Download or read book Ceramide Signaling written by Anthony H. Futerman and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2002 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The volume assembles current information on the role of ceramide as a signalling molecule in 16 chapters written by leading workers in this area. Specific attention is given to mechanisms of analysis of ceramide and its biophysical properties, on enzymes of ceramide metabolism and down-stream targets of ceramide, on the cross-talk of ceramide signalling with other signalling pathways, and on the role of ceramide in neuronal signalling. Finally, the book closes with a section on the therapeutic implications of ceramide action, in the areas of cannabinoid action, chemotherapy, and atherosclerosis, and illustrates the potential medical significance of delineating the roles of ceramide in cell signalling. This is the first volume specifically devoted to ceramide signalling, and will act as an invaluable resource for basic and medical researchers and graduate students wishing to get a state of the art overview of this rapidly moving field.

Download or read book Sphingolipid Biology written by Y. Hirabayashi and published by Springer. This book was released on 2009-09-03 with total page 531 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sphingolipids are fundamental to the structures of cell membranes, lipoproteins, and the stratum cornea of the skin. Many complex sphingolipids, as well as simpler sphingoid bases and derivatives, are highly bioactive as extra- and intracellular regulators of growth, differentiation, migration, survival, senescence, and numerous cellular responses to stress. This book reviews exciting new developments in sphingolipid biology/sphingolipidology that challenge our understanding of how multicellular organisms grow, develop, function, age, and die.

Download or read book Phospholipid Metabolism in Apoptosis written by Peter J. Quinn and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-04-18 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The last few years have witnessed an explosion of both interest and knowledge about apoptosis, the process by which a cell actively commits suicide. The number of publications on the topic has increased from nothing in the early 1980s to more than 10,000 papers annually today. It is now well recognized that apoptosis is essential in many aspects of normal development and is required for maintaining tissue homeostasis. The idea that life requires death seems somewhat paradoxical, but cell suicide is essential for an animal to survive. For example, without selective destruction of “non-self” T cells, an animal would lack immunity. Similarly, meaningful neural connections in the brain are whittled from a mass of cells. Further, developmental cell remodeling during tissue maturation involves programmed cell death as the major mechanism for functional and structural safe transition of undifferentiated cells to more specialized counterparts. Apoptosis research, with roots in biochemistry, developmental and cell biology, genetics, and immunology, embraces this long-ignored natural law. Failure to properly regulate apoptosis can have catastrophic consequences. Cancer and many diseases (AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, heart attack, stroke, etc. ) are thought to arise from deregulation of apoptosis. As apoptosis emerges as a key biological regulatory mechanism, it has become harder and harder to keep up with new developments in this field.

Download or read book Nutrition and Genomics written by David Castle and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2009-04-14 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nutrigenomics is the rapidly developing field of science that studies nutrient-gene interaction. This field has broad implications for understanding the interaction of human genomics and nutrition, but can also have very specific implications for individual dietary recommendations in light of personal genetics. Predicted applications for nutrigenomics include genomics-based dietary guidelines and personalized nutrition based on individual genetic tests. These developments have sweeping ethical, legal and regulatory implications for individuals, corporations and governments.This book brings together experts in ethics, law, regulatory analysis, and communication studies to identify and address relevant issues in the emerging field of nutritional genomics. Contributing authors are experts in the social aspects of biotechnology innovation, with expertise in nutrigenomics. From addressing the concern that nutrigenomics will transform food into medicine and undermine pleasures associated with eating to the latest in the science of nutrigenomics, this book provides a world-wide perspective on the potential impact of nutrigenomics on our association with food. - Explores the rapidly developing, yet not fully understood, impact of nutrigenomics on the relationship to food medicalization, genetic privacy, nutrition and health - Provides ground for further exploration to identify issues and provide analysis to aid in policy and regulation development - Provides ethical and legal insights into this unfolding science, as well as serving as a model for thinking about issues arising in other fields of science and technology

Download or read book Molecular Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases written by Jochen Decker and published by Humana. This book was released on 2010-11-10 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Populations of the western world are now healthier and enjoying higher life expectancy than ever. They are beginning to benefit from an array of costly new therapies made possible through recent rapid advances in medical science and technology, and their demands on modern medicine are rising. Meanwhile, healthcare systems are struggling with their outdated legacy models of the m- th 20 century and are experiencing ever-increasing financial pressure from g- ernments and health insurance organizations. The equation is no longer in balance, and this predicament is forcing societies to explore new approaches to managing healthcare in the future. Since the first edition of Molecular Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases was published, we have witnessed the sequencing of the (almost) complete human genome and a shift in medical research from an emphasis on genetics to the advancement and useful application of proteomics. Bioinformatics has become the key tool for managing and analyzing the upsurge of data, and faster and more effective test methods and technologies have opened up new prospects for ind- try and academia. The tools of modern genomics and proteomics are now being utilized to specifically guide the discovery of drugs for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of human disease. They may also help us to find a way out of the current healthcare calamity.

Download or read book Muscle Biophysics written by Rassier Dilson J.E and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2010-09-08 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Muscle contraction has been the focus of scientific investigation for more than two centuries, and major discoveries have changed the field over the years. Early in the twentieth century, Fenn (1924, 1923) showed that the total energy liberated during a contraction (heat + work) was increased when the muscle was allowed to shorten and perform work. The result implied that chemical reactions during contractions were load-dependent. The observation underlying the “Fenn effect” was taken to a greater extent when Hill (1938) published a pivotal study showing in details the relation between heat production and the amount of muscle shortening, providing investigators with the force-velocity relation for skeletal muscles. Subsequently, two papers paved the way for the current paradigm in the field of muscle contraction. Huxley and Niedergerke (1954), and Huxley and Hanson (1954) showed that the width of the A-bands did not change during muscle stretch or activation. Contraction, previously believed to be caused by shortening of muscle filaments, was associated with sliding of the thick and thin filaments. These studies were followed by the classic paper by Huxley (1957), in which he conceptualized for the first time the cross-bridge theory; filament sliding was driven by the cyclical interactions of myosin heads (cross-bridges) with actin. The original cross-bridge theory has been revised over the years but the basic features have remained mostly intact. It now influences studies performed with molecular motors responsible for tasks as diverse as muscle contraction, cell division and vesicle transport.

Download or read book Chemoinformatics and Bioinformatics in the Pharmaceutical Sciences written by Navneet Sharma and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2021-05-21 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chemoinformatics and Bioinformatics in the Pharmaceutical Sciences brings together two very important fields in pharmaceutical sciences that have been mostly seen as diverging from each other: chemoinformatics and bioinformatics. As developing drugs is an expensive and lengthy process, technology can improve the cost, efficiency and speed at which new drugs can be discovered and tested. This book presents some of the growing advancements of technology in the field of drug development and how the computational approaches explained here can reduce the financial and experimental burden of the drug discovery process. This book will be useful to pharmaceutical science researchers and students who need basic knowledge of computational techniques relevant to their projects. Bioscientists, bioinformaticians, computational scientists, and other stakeholders from industry and academia will also find this book helpful. - Provides practical information on how to choose and use appropriate computational tools - Presents the wide, intersecting fields of chemo-bio-informatics in an easily-accessible format - Explores the fundamentals of the emerging field of chemoinformatics and bioinformatics