This keenly awaited first overview of the field represents a complete guide to the structure and function of the most important mammalian cell membrane organelles. Filling a huge gap in the primary literature, this book is the first to cover the subject in detail.

Following an introduction by Kai Simons, the discoverer of lipid rafts and the most prominent scientist in the field, chapters include:

• Historical background
• Distinct structures and functions
• Structural basis
• Signaling
• Viral entry and virion budding
• Cholesterol transport
• Caveolins
• Lipid shells
• Cell polarity and intracellular trafficking
• Cancer cells

Of prime importance to molecular and cell biologists, biochemists, membrane scientists, cancer researchers, and virologists.