Ion channels are biological nanotubes that are formed by membrane proteins. Because ion channels regulate all electrical activities in living cells, understanding their mechanisms at a molecular level is a fundamental problem in biology.

This book deals with recent breakthroughs in ion-channel research that have been brought about by the combined effort of experimental biophysicists and computational physicists, who together are beginning to unravel the story of these exquisitely designed biomolecules. With chapters by leading experts, the book is aimed at researchers in nanodevices and biosensors, as well as advanced undergraduate and graduate students in biology and the physical sciences.

The book includes a CD-ROM with computer programs used for making theoretical calculations, as well as video animations illustrating various features of ion channels.

This hands-on reference tool provides the most up-to-date information needed to synthesize molecules by solid-phase synthesis (SPS)-employing polymeric support (resins), anchoring linkages (handles), coupling reagents (activators), and protection schemes. The volume presents new strategies for creating a wide variety of compounds invaluable for drug discovery in coming years. Thoroughly analyzes peptides, DNA, carbohydrates, conjugates of biomolecules, and small molecules. Written by 35 internationally recognized authorities, Solid-Phase Synthesis provides experimental procedures and a literature review for peptides, DNA, PNA, carbohydrates, peptidomimetics, and small molecule assembly describes the preparation of solid supports and handles (linkers) as well as their appropriate incorporation into a synthetic strategy discusses methods for the construction of more complex peptides: cyclic (lactam and disulfide), glyco-, phospho-, sulfo- and nucleopeptides explains the protocols for the preparation of side-chain and N-alpha protecting groups for amino acids surveys the various coupling reagents and methods for peptide chain elongation considers convergent peptide synthesis (fragment condensations) examines engineering designs for automation details techniques for the purification and analysis of peptides and combination libraries and more Containing over 2400 references and more than 300 tables, drawings, and equations, Solid-Phase Synthesis is an eminently practical and quick-reference guide for organic, combinatorial, and medicinal chemists and biochemists; pharmacists, pharmacologists, and pharmaceutical researchers; molecular and cell biologists; enzymologists; immunologists; neurobiologists; and graduate and medical school students in these disciplines.

Cells possess a wealth of posttranscriptional control mechanisms that impact on every conceivable aspect of the life of an mRNA. These processes are intimately intertwined in an almost baroque manner, where promoter context influences the recruitment of splicing factors, where the majority of pre-mRNAs undergo alternative splicing, and where proteins deposited during nuclear processing impact distal cytoplasmic processing, translation, and decay. If there is a unifying theme to mRNA Processing and Metabolism: Methods and Protocols, it is that mRNA processing and metabolism are integrated processes. Many of the techniques used to study mRNA have been described in a previous volume of this series (RNA-Protein Interaction Protocols, Susan Haynes, ed.) and specialized methods journals. In selecting topics for mRNA Processing and Metabolism: Methods and Protocols, I sought input on new and novel techniques and approaches that build on this foundation using technological advances in microscopy, whole genome sequencing, microarrays, mass spectrometry, fluorescent detection methodologies, and RNA interference. I have tried not to bias this book toward any single model organism, and approaches described in the various chapters use yeast, Drosophila, Xenopus, mice, plants, and cultured mammalian cells.

As we approach the twenty-first century the problems of industrialization are evident: we find there is a greenhouse effect, the ozone layer is being depleted, the rain is acidified, and there is a terrible problem of increasing C0 concentrations in the atmo 2 sphere. The carbonic anhydrases are a unique family of enzymes that solve these problems in the human body: they are responsible for converting C0 (a gas) to 2 HC0-, which is the biggest intracellular buffer, with a concomitant decrease in a 3 hydroxyl ion. Globally, the functions of the carbonic anhydrases in photosynthesis in rain forests and in the algae and plankton that cover our oceans indicate that they are also of utmost importance in the maintenance of the acid-base balance on our planet. Although the whole field of C0 metabolism is enormous and still rapidly 2 expanding, because of the research interests of the editors this book is mainly concerned with mammalian carbonic anhydrases. However, if the interested reader intends to purify carbonic anhydrases from nonmammalian sources, Dr. Cheg widden has provided the necessary information in Chapter 7. The carbonic anhydrases were first discovered in 1933; until1976 there were thought to be only two isozymes. Since then CA ill, IY, V, VI, and Vll have been discovered and well characterized. There is, of course, no reason to believe that we have found them all."

In 1971, the late Dr. J. Kolek of the Institute of Botany, Bratislava, organized the first International Symposium devoted exclusively to plant roots. At that time, perhaps only a few of the participants, gathered together in Tatranska Lomnica, sensed that a new era of root meetings was beginning. Nevertheless, it is now clear that Dr. Kolek's action, undertaken with his characteristic enormous enthusiasm, was rather pioneering, for it started a series a similar meetings. Moreover, what was rather exceptional at the time was the fact that the meeting was devoted to the functioning of just a single organ, the root. One possible reason for the unexpected success of the original, perhaps naive, idea of a Root Symposium might lie with the fact that plant roots have always been extremely popular as experimental material for cytologists, biochemists and physiologists whishing to probe processes as diverse as cell division and solute transport. Of course, the connection of roots with the rest of the plant is not forgotten either. This wide variety of disciplines is now coupled with the development of increasingly sophisticated experimental techniques to study some of these old problems. These factors undoubtedly contribute to the necessity of continuing the tradition of the root symposia. The common theme of root function gives, in addition, a certain unity to all these diverse activities.

This book offers an explanation of the specific ways that biocatalysis outperforms chemical catalysis by: utilizing ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure to minimize problems of isomerization, racemization, and epimerization; employing microbial cells and enzymes that can be immobilized and reused over many cycles; and overexpressing enzymes for greater economy and efficiency.

Free radicals and oxidative damage in biology and medicine: An introduction.- Oxidative metabolism in skeletal muscle.- Strategies to assess oxidative stress.- The course of exercise-induced skeletal muscle fibre injury.- Free radical mechanisms in exercise-related muscle damage.- The effects of exercise, ageing and caloric restriction on protein oxidation and DNA damage in skeletal muscle.- Antioxidant enzyme response to exercise and training in the skeletal muscle.- Glutathione: A key role in skeletal muscle metabolism.- Vitamin E and its effect on skeletal muscle.- Differential susceptibility of skeletal muscle proteins to free radical-induced oxidative damage in vitro.- Oxidative stress and Ca2+ transport in skeletal and cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum.- Oxidative stress in skeletal muscle atrophy induced by immobilization.- Effect of growth hormone on oxidative stress in immobilized muscles of old animals.- The diaphragm and oxidative stress.- Oxidative damage after ischemia/reperfusion in skeletal muscle.- Oxidative damage in rat skeletal muscle after excessive L-tryptophan and atherogenic diets.- Oxidative stress and muscle wasting of cachexia.- Free radicals and antioxidants in the pathogenesis of alcoholic myopathy.- Drug-induced muscle damage.- Free radicals and diseases of animal muscle.- Therapeutic trials of antioxidants in muscle diseases.

The International Society of Root Research sponsored the Symposium "Root Demographics and Their Efficiencies in Sustainable Agriculture, GrassLands and Forest Ecosystems," July 14-18, 1996, at the Madren Conference Center, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA. The conference was a continuation of a series of international symposiums on root research held every three to four years. Symposiums have also been held twice in Vienna, Austria, and once in Uppsala, Sweden, and Almaty, Kazahkstan prior to the meeting at Clemson University. The sponsoring society has made a particular effort in these symposia to include root scientists from the former Soviet Union because of the importance of exchanging information on a worldwide basis. This symposium continued and promoted that effort by providing travel grants to several scientists from that region; however, funds for that purpose were limited. Therefore, in compiling these proceedings, a number of papers from scientists from the former Soviet Union and former Warsaw Pack countries have been included even though the scientists were not actually present for the SymPOSIum.

This volume presents detailed laboratory protocols regarding the three major route technologies luciferases, efficient optical probes, and applications to visualizing molecular events in living subjects. Bioluminescence: Methods and Protocols, Third Edition guides readers through chapters on ingredients of bioluminescent probes, and fabrication of bioluminescent probes, applications to living subjects and instrumentations. 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, Bioluminescence: Methods and Protocols, Third Edition is a useful complement to the first and second edition for new and experienced researchers alike.

An introduction to the most important fundamental concepts of physicochemical interface science and a description of experimental techniques and applications of surface science in relation to biological systems. It explores artificial assemblies of lipids, proteins and polysaccharides that perform novel functions that living systems cannot duplicate.

This book considers a recently discovered function of heat shock proteins (HSP): adaptation of mammalian cells to energy deficiency. It discusses the following main problems: 1) how do cells sense transient ATP decrease and why does it evoke heat shock response?; 2) how can HSPs protect cells from damage and death and what are their intracellular targets?; 3) what may be a clinical application of HSP-mediated adaptation to ischemia?

This is the first book to comprehensively address the recent developments in both the experimental and theoretical aspects of quasi-one-dimensional halogen-bridged mono- (MX) and binuclear metal (MMX) chain complexes of Pt, Pd and Ni. These complexes have one-dimensional electronic structures, which cause the various physical properties as well as electronic structures. In most MX-chain complexes, the Pt and Pd units are in M(II)-M(IV) mixed valence or charge density wave (CDW) states due to electron-phonon interactions, and Ni compounds are in Ni(III) averaged valence or Mott-Hubbard states due to the on-site Coulomb repulsion. More recently, Pd(III) Mott-Hubbard (MH) states have been realized in the ground state by using the chemical pressure. Pt and Pd chain complexes undergo photo-induced phase transitions from CDW to MH or metal states, and Ni chain complexes undergo photo-induced phase transitions from MH to metal states. Ni chain complexes with strong electron correlations show tremendous third-order optical nonlinearity and nonlinear electrical conductivities. They can be explained theoretically by using the extended Peierls-Hubbard model. For MMX-chain complexes, averaged valence, CDW, charge polarization, and alternating charge polarization states have been realized by using chemical modification and external stimuli, such as temperature, photo-irradiation, pressure, and water vapor. All of the electronic structures and phase transitions can be explained theoretically.

In the recent years, a significant amount of research has emerged connecting the link between alcohol and cancer. The field has rapidly advanced, especially since the complex connection between alcohol and cancer has several unique sub areas that are being investigated. This proceedings volume will contain chapters based upon the presentation of the 2nd International Conference on Alcohol and Cancer in Colorado, 2013. The various topics explore the affects of alcohol on: liver and breast cancer; cell signaling and cancer; stem cells; biomarkers and metabolomics; aerodigestive cancers; cancer and the immune system and more.

Phosphorus is one of the major nutrients limiting the productivity of terrestrial, wetland and aquatic ecosystems. Over the last decade several research projects were conducted on Florida's ecosystems from state and federal agencies and private industry to address water quality issues, and to develop management practices to control nutrient loads.
Phosphorus Biogeochemistry in Sub-Tropical Ecosystems is the first thorough study of the role of phosphorus in ecological health and water quality ever published. Because of its vast and extensively studied ecosystems, Florida has often served as a national laboratory on current and future trends in ecosystem management. The reader will find studies at all levels of biological organization, from the cellular to entire ecological communities. The book is a definitive study of the role and behavior of phosphorus deposition in the upland/wetland/aquatic environment.
The papers presented in this book are organized in specific groups: ecological analysis and global issues, biogeochemical transformations, biogeochemical responses, transport processes, phosphorus management, and synthesis. Although Florida's ecosystems are used as a case study, the results presented have global applications.

Continues the tradition of excellence established in previous volumes in this acclaimed series. Volume 36 focuses on the vibrant research area concerning the interrelation between free radicals and metal ions and their resulting effects on life processes; it offers an authoritative and timely account of this fascinating area of research in 21 chapters.

Dysfunction of nuclear-cytoplasmic transport systems has been associated with many human diseases. Thus, understanding of how functional this transport system maintains, or through dysfunction fails to maintain remains the core question in cell biology. In eukaryotic cells, the nuclear envelope (NE) separates the genetic transcription in the nucleus from the translational machinery in the cytoplasm. Thousands of nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) embedded on the NE selectively mediate the bidirectional trafficking of macromolecules such as RNAs and proteins between these two cellular compartments. In this book, the authors integrate recent progress on the structure of NPC and the mechanism of nuclear-cytoplasmic transport system in vitro and in vivo.

This book focuses on the different compounds (polyphenols, sterols, alkaloids terpenes) that arise from the secondary metabolism of plants and fungi and their importance for research and industry. These compounds have been the backbone and inspiration of various industries like the food, pharmaceutical and others to produce synthetic counterparts. Furthermore, many of these compounds are still widely used to carry out specific functions in all these industries. This book offers a compilation of different texts from world leading scientists in the areas of chemistry, biochemistry, plant science, biotechnology which compile information on each group of secondary metabolism compounds, and their most important applications in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and textile industry. By showcasing the best uses of these compounds, the chemistry behind their production in plants and fungi, this book is a valuable resource and a "go to" artifact for various audiences. The new approach this book offers, by linking research and the application of these compounds, makes it interesting as an inspiration for new research or as a hallmark of what has been done in the secondary metabolism of plants and fungi in recent years. Although this book may be technical, it is also enjoyable as an integral reading experience due to a structured and integrated flow, from the origins of secondary metabolism in organisms, to the discovery of their effects, their high intensity research in recent years and translation into various industries. Beyond learning more on their chemistry, synthesis, metabolic pathway, readers will understand their importance to different research and industry.

This book discusses essential stereochemical concepts associated with organic molecules (natural or synthetic), as reflected in the course of their many reactions, their mechanisms, their asymmetric synthesis, biosynthesis, and biological activities. This treatise provides useful insights and understanding of the chiral/achiral designations (nomenclatures), the stereochemical features, and related properties of the natural and synthetic products. Without having an adequate knowledge of stereochemical concepts, it will not be possible to understand and appreciate the stereochemistry of natural or synthetic products. Thus, essential static and dynamic aspects of stereochemistry with sufficient illustrative examples along with discussions are presented. The structure of the monograph allows for easy selection of separate topics for reading and teaching. This book will also provide an idea of basic stereochemical concepts, as applied to organic molecules in general as well as to organic ligands in coordination complexes, and will, therefore, be valuable resources to teachers and students of advanced undergraduates and post-graduates, researchers, and professionals.

Medicinal chemistry is both science and art. The science of medicinal chemistry offers mankind one of its best hopes for improving the quality of life. The art of medicinal chemistry continues to challenge its practitioners with the need for both intuition and experience to discover new drugs. Hence sharing the experience of drug research is uniquely beneficial to the field of medicinal chemistry. Drug research requires interdisciplinary team-work at the interface between chemistry, biology and medicine. Therefore, the topic-related series Topics in Medicinal Chemistry covers all relevant aspects of drug research, e.g. pathobiochemistry of diseases, identification and validation of (emerging) drug targets, structural biology, drugability of targets, drug design approaches, chemogenomics, synthetic chemistry including combinatorial methods, bioorganic chemistry, natural compounds, high-throughput screening, pharmacological in vitro and in vivo investigations, drug-receptor interactions on the molecular level, structure-activity relationships, drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination, toxicology and pharmacogenomics. In general, special volumes are edited by well known guest editors.

A vast array of natural organic compounds, the products of primary and secondary metabolism, occur in plants. The purpose of this dictionary is to provide basic information, including structural formulae, on plant constituents, with emphasis on those that are biologically active. This text profiles over 3000 substances from phenolics and alkaloids through carbohydrates and plant glycosides to oils and triterpenoids. For each substance, the author presents the trivial name, synonyms, structural type, chemical structure showing stereochemistry, molecular weight and formula, natural occurrence, biological activity and commercial or other use. Key references are provided for each class and subclass. It also reviews antifungal agents, with CAS numbers wherever possible, for all compounds to provide ready access to the original literature.

whether the patient is suffering? Should the ability to think and reason be considered as the most important factor? For instance, should a patient with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) who is mentally alert yet unable to move from the neck down be allowed to refuse medical treatment; and, if so, at what point in her treatment should one consider her life no longer worth living? Is there a difference between not inserting a respirator into a patient who is unable to breathe and not inserting a feeding tube into a patient who is unable to eat? In other words, where does one draw the line between a life worth living and one that is beyond hope, and what criteria should be used? Several of my cases address this issue. 2. What are the religious influences that affect the decision-making process? Israelis all seem to agree that they are a "Jewish state" and that their Jewishness is extremely important to their collective identity; however, they have a difficult time defining what this means. There is a great deal of ambivalence, especially among the less religious, as to what role religion should be allowed to play in their lives. Many resent the control that the religious have over their lives; yet, they also feel that it is beneficial and should play some role in affecting the morals of the country.