Written by specialists in the different fields, this book presents new perspectives and insights into strategies and weapons to fight microbial infections. It also reviews the "state of the art" of alternative treatment approaches and new therapeutic agents to deal with infections caused by multidrug-resistant microorganisms. In an era of accumulated resistance to current antibiotics, it is vital that this is undertaken without further delay. Aspects discussed include the control of RNA synthesis, the use of bacteriocins or enzybiotics (bacteriophages or purified lysins), the specific control of pathogenic clostridia, the design of new drugs affecting DNA synthesis in bacteria, the use of fecal-matter transplant strategies, the specific control of quorum sensing responses in bacteria, the use of new peptides as antibiotics and new ways to control bacteria that cause cancer, such as Helicobacter pylori cancers.

This concise volume describes the latest, up-to-date theory, methodology, and applications of ABC transporters in microorganisms. The topics include the structure, physiology, and evolution of ABC transporters, as well as their special characteristics in specific microorganisms, including bacteria, yeast, trypanosomes, and malaria parasites. In particular, the book describes the most recent research and innovations relative to the role of ABC transporters in the design of strategies to circumvent drug resistance in microorganisms. Each chapter comprises an exhaustive review of the particular topic and provides insights into the future of the field, both from the scientific and clinical perspective. A skillful selection of topics and a panel of acknowledged experts ensure that this concise volume will be of exceptional importance to everyone involved in DNA superfamily research, as well as scientists interested in microbial physiology and multidrug resistance. It is essential reading for anyone involved in this field, and it is a recommended volume for all microbiology laboratories.

Published since 1953, "Advances in Virus Research" covers a diverse range of in-depth reviews providing a valuable overview of the current field of virology. The impact factor for 2009 is 5.522placing it2nd in the highly competitive category of virology.

* Contributions from leading authorities * Informs and updates on all the latest developments in the field "

The huge potential for gene therapy to cure a wide range of diseases has led to high expectations and a great increase in research efforts in this area, particularly in the study of delivery via viral vectors, widely considered to be more efficient than DNA transfection. In Viral Vectors for Gene Therapy: Methods and Protocols, experts in the field present a collection of their knowledge and experience featuring methodologies that involve virus production, transferring protocols, and evaluating the efficacy of gene products. While thoroughly covering the most popular viral vector systems of adenovirus, retrovirus, and adeno-associated virus, this detailed volume also explores less common viral vector systems such as baculovirus, herpes virus, and measles virus, the growing interest in which is creating a considerable demand for large scale manufacturing and purification procedures. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology (TM) series format, many chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and vital tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Comprehensive and practical, Viral Vectors for Gene Therapy: Methods and Protocols provides basic principles accessible to scientists from a wide variety of backgrounds for the development of gene therapy viral products that are safe and effective.

Although antiviral drugs have been successfully developed for some viral diseases, there remains a clear, unmet medical need to develop novel antiviral agents for the control and management of many viruses that currently have no or limited treatment options as well as a need to overcome the limitations associated with the existing antiviral drugs, such as adverse effects and emergence of drug-resistant mutations. The second edition of Antiviral Methods and Protocols features: All chapters are new and written by experts in the field, reflecting the major recent technical advances in antiviral research and discovery. This edition focuses on many important human viruses, such as human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), hepatitis viruses (hepatitis B and C viruses), herpes viruses, human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and influenza virus, while also featuring some important emerging viruses, such as dengue virus, West Nile virus, and chikungunya virus. As a volume in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, 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, Antiviral Methods and Protocols, Second Edition will serve as an excellent laboratory reference for pharmaceutical and academic biologists, medicinal chemists, and pharmacologists as well as for virologists in the field of antiviral research and drug discovery.

This volume focuses on the role of sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) and its analogs in the induced sequestration of lymphocytes in secondary lymphoid organs or in the microenvironment of tissues involved in infection or autoimmune disease. Initial chapters define the pathways to understand S1P signaling. They cover the organization of signaling systems, the structural biology of the S1P1 receptor, and the chemical and genetic tools that are available and useful to explore this area of research and therapeutics. The later chapters highlight S1P and endothelial integrity, lymphocyte migration in the spleen, and S1P agonist in controlling immunopathologic manifestations of acute respiratory influenza virus infection (in the lung), and its accompanying cytokine storm as well as immunopathologic disease of the central nervous system, including the beginning of treatments in multiple sclerosis. One chapter reveals the possible involvement of other lipid molecules, their use for better understanding lipid signaling, and their potential in the modulation of immune responses.

The human microbiome is the bacteria, viruses, and fungi that cover our skin, line our intestines, and flourish in our body cavities. Work on the human microbiome is new, but it is quickly becoming a leading area of biomedical research. What scientists are learning about humans and our microbiomes could change medical practice by introducing new treatment modalities. This new knowledge redefines us as superorganisms comprised of the human body and the collection of microbes that inhabit it and reveals how much we are a part of our environment. The understanding that microbes are not only beneficial but sometimes necessary for survival recasts our interaction with microbes from adversarial to neighborly. This volume explores some of the science that makes human microbiome research possible. It then considers ethical, legal, and social concerns raised by microbiome research. Chapters explore issues related to personal identity, property rights, and privacy. The authors reflect on how human microbiome research challenges reigning views on public health and research ethics. They also address the need for thoughtful policies and procedures to guide the use of the biobanked human samples required for advancing this new domain of research. In the course of these explorations, they introduce examples from the history of biomedical science and recent legal cases that shed light on the issues and inform the policy recommendations they offer at the end of each topic's discussion. This volume is the product of an NIH Human Microbiome Project grant. It represents three years of conversations focused on consensus formation by the twenty-seven members of the interdisciplinary Microbiome Working Group. "The microbiome is a relatively new area of medical attention. Ethical issues related to the microbiome have barely been identified, much less carefully analyzed. This volume is an excellent start toward that ethical analysis. Many of the arguments are persuasive and provocative. In particular, some contributors challenge the ethical need for anonymizing microbiome specimens as well as the need for individual informed consent for specific uses of these specimens. I highly recommend this volume for all those interested in the microbiome and in new frontiers in medical ethics." -Leonard M. Fleck, Michigan State University

This book provides an introductory and general overview of advances in polymers towards their employment as antimicrobial materials. The author describes current approaches for avoiding microbial contamination, toward macro-molecular antibiotics, and prevention of antibiotic-resistant bacteria by use of polymers. He establishes the remaining issues and analyzes existing methodologies for treating bacterial infections and for preparing antimicrobial materials.

Rhinoviruses: Methods and Protocols highlights the numerous molecular, cellular and in vivo tools now available to conduct human rhinovirus (HRV) research in an effort to increase understanding of the clinical disease caused by HRVs as well as the functions of its individual proteins and its replication. Human rhinoviruses are the major cause of common colds as well as being more recently recognized as the major viral cause of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations. The huge advancements in technical applications of biophysics and improvements in high-end imaging techniques have also had implications for HRV research among other infectious diseases. Written in the 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 protocols, and notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and easily accessible, Rhinoviruses: Methods and Protocols seeks to serve both professionals and novices with the latest technical advances in HRV research to ultimately enable the development of therapeutic approaches to combat HRV, and most importantly, its pathogenic effects in asthma exacerbation.

Development of new-generation vaccines is now more challenging than ever, as identifying, purifying and evaluating vaccine antigens is a complex undertaking. Most importantly, once the relevant antigens have been identified, key focus then shifts to the development of suitable delivery systems and formulations to achieve maximum in vivo potency with minimum potential side effects. These novel formulations-many of which will be nanoparticulates-can deliver the antigens to the desired site, to the relevant antigen presenting cells, and prevent systemic exposure of the immune potentiators. The proposed book will outline all the critical steps that need to be considered for successful development of various types of nanoparticulate delivery systems for vaccine antigens. These contributions from leading experts in the area of vaccine formulation and delivery systems will tie in what is the most current status, including clinical evaluations with these novel vaccine technologies.

Bacterial infections cause substantial morbidity and mortality in cancer patients. These infections always remained enigmatic due to initial reluctance of cancer researchers in understanding their etiologic potential. Etiological association of bacteria with cancer gained credibility after discovery of carcinogenic potential of Helicobacter pylori. Moreover, other suspected associations including Salmonella typhi and gallbladder cancer, Streptococcus bovis and colon cancer, Chlamydia psittaci and ocular adnexal lymphoma and Chlamydia pneumoniae with lung cancer, etc. are looking for a legitimate appraisal to unravel their etiologic potential without prejudice. In contrary, bacteria also show protective role in certain types of cancer. Certain agents derived from bacteria are successfully in practice for the management of cancer. The integrate association of bacteria and cancer is evident in both positive and negative aspects. The role of bacteria in cancer etiology and treatment is vigorously studied since last few years. Present book tries to provide current status of research undergoing in above direction, with the glimpses of future possibility for using microbiological knowledge in the management of this deadly killer. This book will interest specialists dealing with cancer associated infectious complications, researchers working in the field of cancer biology, teachers and scientists in the field of microbiology, biotechnology, medicine and oncology. The unique coverage of bacteriology and cancer association in both positive and negative way can usher into development of novel thrust area for microbiology students and experts.

This volume gathers the latest exciting findings on ADP-ribosylation from renowned experts in the field. It includes ten chapters, organized into the following three thematic sections: * Evolution and detection of endogenous ADP-ribosylation * ADP-ribosylation by the ARTC family of ADP-ribosyltransferases (R-S-E ARTs) * ADP-ribosylation by the ARTD family of ADP-ribosyltransferases (H-Y-E ARTs) The book will provide readers a better understanding of ADP-ribosylating toxins and their endogenous relatives. This provides a basis for developing novel toxin-neutralizing drugs and drugs targeting endogenous ADP-ribosyltransferase relatives.

This volume is a collection of chapters from the leading experts in the relatively new and burgeoning field of persister cell studies. Persisters play a leading role in the recalcitrance of chronic infections, and enable the development of classical antibiotic resistance. The focus of the book is on studies that provide an understanding of the mechanisms of persister formation, antibiotic tolerance and role in disease, at the molecular level.

Upon infection the host needs to mount vigorous immune response against pathogen in order to successfully control its replication. However, once the infectious agent is controlled or eliminated, host cells need to signal the immune system to slow or cease its activities. While vast knowledge has been accumulated through the years on the mechanisms involved in the initiation and effector phases of the immune responses, the pathways triggered in order to modulate or end innate and acquired immunity are becoming more evident as evidence for its relevance comes to surface. Due to its biological power, evidence has surfaced indicating that eventually pathogens may take advantage of such regulatory pathways in order to escape effector mechanisms and progress to persistence. This book will discuss several cellular pathways involved in controlling immune response in the context of infectious diseases, their biological consequences and potential "hijack" of these pathways for the benefit of pathogen leading towards pathogen persistence as opposed to clearance.

This new volume in the series Emerging Infectious Diseases of the 21st Century is a novel book on the role of microbes in the pathogenesis of common and disabling non-infectious diseases. New insights have emerged over the past several years suggesting that our commensal microflora of the gut is extremely important in regulating physiological and immune functions of the body. Covered are the perturbations of the normal composition of our endogenous microbiota, influenced by diet and genetic predispositions, as well as the mechanisms to produce common disorders such as obesity, diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, colon cancer and atherosclerotic vascular diseases. Also explored is the evidence suggesting that predisposition to increasingly common afflictions such as asthma and multiple sclerosis is influenced, in combination with our genetic composition, by early life exposure to environmental microbes and the time of onset of common viral infections. Chapters provide the most recent information on these disorders with regards to epidemiology, current concepts on pathogenesis and mechanisms of their biology, recent research and data on the role of microbes, analysis of their validity and conclusive remarks and areas for future research. The Role of Microbes in Common Non-Infectious Diseases is an excellent resource for both physicians and investigators from a broad range of disciplines that will help to stimulate new concepts of disease pathogenesis and lead to the unraveling of their mechanisms of diseases and to novel treatments.

This volume contains 82 chapters that provide detail and understanding to the fields of human and medical virology. The first section describes general features of common human viruses with specialized chapters related to HIV/AIDS. The volume goes on to describe exotic virus infections, including one now eradicated virus (smallpox) and some now controlled by vaccination such as yellow fever. Concepts of medical virology are further developed with entries on viruses associated with oncogenesis and selections of interest to medical virology.
The most comprehensive single-volume source providing an overview of virology issues related to human and medical applications
Bridges the gap between basic undergraduate texts and specialized reviews
Concise and general overviews of important topics within the field will help in preparation of lectures, writing reports, or drafting grant applications

This volume, derived from Encyclopedia of Virology, provides an overview of the development of virology during the last ten years. Entries detail the nature, origin, phylogeny and evolution of viruses. It then moves into a summary of our understanding of the structure and assembly of virus particles and describes how this knowledge was obtained. Genetic material of viruses and the different mechanisms used by viruses to infect and replicate in their host cells are highlighted. The volume is rounded out with an overview of some major groups of viruses with particular attention being given to our current knowledge of their molecular biology.
The most comprehensive single-volume source providing an overview of virology to non-specialists
Bridges the gap between basic undergraduate texts and specialized reviews
Concise and general overviews of important topics within the field will help when preparing for lectures, writing reports, or drafting grant applications

This book will contain a series of solicited chapters that concern with the molecular machines required by viruses to perform various essential functions of virus life cycle. The first three chapters (Introduction, Molecular Machines and Virus Architecture) introduce the reader to the best known molecular machines and to the structure of viruses. The remainder of the book will examine in detail various stages of the viral life cycle. Beginning with the viral entry into a host cell, the book takes the reader through replication of the genome, synthesis and assembly of viral structural components, genome packaging and maturation into an infectious virion. Each chapter will describe the components of the respective machine in molecular or atomic detail, genetic and biochemical analyses, and mechanism. Topics are carefully selected so that the reader is exposed to systems where there is a substantial infusion of new knowledge in recent years, which greatly elevated the fundamental mechanistic understanding of the respective molecular machine. The authors will be encouraged to simplify the detailed knowledge to basic concepts, include provocative new ideas, as well as design colorful graphics, thus making the cutting-edge information accessible to broad audience.

This book examines aspects of paediatric infectious diseases written by leading authorities in the field. It is based on a lecture given at the seventh Infection and Immunity in Children (IIC) course held at the end of June 2009 at Keble College, Oxford.

SARS was the ?rst new plague of the twenty-?rst century. Within months, it spread worldwide from its "birthplace" in Guangdong Province, China, affecting over 8,000 people in 25 countries and territories across ?ve continents. SARS exposed the vulnerability of our modern globalised world to the spread of a new emerging infection. SARS (or a similar new emerging disease) could neither have spread so rapidly nor had such a great global impact even 50 years ago, and arguably, it was itself a product of our global inter-connectedness. Increasing af?uence and a demand for wild-game as exotic food led to the development of large trade of live animal and game animal markets where many species of wild and domestic animals were co-housed, providing the ideal opportunities for inter-species tra- mission of viruses and other microbes. Once such a virus jumped species and attacked humans, the increased human mobility allowed the virus the opportunity for rapid spread. An infected patient from Guangdong who stayed for one day at a hotel in Hong Kong led to the transmission of the disease to 16 other guests who travelled on to seed outbreaks of the disease in Toronto, Singapore, and Vietnam, as well as within Hong Kong itself. The virus exploited the practices used in modern intensive care of patients with severe respiratory disease and the weakness in infection control practices within our health care systems to cause outbreaks within hospitals, further amplifying the spread of the disease. Health-care itself has become a two-edged sword.

Reports on the emergence and prevalence of resistant bacterial infections in hospitals and communities raise concerns that we may soon no longer be able to rely on antibiotics as a way to control infectious diseases. Effective medical care would require the constant introduction of novel antibiotics to keep up in the "arms race" with resistant pathogens. This book closely examines the latest developments in the field of antibacterial research and development. It starts with an overview of the growing prevalence of resistant Gram-positive and Gram- negative pathogens, including their various resistance mechanisms, prevalence, risk factors and therapeutic options. The focus then shifts to a comprehensive description of all major chemical classes with antibacterial properties, their chemistry, mode of action, and the generation of analogs; information that provides the basis for the design of improved molecules to defeat microbial infections and combat the emerging resistances. In closing, recently developed compounds already in clinical use, those in preclinical or first clinical studies, and a number of promising targets to be exploited in the discovery stage are discussed.

The emergence of H5N1 avian influenza in 1997 and of the influenza A H1N1 of swine origin in 2009 calls for new, rapid and sustainable solutions for both seasonal and pandemic influenza viruses. During the last ten years, science and technology have made enormous progress, and we are now able to monitor in real time the genetics of viruses while they spread globally, to make more powerful vaccines using novel adjuvants, and to generate viruses in the laboratory using reverse genetics. This volume not only provides state-of-the-art information on the biology of influenza viruses and on influenza vaccines, but is also designed to be a resource to face the present H1N1 pandemic and to plan for long-term global and sustainable solutions.

This volume reviews the current understanding of the taxonomy, disease syndromes, genetics, biology, and pathogenic factors of Histophilus somni, as well as the host immune response to this pathogen. H. somni is one of the most important bacterial pathogens in cattle and other ruminants, and its virulence factors are highly conserved with Haemophilus influenzae and other members of the Pasteurellaceae. H. somni has been recognized as a major cause of thrombotic meningoencephalitis, respiratory disease syndromes, myocarditis, reproductive disease syndromes, polyarthritis, mastitis, ocular disease, and septicemia. The only known habitats of H. somni are the mucosal surfaces of ruminants, making this bacterium an opportunistic pathogen. Although it is capable of causing inflammation at systemic sites and is toxic to epithelial and phagocytic cells, the bacterium's wide array of virulence factors act primarily as a defense against, or to escape recognition from, host innate and adaptive immunity.