Inborn Disorders of Sphingolipid Metabolism is a collection of papers presented at the Third International Symposium on the Cerebral Sphingolipidoses and Allied Diseases, held at the Isaac Albert Research Institute of the Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital and at the State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, on October 25 and 26, 1965. This book is organized into three parts encompassing 35 chapters. Part I deals first with electron microscopic, histochemical, and morphological investigations of certain sphingolipid metabolism disorders. This part also examines several case reports on the features and symptoms of spongy degeneration of the central nervous system, familial leukodystrophy, adrenal insufficiency, and cutaneous melanosis. Part II surveys the metabolism, biosynthesis, and structure of gangliosides and sialic acids. This part also considers the nature of the lipophilic portions of the brain gangliosides. This part particularly looks into the features and clinical manifestation of Tay-Sachs disease. The third part covers the genetic and clinical aspects of the Tay-Sachs disease. This part also evaluates the genetics of the Hurler-Hunter syndrome, Batten-Spielmeyer-Vogt disease, and lipogranulomatosis syndrome. This book is of value to biochemists, histochemists, geneticists, and researchers in the allied fields of lipidosis.

This book attempts to analyze the latest discoveries in sphingolipid biology and how the alteration of their metabolism leads to altered signaling events and to the development of pathobiological disorders, such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, asthma, diabetes, inflammation and infectious diseases.

This volume presents information on both the basic and clinical aspects of sphingolipid-metabolizing enzymes in various cancers. The volume also includes discussions of the innovative techniques and approaches for quantitative analysis and imaging that could significantly impact the general understanding of this topic, and the potential benefit of targeting sphingolipid enzymes to develop novel cancer therapeutics. As well, the volume includes a critical examination of the specific pathways and pathobiologies associated with the altered regulation of sphingolipid metabolism as a contributor to the development and/or maintenance of pathological conditions such as cancer.

Although sphingolipids are ubiquitous components of cellular membranes, their abundance in cells is generally lower than glycerolipids or cholesterol, representing less than 20% of total lipid mass. Following their discovery in the brain—which contains the largest amounts of sphingolipids in the body—and first description in 1884 by J.L.W. Thudichum, sphingolipids have been overlooked for almost a century, perhaps due to their complexity and enigmatic nature. When sphingolipidoses were discovered, a series of inherited diseases caused by enzyme mutations involved in sphingolipid degradation returned to the limelight. The essential breakthrough came decades later, in the 1990s, with the discovery that sphingolipids were not just structural elements of cellular membranes but intra- and extracellular signaling molecules. It turned out that their lipid backbones, including ceramide and sphingosine-1-phosphate, had selective physiological functions. Thus, sphingolipids emerged as essential players in several pathologies including cancer, diabetes, neurodegenerative disorders, and autoimmune diseases. The present volume reflects upon the unexpectedly eclectic functions of sphingolipids in health, disease, and therapy. This fascinating lipid class will continue to be the subject of up-and-coming future discoveries, especially with regard to new therapeutic strategies.

Lipids in Photosynthesis: Essential and Regulatory Functions, provides an essential summary of an exciting decade of research on relationships between lipids and photosynthesis. The book brings together extensively cross-referenced and peer-reviewed chapters by prominent researchers. The topics covered include the structure, molecular organization and biosynthesis of fatty acids, glycerolipids and nonglycerolipids in plants, algae, lichens, mosses, and cyanobacteria, as well as in chloroplasts and mitochondria. Several chapters deal with the manipulation of the extent of unsaturation of fatty acids and the effects of such manipulation on photosynthesis and responses to various forms of stress. The final chapters focus on lipid trafficking, signaling and advanced analytical techniques. Ten years ago, Siegenthaler and Murata edited "Lipids in Photosynthesis: Structure, Function and Genetics," which became a classic in the field. "Lipids in Photosynthesis: Essential and Regulatory Functions," belongs, with its predecessor, in every plant and microbiological researcher's bookcase.

Sphingolipids are fundamental to the structures of cell membranes, lipoproteins, and the stratum cornea of the skin. Many complex sphingolipids, as well as simpler sphingoid bases and derivatives, are highly bioactive as extra- and intracellular regulators of growth, differentiation, migration, survival, senescence, and numerous cellular responses to stress. This book reviews exciting new developments in sphingolipid biology/sphingolipidology that challenge our understanding of how multicellular organisms grow, develop, function, age, and die.