Over the last three decades, the interface between chemistry and biology has grown increasingly dynamic, resulting in the rapid expansion of communication and collaboration amongst research scientists, faculty and students in the fields of chemistry, biochemistry, biology, bioengineering, and beyond. This is due in part to society's growing demand for scientists, engineers and practitioners who can bring a more interdisciplinary approach to their work. For this reason, new elective courses at the undergraduate level that address topics crossing the traditional boundaries of chemistry and biology are increasingly necessary, as are courses that can provide traditional chemistry students with additional insight into the fundamental role that chemistry plays in the function and evolution of biological systems. Morrow's book builds on the foundation of a one-year introductory course in organic chemistry, focusing on familiar organic chemical processes associated with the biosynthesis of primary and secondary metabolites, with special emphasis on the latter group. Ultimately, it brings to undergraduate science majors the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of fundamental mechanistic organic chemistry within a meaningful biological context that goes far beyond the usual boxed essays or supplemental problems that increasingly crowd the margins of many introductory organic chemistry textbooks. The book offers ideal support for courses in chemistry, biochemistry, biology, pre-medicine and bioengineering programs.

Computational Molecular modelling in Structural Biology, Volume 113, the latest release in the Advances in Protein Chemistry and Structural Biology, highlights new advances in the field, with this new volume presenting interesting chapters on charting the Bromodomain BRD4: Towards the Identification of Novel Inhibitors with Molecular Similarity and Receptor Mapping, and Computational Methods to Discover Compounds for the Treatment of Chagas Disease.

This book presents an overview of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), their mechanisms of antimicrobial action, other activities, and various problems that must still be overcome regarding their clinical application. Divided into four major parts, the book begins with a general overview of AMPs (Part I), and subsequently discusses the various mechanisms of antimicrobial action and methods for researching them (Part 2). It then addresses a range of activities other than antimicrobial action, such as cell penetration, antisepsis, anticancer, and immunomodulatory activities (Part 3), and explores the prospects of clinical application from various standpoints such as the selective toxicity, design, and discovery of AMPs (Part 4). A huge number of AMPs have been discovered in plants, insects, and vertebrates including humans, and constitute host defense systems against invading pathogenic microorganisms. Consequently, many attempts have been made to utilize AMPs as antibiotics. AMPs could help to solve the urgent problem of drug-resistant bacteria, and are also promising with regard to sepsis and cancer therapy. Gathering a wealth of information, this book will be a bible for all those seeking to develop antibiotics, anti-sepsis, or anticancer agents based on AMPs.

This book discusses the methods synthesizing various carbon materials, like graphite, carbon blacks, carbon fibers, carbon nanotubes, and graphene. It also details different functionalization and modification processes used to improve the properties of these materials and composites. From a geometrical-structural point of view, it examines different properties of the composites, such as mechanical, electrical, dielectric, thermal, rheological, morphological, spectroscopic, electronic, optical, and toxic, and describes the effects of carbon types and their geometrical structure on the properties and applications of composites.

Selenium and Tellurium Reagents provides an in-depth overview of recent advances on the chemistry of these elements. Written by internationally recognized experts, it gives insight into the synthesis, structure, analysis and mechanistic studies of these compounds. The book is organized into four parts which reflect the applications of Se and Te reagents in four areas: inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, materials science and biochemistry.

Advances in Clinical Chemistry, Volume 86, the latest installment in this internationally acclaimed series, contains chapters authored by world-renowned clinical laboratory scientists, physicians and research scientists. The serial discusses the latest and most up-to-date technologies related to the field of clinical chemistry, and is the benchmark for novel analytical approaches in the clinical laboratory.

The book provides a detailed state-of-the-art overview of inorganic chemistry applied to medicinal chemistry and biology. It covers the newly emerging field of metals in medicine and the future of medicinal inorganic chemistry. Further it includes metal based medicines used in alternative systems of Ayurveda as well as Tibetan Zuotai to make it a holistic approach. It is an essential reading for every researcher and student in medicinal and bioinorganic chemistry.

Phyto-pathogens are one of the dominating components which badly affect crop production. In light of the global food demand, sustainable agricultural plans utilizing agrochemicals became necessary. The role of beneficial microbes in the defense priming of host plants has been well documented. This book details new aspects of microbial-assisted plant protection and their role in agricultural production, economy, and environmental sustainability.

This volume focuses on mitochondrial RNA metabolism, emphasizing recent discoveries and technological advances in this fast moving area that increase our understanding of mitochondrial gene function. Topics addressed include the interplay of mitochondria with the nucleus and cytosol, structure-function connections, and relevance to human disease. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cell, and a great deal is known about mitochondrial energy metabolism. Less well known is the plethora of amazing mechanisms that have evolved to control expression of mitochondrial genomes. Several RNA processes and machineries in protozoa, plants, flies and humans are discussed, including: transcription and RNA polymerase mechanism; tRNA processing of 5' and 3' ends; mRNA maturation by nucleotide insertion/deletion editing and by RNA splicing; mRNA stability; and RNA import. Specialized factors and ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) examined include pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins, RNase P, polymerases, helicases, nucleases, editing and repair enzymes. Remarkable features of these processes and factors are either not found outside mitochondria, differ substantially among eukaryotic lineages, or are unique in biology.

This volume provides readers with a collection of the latest protocols used by researchers to study polyamines (PA). The chapters in this book cover various topics, such as quantification of different polyamines and conjugates, subcellular localization studies, transport, DNA methylation, ODC regulation, genetic and phenotyping analyses, genome-wide association mapping, polyamine applications and cancer. 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. Comprehensive and cutting-edge, Polyamines: Methods and Protocols is a useful reference for researchers looking to advance and stimulate their knowledge of polyamines.

Gangliosides in Health and Disease, Volume 156, presents the latest information on Gangliosides, a class of glycolipids that are found on all vertebrate cell surfaces, and are particularly abundant in the brain. Individual chapters in this new volume cover Gangliosides as Toxin Receptors, Gangliosides in Cancer Cell Signaling, Gangliosides in inflammation and neurodegeneration, Gangliosides as functional galectin receptors, Gangliosides in signal transduction, Gangliosides in brain tumor immunology, and Gangliosides in axon regeneration and stability, amongst other related topics. This book brings together world experts in ganglioside structure and function who have been assembled to contribute to this thorough update of the field.

This thesis describes the authors' pioneering efforts in the conceptualization and implementation of combined platinum-based immuno-chemotherapeutics, which represent a significant paradigm shift from the conventional approach of directly targeting cancer. The work described has opened up a rich and largely unexplored area for platinum-based drug design, and ultimately paves the way for superior immuno-chemotherapeutics with better clinical outcome for patients. Historically, the contribution of the immune system to chemotherapy outcomes has been neglected, as anticancer drugs were believed to be immunosuppressive. However, this has been challenged by contemporary evidence suggesting that many chemotherapeutics, including platinum-based agents, stimulate the innate and/or adaptive immune system and that these "secret allies" contribute tangibly to clinical outcomes. A multi-pronged immuno-chemotherapeutic approach not only shrinks tumors, but more importantly, reactivate dormant immune responses to malignancies, eliminating residual cancer cells.

This book provides a modern and easy-to-understand introduction to the chemical equilibria in solutions. It focuses on aqueous solutions, but also addresses non-aqueous solutions, covering acid-base, complex, precipitation and redox equilibria. The theory behind these and the resulting knowledge for experimental work build the foundations of analytical chemistry. They are also of essential importance for all solution reactions in environmental chemistry, biochemistry and geochemistry as well as pharmaceutics and medicine. Each chapter and section highlights the main aspects, providing examples in separate boxes. Questions and answers are included to facilitate understanding, while the numerous literature references allow students to easily expand their studies.

Chemical and Biochemical Approaches for the Study of Anesthetic Function, Part A, Volume 602 assembles new information on our understanding of anesthesia. This latest release in the series includes sections on how physical accuracy leads to biological relevance, best practices for simulating ligand-gated ion channels interacting with general anesthetics, computational approaches for studying voltage-gated ion channels modulation by general anesthetics, anesthetic parameterization, pharmacophore QSAR, QM, ONIOM, and kinetic modeling of electrophysiology data.

Epigenetics and Psychiatric Disease, Volume 157, the latest volume in the Progress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science series, includes recent developments on a variety of topics, including the Epigenetic landscapes of the adversity-exposed brain, Chromosomal conformations and epigenomic regulation in schizophrenia, Progress in the epigenetics of depression, the epigenetics of circadian rhythms in imprinted neurodevelopmental disorders, DNA methylation mediating substance abuse, mechanisms and therapeutic opportunities, DNA methylation in animals model of psychosis, Epigenetics of early life stress, Epigenetic drugs for mood disorders, and more.

Methods in Enzymology, Volume 607: Phosphatases, the latest release in this ongoing series, highlights new advances in the field as detailed by an international board of authors. This latest release includes chapters on Empirical Valence Bond Simulations of the Evolution of Enzyme Function, QM/MM Free Energy and Kinetic Isotope Analysis of Phosphoryl Transfer in Enzymes, the Structural, Mechanism and Evolution of Phosphatases, How to Define Rapid Motions in Pumping Pyrophosphatases, The Evolution of K+-Independence in Pyrophosphatases, the Crystallization of Michaelis, Intermediate and Inhibited Complexes in Phosphatases, and an Investigation of Nucleotide Loading and Effector Binding of K-Ras.

Handbook of Pharmaceutical Wet Granulation: Theory and Practice in a Quality by Design Paradigm offers a single and comprehensive reference dedicated to all aspects of pharmaceutical wet granulation, taking a holistic approach by combining introductory principles with practical solutions. Chapters are written by international experts across industry, academic and regulatory settings, and cover a wide spectrum of relevant and contemporary wet granulation topics, techniques and processes. The books' focus on process analytical technology, quality by design principles, granulation equipment, modeling, scale-up, control and real time release makes it a timely and valuable resource for all those involved in pharmaceutical wet granulation.

This monograph presents recent advances in neural network (NN) approaches and applications to chemical reaction dynamics. Topics covered include: (i) the development of ab initio potential-energy surfaces (PES) for complex multichannel systems using modified novelty sampling and feedforward NNs; (ii) methods for sampling the configuration space of critical importance, such as trajectory and novelty sampling methods and gradient fitting methods; (iii) parametrization of interatomic potential functions using a genetic algorithm accelerated with a NN; (iv) parametrization of analytic interatomic potential functions using NNs; (v) self-starting methods for obtaining analytic PES from ab inito electronic structure calculations using direct dynamics; (vi) development of a novel method, namely, combined function derivative approximation (CFDA) for simultaneous fitting of a PES and its corresponding force fields using feedforward neural networks; (vii) development of generalized PES using many-body expansions, NNs, and moiety energy approximations; (viii) NN methods for data analysis, reaction probabilities, and statistical error reduction in chemical reaction dynamics; (ix) accurate prediction of higher-level electronic structure energies (e.g. MP4 or higher) for large databases using NNs, lower-level (Hartree-Fock) energies, and small subsets of the higher-energy database; and finally (x) illustrative examples of NN applications to chemical reaction dynamics of increasing complexity starting from simple near equilibrium structures (vibrational state studies) to more complex non-adiabatic reactions.
The monograph is prepared by an interdisciplinary group of researchers working as a team for nearly two decades at Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK with expertise in gas phase reaction dynamics; neural networks; various aspects of MD and Monte Carlo (MC) simulations of nanometric cutting, tribology, and material properties at nanoscale; scaling laws from atomistic to continuum; and neural networks applications to chemical reaction dynamics. It is anticipated that this emerging field of NN in chemical reaction dynamics will play an increasingly important role in MD, MC, and quantum mechanical studies in the years to come.

This volume explores three main aspects of nitric oxide (NO) research: NO treatment and detection, NO modifications, and NO detoxification. The book also covers methods used to study human/animal and plant nitric oxide. The chapters are divided into three parts: part one looks at NO treatments using gaseous nitric oxide and detection using a NO-sensitive electrode, electron spin resonance, and fluorescence-based NO-sensor proteins. Part two talks about various techniques used to detect and identify NO-dependent modifications, such as biotin-switch assay and quantification of s-nitrosated proteins. Part three focuses on the study of s-nitrosothiol homeostasis and denitrosation activities. 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. Cutting edge and authoritative, Nitric Oxide: Methods and Protocols is a valuable resource for anyone interested in learning more about this evolving field.

Thyroid hormone, Volume 106, the latest release in the Vitamins and Hormones series first published in 1943 provides up-to-date information on crystal structures and basic structural studies on neurotrophins and their receptors, neurotrophin functions and the biological actions of neurotrophins related to clinical conditions and disease. This new release focuses on timely topics, including the Nuclear Import and Export of the Thyroid Hormone Receptor, the Thyroid hormone and the white matter of the central nervous system: from development to repair, Thyroid hormone and astrocyte differentiation, and the Molecular Basis of Nongenomic Actions of Thyroid Hormone, amongst other topics.

Advances in Clinical Chemistry, Volume 85, the latest installment in this internationally acclaimed series, contains chapters authored by world-renowned clinical laboratory scientists, physicians and research scientists. The serial discusses the latest and most up-to-date technologies related to the field of clinical chemistry, and is the benchmark for novel analytical approaches in the clinical laboratory.