There can be few elements with a biochemistry as coherent as that of sulfur. This important element is crucial to myriad aspects of metabo- lism, catalysis, and structure. The plurality of functions in which sulfur is involved derives squarely from the numerous oxidation states in which it may exist, some having great stability, some being capable of ready redox interconversions, and yet others having great instability. As a result, the flux of sulfur from the geosphere through the various kingdoms of life leaves few biochemical processes unaffected. Although there are large gaps in the...

I was pleased and at the same time filled with some misgivings when Professors Alberto Giotti end Ryan Huxtable asked me to introduce this book. The book is the outcome of the Symposium held in Firenze-San Miniato (PI), October 6-9, 1986. The symposium was entitled "Sulfur Amino Acids, Peptides and Related Compounds" and was the 7th international symposium on taurine ssnd assooiated substances. It is always difficult to introduce, with the right brevity end emphasis, a topic which has been studied in depth by numerous experte. Nevertheless, I shall do my best to give a historical perspeotive...

This volume comprises the edited proceedings of the International Taurine Sympo- sium held in Osaka, Japan, in June 1995, as a Satellite Symposium of the 15th Biennial of the International Society for Neurochemistry. This Taurine Symposium was the Meeting latest in a series held since 1975 at approximately two-year intervals by an informal group of international researchers. It attracted contributions from 20 countries, ranging from Armenia via Finland and Spain to the United States. Some 121 participants attended. The Symposium was organized and chaired by Junichi Azuma, University of Osaka....

This volume is the selected, edited proceedings of the International Taurine Sympo th sium held in Tucson, Arizona, in July 1997. The meeting was a satellite symposium ofthe 16 Biennial Meeting of the International Society for Neurochemistry, which was held in Boston immediately following the Tucson meeting. In view of the desert location of Tucson, the meeting was advertised tongue-in-cheek as being the hottest scientific meeting ever. As the weather lived up to its billing, the Symposium may well have earned the title. The meeting was held in an atmospheric cluster of adobe buildings, old...

Mitochondria from mammalian tissues possess an elaborate system for 2+ 2+ transporting Ca across their inner membrane which consists of Ca import, 2+ via the Ca uniporter, in response to the mitochondrial membrane 2+ + potential and of Ca release by an antiport system in exchange for H + 9,23 or Na (see Fig. l) . Because the uniporter is dependent upon the external 2+ 2+ 2+ 2+ Ca concentration ( Ca ]), mitochondria accumulate Ca until the Ca ] o o 2+ decreases to the level at which the uniporter activity balances the Ca efflux. 2+ The Ca ] at which the uniporter and efflux activities are...

There is increasing recognition of the biological importance of taurine. Disturbances in taurine metabolism are seen in dysfunction- al states as diverse as epilepsy, cardiomyopathy, Friedreich's ataxia and congestive heart failure, which combined with the antiepi1eptic and cardiotonic actions of taurine underscore the emerging clinical importance of this fascinating substance. This is the third book to appear on taurine since 1976. The last book (Taurine and Neuro1oeica1 Disorders, Raven Press, 1978) emphasized the involvement of taurine in central nervous system phenomena. These actions are...

Mitochondria from mammalian tissues possess an elaborate system for 2+ 2+ transporting Ca across their inner membrane which consists of Ca import, 2+ via the Ca uniporter, in response to the mitochondrial membrane 2+ + potential and of Ca release by an antiport system in exchange for H + 9,23 or Na (see Fig. l) . Because the uniporter is dependent upon the external 2+ 2+ 2+ 2+ Ca concentration ( Ca ]), mitochondria accumulate Ca until the Ca ] o o 2+ decreases to the level at which the uniporter activity balances the Ca efflux. 2+ The Ca ] at which the uniporter and efflux activities are...

There can be few elements with a biochemistry as coherent as that of sulfur. This important element is crucial to myriad aspects of metabo- lism, catalysis, and structure. The plurality of functions in which sulfur is involved derives squarely from the numerous oxidation states in which it may exist, some having great stability, some being capable of ready redox interconversions, and yet others having great instability. As a result, the flux of sulfur from the geosphere through the various kingdoms of life leaves few biochemical processes unaffected. Although there are large gaps in the...

I was pleased and at the same time filled with some misgivings when Professors Alberto Giotti end Ryan Huxtable asked me to introduce this book. The book is the outcome of the Symposium held in Firenze-San Miniato (PI), October 6-9, 1986. The symposium was entitled "Sulfur Amino Acids, Peptides and Related Compounds" and was the 7th international symposium on taurine nd assooiated substances. It is always difficult to introduce, with the right brevity end emphasis, a topic which has been studied in depth by numerous experte. Nevertheless, I shall do my best to give a historical perspeotive of...