As the amount of information in biology expands dramatically, it becomes increasingly important for textbooks to distill this vast amount of scientific knowledge into concise principles and enduring concepts. Molecular Biology of the Cell, Sixth Edition accomplishes this goal with clear writing and beautiful illustrations. The Sixth Edition has been extensively revised and updated with the latest research in cell biology and it provides an exceptional framework for teaching and learning.

Root hairs are tip-growing cells that originate from epidennal cells called trichoblasts. Their role may be simply thought of as extending the surface area of the root to facilitate absorption of nutrients and water. However, as you will see in this book, the root hair is far more than that. To an increasingly larger number of plant biologists, the root hair is a model cell. It grows in much the same way as a pollen tube, by sending vast numbers of vesicles containing cell wall precursors to a rounded apical dome, the tip. Once the trichoblast becomes committed to root hair fonnation, it no longer divides. The root hair cell has a migrating nucleus and a complex cytoskeleton. It has a varied cell wall. It is easy to observe through differential interference contrast microscopy because there are no other cells around it to disturb the image. Cytoplasmic streaming is exceptionally clear, and amyloplasts and even mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum can be seen without reporter labelling in some species. Root hair mutants are easy to distinguish and catalogue. Plant honnones are involved in their growth and development. It is thus an almost ideal plant cell for experimental manipulation and observation. The root hair is also involved in interactions with soil microbes, as you will learn from later chapters of the book.

The purpose of Ribozyme Protocols is to provide a helpful compilation of protocols that will be of use- DEGREESnot only to those with some experience of ribozymes- DEGREESbut also to those wishing to use ribozymes for the first time. Although it is usually impossible to cover every aspect of a scientific field, I believe this book approaches that ideal and should help all readers perform meaningful experiments using ribozymes. To design ribozymes, one must consider whether the target site will be accessible; this task can be facilitated by using computer programs that pre dict the folding of the target RNA. Such programs are detailed in Chapters 2 and 3. If the chosen target is an RNA virus that can mutate rapidly, it makes sense to consider those parts of the genome that are least likely to change during viral replication. An example of how this can be done is described in Chapter 4. Although computer analysis may be a useful starting point to select tar get sites, there seems, at the moment, to be no guarantee that any particular chosen site will be efficiently cleaved. Some workers have deliberately bypassed this problem by using libraries of ribozyme sequences and by select ing those that actually hybridize to and/or cleave the target; these methods are described in Chapters 5

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.

I am extremely honored and pleased to have the opportunity to write a few introductory words for this timely volume on Na + /It exchange. This is a field of investigation that I entered into by challenge and necessity, embraced with passion and fmally left in my quest for new discoveries in growth control. Ten years, one third of my scientific life, has been devoted to uncovering the mysteries of intracellular pH (PH;) regulation with respect to growth factor action. I got started on this new topic in 1980, when I heard a rather provocative hypothesis presented by Enrique Rozengurt at an ICN-UCLA Keystone meeting on "Cell Surface and Malignancy." He showed that all mitogens induced amiloride-sensitive Na + entry into resting cells and proposed that, if a compound stimulates Na + influx, it could be a mitogen. In support of his proposal Enrique reported that the amphipathic polypeptide, mellitin, which induced Na+ influx, was indeed mitogenic for 3T3 cells. This was only correlation at this stage. However, I was fascinated by this talk. I immediately approached Enrique to inform him of my skepticism about this beautiful story, and to indicate that I would only be convinced when I succeeded in isolating mutant fibroblasts lacking the amiloride-sensitive Na+ transporter. ''Good luck " was his response.

Immunofluorescence, a suitable laboratory method for the microscopic demonstration of antigens and antibodies in biological materials, useable, for example, to provide evidence for the pathogenesis of disease in histological or cytological preparations and for tumour cell differentiation. For this reason immunofluorescence has a decisive role as the method of choice for the diagnosis of auto-immune diseases. This primer on immunofluorescence techniques, which first appeared in 1979, is a richly illustrated handbook suitable for everyday practical work in the laboratory, useable as both an introduction to the subject as well as an atlas. In hardly any other area of medicine are there so many new findings to report. The second edition of this book is concerned not only with the detection methods which now form an essential and established part of diagnostic techniques, but also with the most recent research results such as the discovery of antibodies against Auerbach's plexus and against podocytes...

This volume of the treatise deals with structural aspects of the cytoskeleton: the characteristics of the filaments and their components; the organization of the genes; motor proteins; interactions with membranes.

This volume provides laboratory protocols essential for studies on lysosomal biology. Chapters aim to guide researchers in their exploration of lysosomes, both under normal conditions and in pathological processes. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Lysosome: Methods and Protocols aims to provided protocols that will guide and inspire further research and generate new insights into this fascinating organelle.

This textbook provides an introduction to dynamic modeling in cell biology, emphasizing computational approaches based on realistic molecular mechanisms. It is designed to introduce cell biology and neuroscience students to computational modeling, and applied mathematics students, theoretical biologists, and engineers to many of the problems in dynamical cell biology. This volume was conceived of and begun by Professor Joel Keizer based on his many years of teaching and research together with his colleagues. The project was expanded and finished by his students and friends after his untimely death in 1999. Carefully selected examples are used to motivate the concepts and techniques of computational cell biology, through a progression of increasingly more complex and demanding cases. Illustrative exercises are included with every chapter, and mathematical and computational appendices are provided for reference. This textbook will be useful for advanced undergraduate and graduate theoretical biologists, and for mathematics students and life scientists who wish to learn about modeling in cell biology. Royalties from this book will be donated to the Joel E. Keizer memorial endowment for collaborative interdisciplinary research in the life sciences.

The book presents a new, powerful model of neuronal networks, consisting of a three-dimensional neuronal culture in which 3D neuronal networks are coupled to micro-electrode-arrays (MEAs). It discusses the main advantages of the three-dimensional system compared to its two-dimensional counterpart, and shows that the network dynamics, recorded during both spontaneous and stimulated activity, differs between the two models, with the 3D system being better able to emulate the in vivo behaviour of neural networks. The book offers an extensive analysis of the system, from the theoretical background, to its design and applications in neuro-pharmacological studies. Moreover, it includes a concise yet comprehensive introduction to both 2D and 3D neuronal networks coupled to MEAs, and discusses the advantages, limitations and challenges of their applications as cellular and tissue-like in vitro experimental model systems.

Photobiology integrates a wide variety of scientific disciplines. As more people become aware of the many ways light interacts with chemical and biological systems, the need for a concise treatment of photobiology has become more critical. Kohen "et al." Have written just such a book, intended both as a textbook and as a reference.
The authors begin by providing a brief description of the nature of light, how it affects matter, and the means and methods of measuring it. A major section of the book is devoted to how light influences living systems, including discussions of photosynthesis, bioluminescence, regulatory mechanisms, and visual transduction of light. The last half of the book is devoted to the biomedical aspects of light, including photoimmunology, photoallergic reactions and other forms of light sensitivity, the optical properties of skin, and various ways that light can be used in therapy treatments.
Useful to photobiologists as a comprehensive overview, this book should also appeal to biomedical researchers and advanced students of photobiology.

One prerequisite for the evolution of multicellular organisms was the invention of mechanisms by which cells could adhere to one another. At some point in our history, dividing cells no longer went their separate protozoic ways in the primordial oceans, but instead found that by maintaining an association, by sticking together but not fusing, numerous evolutionary advantages became possible. The subsequent development of specialized tissues and organs depended on the elaboration of incredibly sophisticated, regulatable cell-to-cell adhesion mechanisms which are known to operate in biological processes as diverse as the growth of the embryo, the immune response, the establishment of connections between nerve cells, and arteriosclerosis, to name just a few. Although we can only guess at the ancestral mechanisms that fostered the first primitive intercellular unions, some one billion years ago, we now recognize contemporary molecular "themes" with presumably ancient origins that mediate cell-cell interactions.
The chapters in this book serve as useful, thought-provoking, but not exhaustive, commentaries on contemporary topics within the broad field of cell adhesion. If the reader detects a slight tilt toward those adhesion molecules that function in the nervous system, this is merely a reflection of this editor's interests, biases, and of course, limitations.

PCR Strategies expands and updates the landmark volume PCR Protocols. It is a companion laboratory manual that provides a completely new set of up-to-date strategies and protocols for getting the most from PCR.
The editors have organized the book into four sections, focusing on principles, analyses, research applications, and alternative strategies for a wide variety of basic and clinical needs. If you own PCR Protocols, you will want PCR Strategies. If you don't own PCR Protocols, you will want to buy both!
Key Features
* Concepts explained
* Methods detailed
* Trouble-shooting emphasized
* Novel applications highlighted
* Major sections
* Key concepts for PCR
* Analysis of PCR products
* Research applications
* Alternative amplification strategies

This volume examines the current state of free radical biology as it impacts on hepatic disorders. It takes a thorough look at the relationship of oxidative stress in acute and chronic disease and takes into account factors like: redox biomarkers; antioxidant defense and protection; cell signaling, mutations; oxidative damage involving lipids, proteins and nucleic acids; membrane trafficking, inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, alterations in immunological function and toxicology and hypoxia. Studies on Hepatic Disorders, the latest volume in the Oxidative Stress in Basic Research and Clinical Practice series, provides a comprehensive look at liver topics. It is organized into four sections, each one thoroughly covering its topic and consisting of chapters written by recognized field leaders. Section One, covers basic principles including redox signaling, antioxidant defenses, nitric oxide, oxidative mechanisms in senescence and regeneration and the detection of oxidative stress. Section Two, explores Pathophysiology. It ranges from cell damage to fibrogenic response as broken out in chapters on hepatocellular injury, mitochondrial damage, unfolded protein response and autophagy, inflammation, ischemia-reperfusion injury and finally, fibrogenesis. Sections Three and Four cover specific diseases and cancer, respectively. Most of the chapters focus on diseases including acute failure, alcoholic disease, viral hepatitis, iron overload, autoimmune disease, Wilson's disease and more, while the chapters on cancer round out the book.

Cell Surface Receptors: A Short Course on Theory and Methods, 3rd Edition, links theoretical insights into drug-receptor interactions described in mathematical models with the experimental strategies to characterize the biological receptor of interest. The study of receptors has changed considerably over the period of the publication of the three editions of this book. The cloning of several genomes makes it unlikely that preparations of receptors now or in the future will arise from their purification as trace proteins from native tissues, but rather from a myriad of molecular approaches. Nonetheless, understanding the molecular mechanisms and ultimately the in vivo biology of these receptors means that investigators will engage in molecular, cellular and ultimate in vivo strategies. It should be of value to investigators who want to identify, characterize and understand the biology of a receptor of interest.

The understanding how complement relates to glomerular diseases has evolved considerably during the last years. Substantial evidence has accumulated that explain how a defective or deregulated complement system results in kidney diseases. The combination and close interaction of basic research with clinical medicine has demonstrated an important role of complement effector and regulatory proteins in pathological settings of the kidney. A large panel of distinct human kidney diseases such as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), membrano proliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and in ischemic reperfusions injury and transplantation are caused by defective complement control. Genetic analyses have identified mutations in complement regulators that are associated with these diseases. Mutations have been identified in the fluid phase alternative pathway regulator Factor H and the membrane regulator Membrane Cofactor Protein MCP (CD46). The functional characterization of the mutant proteins allows to define the pathophysiological events on a molecular level. These new concepts and data on disease mechanisms already allowed to establish new diagnostic and novel promising therapeutic approaches for several human kidney diseases.

In eukaryotic cells, the nuclear genome and its transcriptional apparatus is separated from the site of protein synthesis by the nuclear envelope. Thus, a constant flow of proteins and nucleic acids has to cross the nuclear envelope in both directions. This transport in and out of the nucleus is mediated by nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) and occurs in an energy and signal-dependent manner. Thus, nucleocytoplasmic translocation of macro molecules across the nuclear envelope appears to be a highly specific and regulated process. Viruses that replicate their genome in the cell nucleus are therefore forced to develop efficient ways to deal with the intracellulZlr host cell transport machinery. Historically, investigation of Polyomavirus replication allowed identification ofsequences that mediate nuclear import, which led subsequently to our detailed understanding of the cellular factors that are involved in nuclear import. Transport ofmacromolecules in the opposite direction, however, is less well understood. The investigation of retroviral gene expression in recent years pro vided the first insights into the cellular mechanisms that regulate nuclear export. In particular, the detailed dissection of the function of the human immunodeficiency virus type I (HIV-I) Rev trans-activator protein identified CRMI, as a hona fide nuclear export receptor. CRM I appears to be involved in the nucleocytoplasmic translocation of the vast majority of viral and cellular proteins that have subsequently been found to contain a Rev-type leucine-rich nuclear export signal (NES)."

Diverse molecular, cellular, and environmental events must all come together to allow the successful formation of secondary cancers, metastases. The second edition of Metastasis Research Protocols, brings together updated versions of the seminal technique that were presented in the first edition and also includes new techniques that have recently been shown to be important in illuminating the processes underlying this important area of biology. Volume 2 presents techniques applicable at the level of living cells and tissues, and presents methodologies applicable to cell behaviour in vitro, in animal models and in mathematical constructs. The aim is the study of the interaction between cancer cells and their host/environment. The focus throughout is on the tools that have been shown to be helpful in unravelling the processes important in cancer metastasis. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and key tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Metastasis Research Protocols, Second Edition seeks to aid scientists in the further study of new methods in the area of metastasis research.

The fungus fusarium is a major plant pathogen that causes disease in nearly every agriculturally important plant. In addition, some strains produce mycotoxins that can cause serious illness in humans and livestock. The enormous economic importance of and health hazards posed by fusarium have fuelled research into its biochemistry, genetics, genomics, proteomics and metabolomics by scientists worldwide. In this book, an international group of researchers critically review the most important research on the genomics and molecular and cellular biology of fusarium.

Sequence - Evolution - Function is an introduction to the computational approaches that play a critical role in the emerging new branch of biology known as functional genomics. The book provides the reader with an understanding of the principles and approaches of functional genomics and of the potential and limitations of computational and experimental approaches to genome analysis.

Key topics covered in this textbook are:
*the completed and ongoing genome sequencing projects,
*databases that store and organize genomic data, with their unique advantages and pitfalls,
*principles and methods of genome analysis and annotation,
*ways to automate the searches and increase search sensitivity while minimizing the error rate,
*the first lessons from the Human Genome Project,
*the contribution of comparative genomics to the understanding of hereditary diseases and cancer,
*fundamental and practical applications of comparative genomics,
*the use of complete genomes for evolutionary analysis,
*the application of comparative genomics for identification of potential drug targets in microbial genomes,
*Problems for Further Study, which are designed to be solved by using methods available through the WWW. Sequence - Evolution - Function should help bridge the "digital divide" between biologists and computer scientists, allowing biologists to better grasp the peculiarities of the emerging field of Genome Biology and to learn how to benefit from the enormous amount of sequence data available in the public databases. The book is non-technical with respect to the computer methods for genome analysis and discusses these methods from the user's viewpoint, without addressing mathematical and algorithmic details. Prior practical familiarity with the basic methods for sequence analysis is a major advantage, but a reader without such experience will be able to use the book as an introduction to these methods. This book is perfect for introductory level courses in computational methods for comparative and functional genomics.

Animal cell technology is a growing discipline of cell biology which aims not only to understand structures, functions and behaviors of differentiated animal cells, but also to ascertain their abilities to be used in industrial and medical purposes. The goal of animal cell technology includes accomplishments of clonal expansion of differentiated cells with useful ability, optimization of their culture conditions, modulation of their ability for production of medically and pharmaceutically important proteins and the application of animal cells to gene therapy, artificial organs and functional foods.
This volume gives the readers a complete review of present state-of-the-art in Japan and other countries where this field is well advanced. The Proceedings will be useful for the cell biologists, biochemists, molecular biologists, immunologists, biochemical engineers and other disciplines related to animal cell culture, working in either academic environments or in industries of biotechnology and pharmacy.

Describes landmark experiments in cell biology and biochemistry Discusses the "How" and "Why" of historically important experiments Includes primary, original data and graphs Emphasizes biological techniques, which helps understand how many of the experiments performed were possible. Documents, chronologically, how each result fed into the next experiments.

This book explores epigenetic strategies, bridging fundamental cancer epigenetics, different paradigms in tumor genetics and translational understanding for both the clinic and improved lifestyles. The work provides target-based insights for treating different types of cancers and presents research on evolutionary epigenetics, introducing 'Medical Epi- Anthropology' and 'Cancer Epi-Anthropology'. Translating multi-disciplinary research into therapeutic design is at the core of this book. Readers may explore how cancer management involves unmasking the involved networks and the interactive status of different genes to achieve the appropriate methylome based therapy. Early chapters explore fundamental aspects and brain tumours, whilst later chapters investigate breast cancer and various other cancers, and the final chapter presents an evolutionary insight in cancer epigenetics, considering that the epigene is beyond DNA methylation, RNA interference and histone modification in cancer development. This book will be of interest to researchers in different medical and scientific fields, including clinical management (diagnosis, prognosis, prediction, prevention, and guidelines), genetic education, nutrition and nutrigenomics, industrial chemistry, and drug innovation. Because of the unique bridging between science and medicine this book will also be useful as an educational and translational research package.

This volume provides a cross-section of RNA exosome research protocols, applied to a diversity of model organisms. Chapters guide readers through methods that e.g. delineate eukaryotic exosomes' origins in prokaryotes, probe its RNA substrates, adapter complexes and macromolecular interaction of networks, and establish critical structural-function relationships. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and cutting-edge, The Eukaryotic RNA Exosome: Methods and Protocols aims to ensure successful results in the further study of this vital field.

The discovery of microRNAs and its role as gene expression regulators in human carcinogenesis represents one of the most important scientific achievements of the last decade. More recently, other non-coding RNAs have been discovered and its implications in cancer are emerging as well, suggesting a broader than anticipated involvement of the non-coding genome in cancer. Moreover, completely new and unexpected functions for microRNAs are being revealed, leading to the identification of new anticancer molecular targets. This book represents a comprehensive guide on non-coding RNAs and cancer, spanning from its role as cancer biomarkers, to providing the most useful bioinformatic tools, to presenting some of the most relevant discoveries, which indicates how these fascinating molecules act as fine orchestrators of cancer biology.