Abstract

This valuable resource provides a systematic account of the biochemistry of smooth muscle contraction. As a comprehensive guide to this rapidly growing area of research, it covers the structure and characteristic properties of contractile and regulatory proteins, with special emphasis on their predicted function in the live muscle. Also included in this book are intermediate filament proteins, and desmin and vimentin, whose function in smooth muscle is unknown; and several enzymes involved in the phosphorylation-dephosphorylation of contractile and other proteins.

"...the most substantial and significant collection of reviews of important areas to current understanding of smooth muscle contraction and its regulation to appear for several years... This book is an absolute must for anyone working in the smooth muscle field. It is ideal for students embarking on studies of smooth muscle and will get them up to speed with developments in this field up to approximately mid 1995. I intend to use this book extensively in a postgraduate course on 'Smooth Muscle Structure and Function... My copy is already grubby from regular use!" --Trends in Biochemical Sciences

"Each chapter contains up-to-date information, and perspective sections deal with key unanswered questions. The book provides comprehensive information on most of the important topics in this area...[it] makes a significant contribution to the field and will serve as a valuable reference both for investigators who have been working with smooth muscle and for those about to enter the field."  --Mitsuo Ikebe, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Science

"This book will be a valuable resource for the research worker knowledge in smooth muscle biochemistry and physiology. The book summarizes nicely the major concepts and provides useful references." --Merrill Tarr, University of Kansas Medical Center, Doodys Health Sciences Journal

"The book delivers more than promised by the title.... Few important aspects of smooth muscle are left uncovered... [Its] multiple personality is split between reference text, introductory monograph, methods handbook, and a compilation of recent developments by specialists. Much in its pages will be of use to those either working or merely interested in the field." --Nature

"This book, edited by one of the most prominent investigators in the field of muscle research, has been designed to offer a comprehensive and up-to-date perspective of smooth muscle contraction. It covers all aspects of the fine structure of the contractile apparatus, signal transduction and regulation by calcium and protein phosphorylation, and the detailed mechanism and energetics of contraction. From the vantage point of an outsider, it has been exciting for me to see how extensively this field has developed. The application of new methodologies, including those of molecular biology, has led to remarkable progress in elucidating the structure and assembly of the contractile machinery, including the complex interactions that take place between contractile elements. This book, illustrates well how far these new technologies have taken us and where they might lead us tomorrow." --Edmond H. Fisher, Nobel Laureate, University of Washington, Seattle