Format: Hardcover book.
Audience: Researchers, postgraduate students and academic teaching staff in biomedicine, pediatricians, medical biochemists, other clinicians and preclinical specialists.
Purpose: To give an overview of the wide range of topics related to neuroglycobiology and systematically present new knowledge and advances made over the past decade in understanding of the structure, biosynthesis, and function of glycoconjugates in the nervous system.
Content: The book is organized in eight chapters. Chapter 1 serves as a general introduction to structure, biosynthesis, and functions of neural cell glycoproteins. Also, the roles of processes such as glycoprotein glycosylation and polysialic acid synthesis are described, based on findings in gene knockout mice. Chapter 2 presents in detail the involvement of polysialic acid in adult brain plasticity, starting from its roles in neural development, through differential regional expression and functions in adult brain, to alterations of polysialic acid associated with patohological conditions, ie, neuropsychiatric diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, temporal lobe epilepsy, and schizophrenia. Chapter 3 describes biosynthesis and function of HNK-1 glycans – originally known as carbohydrate antigenic markers of human natural killer cells – particularly the expression and developmental changes of HNK-1 glycolipids and HNK-1 glycoproteins in neural tisssues. New data and findings obtained by studies of knockout mice are presented, clarifying the roles of HNK-1 glycans in neural tissue. Chapter 4 deals with brain glycolipids, which are the predominant glyconjugates in the brain. Besides summarizing the known facts about structures and roles of major nervous system glycolipids, this chapter provides new insights in glycolipid metabolism from described genetic modifications of biosynthetic enzymes. Chapter 5 describes in more depth the synthesis and functions of glycosphingolipids, particularly the roles of gangliosides, elucidated by analyses of gene knockout mice. In this chapter, detailed descriptions of functional consequences after inactivation of a particular gene are presented, including the specific roles of glycosphingolipids in cell signalling processes and apoptosis. In Chapter 6, the origin and function of sialic acids in gangliosides is elaborated. Data on chemical diversity, metabolism, and modifications of sialic acids are not exclusively related to gangliosides, but are also applicable to sialic acids present in glycoproteins. Chapter 7 presents recent findings and knowledge on deficient glycoprotein glycosylation in humans and mice. In this chapter, useful information is found concerning phenotypic and functional consequences of gene inactivation in mice. Many experimentally inactivated genes coding for glycosyltransferases are described in detail. Also, the chapter brings valuable data on biochemistry, genetics, and clinical features of human congenital disorders of glycosylation and congenital muscular dystrophies caused by mutations in glycosyltransferases. Chapter 8 summarizes general knowledge on lysosomal glycosphingolipid storage diseases, including mechanisms of lysosomal glycosphingolipid degradation and defects of glycosphingolipid catabolism leading to various pathological conditions. The discoverer of the Sandhoff's disease, Konrad Sandhoff, is actually one of the authors of this chapter, which gives it particular importance and significance. Moreover, the most recent developments and findings related to pathogenesis and therapeutic approaches of sphingolipidoses are presented in final chapter.
Highlights: The book is an outstanding overview of most recent advances in glycobiology of nervous system. The researchers dealing with exciting questions in glycobiology will undoubtedly find this book as an extraordinary review of basic knowledge supplemented with up-to-date information from the application of modern new technologies. The scientific field of glycobiology is somewhat neglected in comparison with mighty genomics and proteomics fields. However, glycomics is arising as a promising research field thanks to those who have been dedicated scientists working for decades, aiming to prove and elucidate the biological importance of glycoconjugates. It is known that glycoconjugates in animal cells show an immense diversity in their structure and are involved in nearly all vital cellular processes, such as cell growth and differentiation, cell recognition, intercellular interactions, cell signaling, and many more. Localization of these molecules in membranes makes certain classes of glycoconjugate even more important for specific functions of cells in the nervous tissue. On the other hand, the fact that other glycoconjugate and glycolipid structures act as recognition receptors for infectious agents, such as influenza virus, and that specific pharmaceuticals may target these structures, gives them even more importance today when the world is faced with a possible pandemic of mutated influenza virus, not to mention avian influenza virus and its possible transmission to humans. The possibilities for pharmaceutical and therapeutical applications related to glycoconjugates are not limited to infectious diseases; certain glycoconjugate structures in brain tumor tissue have been studied and suggested as specific pharmacological targets to interfere with growth and progression of tumor cells. The book definitely merits the attention of readers of various profiles, but particularly those who are eager to reach more deeply into this scientific field. The editors of the book have gathered the most eminent scientists in the field to be the authors of these most valuable chapters, namely, Fukuda, Rutishauer, Jungalwala, Schnaar, Furukawa, Schauer, Schachter, and Sandhoff. All those “infected by” research in glycobiology will appreciate this rarely good read.
Related readings: Besides a rather extensive list of references enclosed to each chapter, readers of this book should also find interesting several other recent titles, such as Essentials of Glycobiology, edited by Varki A and published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press in 2002; Functional and Molecular Glycobiology, edited by Brooks SA and published by BIOS Scientific Publications in 2002; Glycobiology and Medicine edited by Axford JS and published by Springer in 2003; and Bioinformatics for Glycobiology and Glycomics: an introduction, edited by Lieth CW, Luetteke T, and Frank M and published by John Wiley&Sons in 2006.