Foreword -- 1 Structural Bases for Tetraspanin Functions -- 2 The Evolution of Tetraspanins Through a Phylogenetic Lens -- 3 Organisation of the Tetraspanin Web -- 4 Dynamic Partitioning of Tetraspanins Within Plasma Membranes -- 5 Tetraspanins as Regulators of Protein Trafficking -- 6 The Role of Tetraspanins in Cell Migration and Intercellular Adhesion -- 7 Genetic Evidence for Tetraspanin Functions -- 8 Tetraspanins in Lower Eukaryotes -- 9 The Role of Tetraspanin Complexes in Egg-Sperm Fusion -- 10 Tetraspanins and Immunity -- 11 Tetraspanins in Cancer -- 12 Uroplakins as Unique Tetraspanin Networks -- 13 Essential Tetraspanin Functions in the Vertebrate Retina -- 14 The Role of CD81 in HCV and Plasmodium Infection -- 15 Tetraspanins as Facilitators of Viral and Cellular Information Transfer -- Index.

Tetraspanin proteins have recently emerged as a new class of modulators of various processes involving cell surface receptors, including cell migration and invasion, host immune responses, cell-cell fusion, and viral infection. The book summarises recent advances in the fields of biology in which the role of tetraspanins have been established and also covers the molecular evolution of the tetraspanin superfamily and structural aspects of the organisation of tetraspanin microdomains.