The collection of essays reviews and explores current issues concerning glycolipids in their broadest sense. Its overview of glycolipids, gangliosides and ceramides, and their connection with related diseases, the immune system, cancer and infections offers a comprehensive presentation of current trends, data and possible developments in health sciences, pharmacology and industry.

The early history and development of the field of glycolipids was concerned mainly with the predominant glycolipids found in higher animal tissues, namely the glycosphingolipids, as has been extensively documented by J. N. Kanfer and S. Hakomori in Volume 3 of this series. The major glycolipids in organisms of the plant kingdom, however, such as bacteria, yeasts and fungi, algae, and higher plants, are glycoglycerolipids, although glycosphingolipids are also present as minor components in these organisms, except for bacteria. It is of interest that one of the pioneers in glycosphingolipid research, Herbert E. Carter, also pioneered the discovery and structural elucidation of the plant galactosyldiacylglycerols. This class of glycolipids is present in chlo roplast membranes and must surely be one of the most ubiquitous and abun dant natural substances in the world, thereby deserving the attention of lipid biochemists. It is therefore surprising to learn that in contrast to the glycosphingolipids, which were discovered in the 1870s, glycoglycerolipids were not discovered until the 1950s. Since that time investigations of the structure and distribution of these glycolipids have proceeded at an exponen tially increasing rate, and much information is now available for representa tives of many genera of bacteria, yeasts, algae, and higher plants. Glycoglyce rolipids have also been identified in animal cells, particularly in the brain, testes, and sperm.

Glycolipids

This detailed volume presents a variety of specialized analytical methods on a wide range of glycolipids. From sphingoglycolipids to lipid A, an immune system stimulant present in lipopolysaccharide, the book delves into how glycolipid structure on the surface of the cell membrane, which characterizes each organism, is crucial for the coexistence or repulsion between organisms. In addition, glycolipids play an important role in infections in animals and other organisms by targeting host cell membranes, if enveloped viruses are considered as living organisms. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include introduction to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step and readily reproducible laboratory protocols, as well as tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Glycolipids: Methods and Protocols serves as an ideal guide to the most advanced glycolipid research in an effort to help researchers make their research more fruitful.

Carbohydrates play a major role in brain function. In the past decade, tremendous progress has been made in understanding their structure and function within the nervous system. This book presents a state of the art account of this rapidly expanding field.

In Volume 18 of this well-established series, Professor Atta-ur-Rahman again brings together the work of several of the world's leading authorities in organic chemistry. Their contributions demonstrate the rapid, ongoing development of this field by illustrating many of the latest advances in synthetic methods, total synthesis, structure determination, biosynthetic pathways, and biological activity.The opening chapter presents an overview of strategies for the synthesis of several classes of natural products with an emphasis on complex polycyclic systems. Subsequent chapters discuss the synthesis of specific classes of compounds, including morphine, polyketides, acetogenins, nonactic acid derivatives, complex spirocyclic ethers, ä-lactam and pyridone derivatives, inositol phosphates, sphingolipids, brassinosteroids, Hernandia lignans, and dimeric steroidal pyrazine alkaloids. Finally, the ever stronger links between chemistry and biology are reinforced by chapters on the origin and function of secondary metabolites, bioactive conformations of gastrin hormones, and immunochemistry.

In the last 10 years, considerable information has accumulated on the biochemistry of archaea. In this volume, the subject as a whole is treated in a comprehensive manner. The book brings together recent knowledge concerning general metabolism, bioenergetics, molecular biology and genetics, membrane lipid and cell-wall structural chemistry and evolutionary relations, of the three major groups of archaea: the extreme halophiles, the extreme thermophiles, and the methanogens.Subjects included are: the evolutionary relationship of these microorganisms to all other living cells; special metabolic features of archeaea; protein structural chemistry; cell envelopes; molecular biology in archaea including DNA structure and replication, transcription apparatus, translation apparatus, and ribosomal structure; and a final chapter on the molecular genetics of archaea. This comprehensive scope ensures its usefulness to researchers, and stimulates further study in this rapidly developing field.