The NATO Advanced Study Institute entitled "Surface Membrane Receptors: Interface Between Cells and Environment" was held in Bellagio, Italy September 13-21, 1975. This meeting was an attempt to bring together in an international and interdisci plinary forum scientists who are studying recognitive phenomona which take place at the surface membrane of cells. While an attempt was made to restrict the subject areas covered at the meeting to those experimental systems which have been biochemi cally characterized to some extent, it will also be noted that some contributions to this volume represent a preliminary iden tification of interesting regulatory substances which might reasonably be expected to act at the cell surface. This book is divided into four sections reflecting the subject areas covered during the course of the meeting. The first section entitled "Membrane Structure and Receptor Function" is intended as an overview of the role of membrane structure in determining the regulatory properties, physical state, structure and location of cell surface receptors. It should be noted that the plasma membrane itself provided the unifying theme for the intention ally diverse contributions to this volume. The following three sections represent an arbitrary division into three levels of structural complexity of the things in their external environ ment with which cells must specifically interact.

Inhalt
Section I Membrane Structure and Receptor Function.- The Fluid Mosaic Model of Membrane Structure: Some Applications to Ligand-Receptor and Cell-Cell Interactions.- Structure and Function of Membranes and the Role of the Plasma Membrane in Metabolic Regulations.- Section II Cell-Cell Interactions.- Simple Organisms Aggregation.- Cellular Recognition in Slime Molds : Evidence for its Mediation by Cell Surface Species-Specific Lectins and Complementary Oligosaccharides.- Multiple Lectins in Two Species of Cellular Slime Molds.- Receptors Mediating Cell Aggregation in Dictyostelium discoideum.- Cell Surface Components Mediating the Reaggregation of Sponge Cells.- Mating.- Isolation of a Hansenula wingei Mutant with an Altered Sexual Agglutinin.- The Mating Phenomenon in Escherichia coli.- Neurons.- Neuronal Cell Adhesion.- Evidence for a Gradient of Adhesive Specificity in the Developing Chick Retina.- Section III Cell-Macromolecule Interactions.- Nonhormonal Membrane Receptors for Bacterial Toxins.- Gangliosides as Possible Membrane Receptors for Cholera Toxin.- Binding and Uptake of the Toxic Lectins Abrin and Ricin by Mammalian Cells.- Studies on an Hepatic Membrane Receptor Specific for the Binding and Catabolism of Serum Glycoproteins.- Concanavalin A Induced Changes of Membrane-Bound Lysolecithin Acyltransferase of Thymocytes.- Hormonal.- Cooperative Regulation of Hormone Binding Affinity for Cell Surface Receptors.- Specific Interaction of Nerve Growth Factor with Receptors in the Central and Peripheral Nervous Systems.- Studies on the Molecular Properties of Nerve Growth Factor and its Cellular Biosynthesis and Secretion.- Specific Binding and Ability of Vasoactive Intestinal Octacosapeptide (VIP) to Activate Adenylate Cyclase in Isolated Pancreatic Acinar Cells from the Guinea Pig.- ?-Melanotropin Receptors: Non-Identical Hormonal Message Sequences (Active Sites) Triggering Receptors in Melanocytes, Adipocytes and CNS Cells.- Endothelial Proliferation Factor.- Evidence for a Macromolecular Effector of Cell Differentiation in Dictyostelium discoideum Amoebae.- Section IV Cell-Small Molecule Interactions.- Cholinergic Conformational Changes of the Cholinergic Receptor Protein from Torpedo marmorata as Revealed by Quin-acrine Fluorescence.- Cholinergic Sites in Skeletal Muscle.- Appearance of Specialized Cell Membrane Components During Differentiation of Embryonic Skeletal Muscle Cells in Culture.- Affinity Partitioning of Receptor-Rich Membrane Fractions and Their Purification.- Adrenergic.- Biochemical and Molecular Characteristics of ?-Adrenergic Receptor Binding Sites.- Characterization of the ?-Adrenergic Receptor and the Regulatory Control of Adenylate Cyclase.- Chemotactic.- Chemotaxis in Bacteria.- Cyclic AMP Receptors at the Surface of Aggregating Dictyostelium discoideum Cells.- Cyclic AMP Receptor Activity in Developing Cells of Dictyostelium discoideum.- Hormonal Prostaglandin F2? Receptors in Corpora Lutea.- Participants.