Cytoskeleton of the Nervous System

This monograph begins with a general description of the cytoskeleton in axonal development and pathology and then moves to more detailed descriptions of particular components, including microtubules and associated proteins, neurofilaments and interacting proteins, actin and its binding proteins, and glial fibrillary acidic protein. Without a cytoskeleton, a neuron or glial cell would be a shapeless jelly mass unable to function in the milieu of the brain. If we are to understand neuronal cells function in health and disease, we must determine how the cytoskeleton forms and contributes to neural physiology and pathobiology. Cytoskeleton of the Nervous System provides a comprehensive, authoritative and up-to-date account of what we now know and what we want to know in the near future--about the functioning of the cytoskeleton of neuronal cells at the molecular level. In lively accounts, which are unafraid to address controversy, Cytoskeleton of the Nervous System introduces readers to the most sophisticated concepts and latest discoveries: from overexpression systems to knock-out models for specific cytoskeletal proteins, from continuous transport assays in vivo to live-cell imaging in primary neurons, and from factors regulating cytoskeleton behavior to the dysregulation of these processes leading to neurological disease. This monograph begins with a general description of the cytoskeleton in axonal development and pathology and then moves to more detailed descriptions of particular components, including microtubules and associated proteins, neurofilaments and interacting proteins, actin and its binding proteins, and glial fibrillary acidic protein. The later chapters focus on the functional significance of the neuronal cytoskeleton in axonal transport and its regulation in health and disease states. The Cytoskeleton of the Nervous System will encourage further development of unifying principles and stimulate new conceptual and technical approaches toward a better understanding of cytoskeleton functions in health and disease.