Cellular Lipid Metabolism

For decades, T cells were thought to solely respond to protein-derived antigens. However, the discovery of the CD1 antigen presenting system shows how antigen presenting cells can display lipid antigens to T cells. Crystal structures show that CD1 proteins accomplish this function by inserting lipids into a hydrophobic groove on the distal surface of the protein, forming CD1-lipid complexes that act as ligands for T cell receptors. CD1-reactive T cells with conserved (NK T cells) or diverse T cell receptors possess cytokine secretion and other effector mechanisms that influence many aspects of immune response.

Phospholipids are no longer considered exclusively as the building blocks of biomembranes, but are now regarded to be exceptionally important to cellular signalling.

This book deals with a vital topic: metabolism in the cells of the body and various disorders due to its imbalance and/or diseases that disrupt the metabolism of the body.