The number of investigators focusing their attention on lactoferrin has increased dramatically in recent years. Lactoferrin is a protein with more than one known structure and a number of proposed biological functions, including several with important regulatory consequences. In many ways it has been an easy pro tein to investigate; however, there have been difficulties under standing specific structure / function relationships, particularly as it functions in vivo. Research funding dedicated to this protein has previously been limited, but is now increasing. As lactoferrin begins to emerge formally as a protein of significance to the medi and industry, it is more important than ever to coor cal profession dinate and integrate research efforts whenever possible and to share the results of these efforts within the expanding array of medical and scientific diSciplines involved. It was our intention to provide a forum to summarize and disseminate the most recent advances in this field. Included in Lactoferrin: Interactions and Biological Functions are selected presentations representing the many disciplines involved in defining lactoferrin function in terms of its known structural features, including its carbohydrate side-chains, receptor binding sites, its capacity to bind different metal ions, and other newly discovered bioactive domains. Several of the possible physiologi cal functions of lactoferrin are described and summarized in detail, including the role of laetoferrin in bacterial killing, its in volvement in cell growth and proliferation, in the modulation of immune function, and in iron absorption.

Zusammenfassung
This text examines the structure and function of lactoferrin. Lactoferrin is associated with host defence, immune cell regulation, and the regulation of normal and tumour cell growth.

Inhalt
I: Lactoferrin Structure and Function.- 1. Lactoferrin Structure-Function Relationships: An Overview.- 2. Altered Domain Closure and Iron Binding in Lactoferrin Mutants.- 3. Affinity Mass Spectrometry: Probes with Surfaces Enhanced for Affinity Capture (SEAC) of Lactoferrin.- II: Lactoferrin Gene Expression.- 4. Variants and Biotechnological Use of the Bovine Lactoferrin-Encoding Gene.- 5. Posttranscriptional Regulation of Bovine and Human Lactoferrin: Species Differences and Influence of mRNA Regions.- 6. Mutagenesis of Human Lactoferrin and Expression in Baby Hamster Kidney Cells.- 7. Structural Determination of Two N-Linked Glycans Isolated from Recombinant Human Lactoferrin Expressed in BHK Cells.- 8. Distribution of the Iron-Binding Protein Lactof errin in the Pathological Lesions of Neurodegenerative Diseases.- 9. Lactoferrin Almost Absent from Lactating Rat Mammary Gland Is Replaced by Transferrin.- 10. Estrogen Regulation of Human Lactoferrin Gene Activity: Transcriptional Synergism Between Estrogen Receptorand Related Orphan Receptor.- 11. Expression and Functional Analysis of Recombinant Human Lactoferrin.- 12. Structural and Functional Flexibility of Lactoferrin.- 13. Difference in Binding and Fate of Lactotransferrin in Jurkat Human Lymphoblastic T-Cells and in T-47D Human Breast Cancer Cells.- 14. The Impact of Phagocyte-Lactoferrin Interactions on Inflammation.- 15. Regulation of Lymphocyte Proliferation by Lactoferrin.- 16. Recombinant Human Lactoferrin and Its Variants: Receptor Binding in Human Intestinal Brush-Border Membranes.- III: Functions Related to Lactoferrin Interactions with Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cells.- 17. Influence of Lactoferrin on HostMicrobe Interactions.- 18. Bacterial Lactoferrin Receptors in the Neisseriaceae.- 19.Bacteriostatic Effects of Orally Administered Bovine Lactoferrin on Intestinal Bacteria in the Gut of Mice Fed Bovine Milk.- 20. Functional Significance of the Binding of Lactoferrin to DNA.- 21. Specific Binding of Ferrilactoferrin and Ferritransf errin in the Protozoan Leishmania chagasi.- IV: Lactoferrin Metabolism.- 22. Observations on the Metabolism and Cellular Interactions of Lactoferrin.- 23. Lactoferrin as a Possible Transcriptional Regulator: Downmodulation of the Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor Promoter.- V: The Use of Lactoferrin as a Food Additive.- 24. Modification of Infant Formula: The Case of Lactoferrin.- 25. Lactoferrin in Infant Formulas: How and Why?.