Membrane research holds a central position in cell and molecular biology. In recent years it has become clear that the study of membranes at the molecular level is of great importance not only to decipher all cellular processes but also to understand the alterations leading to abnormal cells (including cancer cells) and/or to understand the action of various drugs. This book covers the multidisciplinary approach of research in this area and the permanent need for information regarding recent advances. It will serve both workers studying basic aspects of membrane structure and function as well as medically oriented scientists. The selection of topics illustrating interconnections between basic and applied membrane biology will cross-fertilize research in both groups.

I: Basic Mechanisms of Medical Significance in Membrane Structure and Function

1 New Views on Lipid Dynamics: A Non-Equilibrium Model of Ligand-Receptor Interaction
2 Membrane Fluidity and Its Alterations in Disease
3 Liposomes as Immunological Adjuvants: The Immune Response and the Effect of Liposomal Structural Characteristics
II: Subcellular Membranes and Disease
4 Intracellular Transport of Brush-Border and Lysosomal Enzymes in the Human Enterocyte
5 Hypervitaminosis A and Lysosomes
6 Adriamycin-Mitochondrial Membrane Interactions and Cardiotoxicity
7 Mitochondrial Diseases
8 The Golgi Apparatus and Neoplasia
III: Plasma Membranes and Disease
9 Membrane Cholesterol in Pathogenesis and Immunotherapy of Cancer
10 The Role of the Na+/K+ Pump in Normal and Cancer Cell Proliferation
11 The Role of Membrane Elastic Properties and Cell Volume in the Formation of Red Blood Cell Shapes
12 How and Why Does the Malarial Parasite Permeabilize Its Host Cell Membrane?
13 Recent Investigations on Water Permeability of Erythrocytes in Normal and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Subjects.