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.

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of South Carolina Petit Institute for Bioengineering Charleston, South Carolina, U. S. A. and Biosciences email: chalfant@musc. edu Georgia Institute of Technology Chapter 6 Atlanta, Georgia, U. S. A.

Inhalt
Foreword.- Preface.- Color Plates.- 1. Insights into the Modulation ofCeramide Metabolism by Naturally Occurring and Synthetic Sphingolipid Analogs as Monitored by Eleetrospray Tandem Mass Spectrometry.- 2. Ceramide in Apoptosis: Possible Biophysical Foundations ofAction.- 21. Ceramide-Mediated Receptor Clustering.- 4. Ceramidases: Regulators of Turnover of Ceramide and Ceramide-Mediated Responses.- 5. MolecularEvolutionof Neutral Ceramidase: From Bacteriato Mammals.- 6. The Roleof Serine/Threonine Protein Phosphatases in Ceramide Signaling.- 7. Kinase Suppressorof Ras as a Ceramide-Activated Protein Kinase.- 8. Ceramide in Apoptosis: The FANThesis, Not a Fantasy.- 9. The Cross-Talk Between Nitric Oxide and Ceramide and Its Role in Apoptosis Regulation.- 10. Crosstalk of Ceramide with Cell Survival Signaling.- 11. Ceramide in the Regulation of Neuronal Development: Two Faces of a Lipid.- 12. Neurons, Neurotrophins and Ceramide Signaling: Do Domains and Pores Contribute to the Dichotomy?.- 13. Ceramide Signaling in Cannabinoid Action.- 14. Ceramide Glycosylation and Chemotherapy Resistance.- 15. Ceramide in Serum Lipoproteins: Function and Regulation of Metabolism.- 16. Therapeutic Implications of Ceramide-Regulated Signaling Cascades.