1st Edition

Secretory Systems and Toxins

Edited By Michal Linial, Alfonso Grasso, Phillip Lazarovici Copyright 1998

    This volume deals with the relationships between toxins and one of the most fundamental processes in any living cell - the secretory cycle. The reader will find up-to-date information on secretion, generated by experts in this fast evolving field. In the last decade extensive molecular and cellular studies have exposed the molecular similarity among most known secretory systems. In this book secretion is discussed from its basic mode found in yeast up to its most sophisticated version in neurotransmitter release in nerve terminals. A comprehensive view on the mode of action of toxins which block secretion but also those which cause hyper-activation of exocytosis is provided. This book addresses the issue of toxin action by deciphering the molecular and cellular basis of exocytosis in various organisms and cellular contents.

    1. Synaptic Vesicle Proteins - A Molecular Study 2. Dissection of the Secretory Machinery 3. Regulatory Roles for Lipids in Vesicle Trafficking and Secretion 4. Fusion Proteins and the Fusion Events 5. Chromaffin Cells as a Secretory System - The Use of Neurotoxins 6. Botulinum Neurotoxins and Their Substrates 7. Purification, Function and Selectivity in a-Latrotoxin 8. The Synapsins and Neurotransmission 9. Morphological Studies of the Secretory Machinery Using Neurotoxin Probes 10. Molecular Mechanisms of the Action of Clostridium botulinum Type B Neurotoxin 11. Neurotoxins and Safety-Latches of the Secretory Process

    Biography

    Michal Linial, Alfonso Grasso, Phillip Lazarovici