of information on matters serotonergic which took place in Basel last July.

The Molecular Biology of Fertilization focuses on the different aspects of fertilization in several models, including insects, clams, sea urchins, ascidians, cows, pigs, sheep, rats, hamsters, and humans. This book examines the experimental approaches using methods of molecular biology, cell biology, biochemistry, biophysics, immunology, and enzymology. Comprised of three parts encompassing 15 chapters, this book starts by discussing the ability of egg factors to affect sperm motility and initiate the acrosome reaction by modifying ion movements across the sperm plasma membrane. This text then provides an overview of the different aspects of egg architecture, ranging from extracellular remodeling to nuclei organization, which is involved in embryogenesis and fertilization. Finally, the last part deals with oncogenes, gene expression, and nuclear determination during embryogenesis and at fertilization. This book will be a great value to molecular biologists, cell biologists, reproductive biologists, developmental biologists, biophysicists, biochemists, geneticists, researchers, scientists, and students.

The revised edition of this bestselling textbook provides latest and detailed account of vital topics in biology, namely, Cell Biology, Genetics, Molecular Biology, Evolution and Ecology . The treatment is very exhaustive as the book devotes exclusive parts to each topic, yet in a simple, lucid and concise manner. Simplified and well labelled diagrams and pictures make the subject interesting and easy to understand. It is developed for students of B.Sc. Pass and Honours courses, primarily. However, it is equally useful for students of M.Sc. Zoology, Botany and Biosciences. Aspirants of medical entrance and civil services examinations would also find the book extremely useful.