Membrane Microdomain Regulation of Neuron Signaling

The rapid pace of discovery in membrane molecular biology is revealing unexpected complexity at the boundary of the cell. The membrane appears to be more than a thin film separating aqueous compartments or an anchoring site for proteins. Indeed, it shows many indications of being a dynamic, regulatory structure composed of transient lipid ensembles known as rafts or microdomains. These appear to regulate the membrane-protein kinetics which is the basis of many cellular functions. This book describes those regulatory features in detail and presents evidence that they operate in the neuron.