Aquaporins summarizes the present knowledge in this expanding field of research, starting with the structural analysis of water channel proteins. Subsequent chapters begin with mammalian aquaporins, examining physiology and pathophysiology, analysis of knock-out model animals, and the regulation of aquaporin function. Also covered is the distribution and regulation of aquaporins in plants and the function of water and glycerol channels in microbial systems.
Key Features
* Comprehensive treatment of a topical research field
* Authored by world leaders in the field
* Covers structural biology and physiology
* Covers different experimental and biological systems
* Chapters on plant and microbial systems
* Extensive treatment of mammalian physiology and pathophysiology
* Structural analysis excellently illustrated

Mechanisms of Taste Transduction introduces a number of topics essential to a complete understanding of taste. These topics range from the control of food intake to the biophysical mechanisms of transduction and the design of food flavors in the food industry. The responses and organization of special sensory pathways are described in regard to their development, morphology, composition, electrophysiological and biochemical responses. Details are presented at several levels to appeal to researchers in molecular biology, membrane biophysics, human psychophysics, neuroanatomy, and chemistry. Current research is described in the context of what preceding studies have revealed, and the chapter authors are among today's most active and highly respected researchers in the field of chemical senses.

Written by world experts in the field of neuronal chemoreception, Methods in Chemosensory Research describes new molecular, electrophysiological, genetic, behavioral, psychophysical, and imaging techniques that have recently been adapted to investigate the basic neuronal mechanisms underlying chemoreception: taste, olfaction and chemical-induced irritation. This unique book includes a wide variety of new and innovative imaging methods, electrophysiological methods, methods to investigate development, and various aspects of behavioral testing.

Covering the entire spectrum of chemoreception, each section not only describes what information can be obtained by using each method, but also shows how to apply each method to obtain reliable results. The book presents a comprehensive view of how the brain uses information about chemical stimuli that interact with receptors in the nose and tongue. Methods in Chemosensory Research gives you the new tools to learn how chemicals affect activity from the genetic to the behavioral levels.

This book presents a comprehensive and coherent picture of how molecules diffuse across a liquid that is, on average, only two molecules thick. It begins by characterizing bilayers structurally, using X-ray diffraction, and then mechanically by measuring elastic moduli and mechanisms of failure. Emphasis is placed on the stability and mechanical properties of plant membranes that are subject to very large osmotic and thermal stresses. Using this information, the transport of molecules of increasing complexity across bilayers is analyzed.

Mechanisms of Taste Transduction introduces a number of topics essential to a complete understanding of taste. These topics range from the control of food intake to the biophysical mechanisms of transduction and the design of food flavors in the food industry. The responses and organization of special sensory pathways are described in regard to their development, morphology, composition, electrophysiological and biochemical responses. Details are presented at several levels to appeal to researchers in molecular biology, membrane biophysics, human psychophysics, neuroanatomy, and chemistry. Current research is described in the context of what preceding studies have revealed, and the chapter authors are among today's most active and highly respected researchers in the field of chemical senses.

DESCRIPTION:
Current Topics in Membranes provides a systematic, comprehensive, and rigorous approach to specific topics relevant to the study of cellular membranes. Each volume is a guest edited compendium of membrane biology. Articles in this volume discuss ion transport;
ocular aquaporins and aqueous humor dynamics;
the role of Ggap junction channels in the ciliary body secretory epithelium; regional dependence of inflow; functional modulators linking Iinflow with outflow of aqueous humor; aqueous humor outflow resistance; aqueous humor dynamics; the effects of circulatory events on
aqueous humor inflow and intraocular pressure; retinal ganglion cells and glaucoma; what functional genomics is teaching us about intraocular pressure regulation and glaucoma;
molecular approaches to glaucoma; outflow signaling mechanisms and new therapeutic strategies for the control of intraocular pressure.
*Guest edited by cell membrane experts
*Dynamic and thorough coverage of all aspects of the aqueous humor from inflow to outflow
*Provides the latest teachings on genomics and glaucoma
*Highlights new therapeutic strategies for the control of intraocular pressure

"Current Topics in Membranes" provides a systematic, comprehensive, and rigorous approach to specific topics relevant to the study of cellular membranes. Each volume is a guest edited compendium of membrane biology.
*Discusses the current stat of electrostatics in biomolecular simulations and future directions
*Includes information on time and length scales in lipid bilayer simulations
*Includes a chapter on the nature of lipid rafts

Current Topics in Membranes provides a systematic, comprehensive, and rigorous approach to specific topics relevant to the study of cellular membranes. Each volume is a guest edited compendium of membrane biology. This series has been a mainstay for practicing scientists and students interested in this critical field of biology. Articles covered in the volume include ENaC Proteins in Vascular Smooth Muscle Mechanotransduction; Regulation of the Mechano-Gated K2P Channel TREK-1 by Membrane Phospholipids; MechanoTRPs and TRPA1; TRPC; The Cytoskeletal Connection to Ion Channels as a Potential Mechanosensory Mechanism. Lessons From Polycystin-2 (TRPP2); Lipid Stress at Play: Mechanosensitivity of Voltage-Gated Channels; Hair Cell Mechanotransduction: The Dynamic Interplay between Structure and Function; Pharmacology of Hair Cell MS Channels; Hair Cell Mechanotransduction; Models of Hair Cell Mechanotrasduction; Touch; Mechanosensitive Ion Channels in Dystrophic Muscle; Mechanotransduction in Endothelial Cells;
MS Channels in Tumor Cell Migration; Mechanosensitive Channels in Regulating Smooth Muscle Contraction in the GI; Mechanosensitive Ion Channels in Blood-Pressure-Sensing Baroreceptor Neurons.

Membranes are essential cellular organelles. They not only define cells and other organelles, but also are critical in the cell function by selectively regulating the passage of molecules by acting as a matrix for other signaling molecules, and as conduits of information transfer between the external environment and the cell interior. This series was originally added in 1970 and has since provided a systematic, comprehensive, and rigorous approach to specific topics relevant to the study of cellular membranes. Each volume is a guest edited compendium of membrane biology. This series has been a mainstay for practicing scientists and students interested in this critical field of biology. Articles covered in the volume include The Mechanical Properties of Bilayers; Molecular Dynamic Modeling of MS Channels; Structures of the Prokaryotic Mechanosensitive; Channels MscL and MscS; 3.5 Billion Years of Mechanosensory Transduction: Structure and Function of Mechanosensitive Channels in Prokaryotes; Activation of Mechanosensitive Ion Channels by Forces Transmitted through Integrins and the Cytoskeleton; Thermodynamics of Mechanosensitivity; Flexoelectricity and Mechanotransduction; Lipid Effects on Mechanosensitive Channels; Functional Interactions of the Extracellular Matrix with Mechanosensitive Channels; MSCL: The Bacterial Mechanosensitive Channel of Large Conductance; The Bacterial Mechanosensitive Channel MscS: Emerging Principles of Gating and Modulation; Structure function relations of MscS; The MscS Cytoplasmic Domain and its Conformational Changes upon the Channel Gating; Microbial TRP Channels and Their Mechanosensitivity; MSCS-Like Proteins in Plants; Delivering Force and AmplifyingSignals in Plant Mechanosensing; MS Channels in Tip Growing Systems.

This volume in the "Current Topics in Membranes" series discusses the biology of chemokines and their binding partners, chemokine receptors, in normal and disease-related states. Chemokines are small proteins that are important in normal immune responses. Recent research demonstrates a role for these proteins in a variety of diseases such as heart disease, allergy, asthma, and cancer. As a result of the discovery of this link to disease, the topic of chemokines and drugs that block their actions has become an intense are of study. This book presents the topics of chemokines, chemokine receptors, and related pathologies in an integrated manner that provides the reader with a comprehensive and up-to-date knowledge of these topics.
* Provides a comprehensive overview of the history, molecular biology, cell biology, pharmacology, physiology, and pathophysiology of chemokines and their receptors
* Each chapter discusses "future directions and unanswered questions" of chemokine biology
* Serves as a road map for future research