This volume of "Advances in Cell Aging and Gerontology" critically reviews the rapidly advancing area of telomerase research with a focus at the molecular and cellular levels. The clearly established function of telomerase is to maintain chromosome ends during successive rounds of cell division by adding a six base DNA repeat on to the telomeric ends of chromosomes. As presented in the chapters of this volume, the mechanisms that regulate telomerase expression and activity are complex. Moreover, emerging data suggest additional roles for telomerase in the regulation of cell differentiation and survival.

It is expected that this quite comprehensive volume will provide a valuable resource for graduate students and postdocs in the telomerase field and for established investigators in other fields who are beginning to study telomerase in their particular research program. With an increasing number of proteins being brought into the fold of telomerase research (e.g., DNA damage and repair response proteins, heat-shock proteins, and proteins in various signal transduction cascades) many new scientists are beginning to study this enzyme from novel vantage points.

The aim of "The Adhesive Interaction of Cells" has been to assemble a series of reviews by leading international experts embracing many of the most important recent developments in this rapidly expanding field. The purpose of all biological research is to understand the form and function of living organisms and, by comprehending the normal, to find explanations and remedies for the abnormal and for disease conditions. The molecules involved in cell adhesion are of fundamental importance to the structure and function of all multicellular organisms. In this book, the contributors focus on the systems of vertebrates, especially mammals, since these are most relevant to human disease. It would have been equally possible to concentrate on developmental processes and adhesion in lower organisms.
A major function of adhesion molecules is to bind cells to each other or to the extracellular matrix, but they are much more than "glue." Adhesions in animal tissues must be dynamic-forming, persisting, or declining in regulated fashion- to facilitate the mobility and turnover of tissue cells. Moreover, the majority of adhesion molecules are transmembrane molecules and thus provide links between the cells and their surroundings. This gives rise to another major function of adhesion molecules, the capacity to transduce signals across the hydrophobic barrier imposed by the plasma membrane. Such signal transduction is crucially important to many aspects of cellular function including the regulation of cell motility, gene expression, and differentiation.
The work in this book progresses through four sections. Part I discusses the four major families of adhesion molecules themselves, the integrins (Green and Humphries), the cadherins (Stappert and Kemler), the selectins (Tedder et al.) and the immunoglobulin superfamily (Simmons); part 2 considers junctional complexes involved in cell interactions: focal adhesions and adherens junctions (Ben Ze'ev), desmosomes (Garrod et al.), and tight junctions (Citi and Cordenonsi). The signaling role of adhesion molecules is the focus of part 3, through integrins and the extracellular matrix (Edwards and Streuli), through platelet adhesion (Du and Ginsberg), and in the nervous system (Hemperley). In part 4, the aim is to show how adhesive phenomena contribute to important aspects of cell behavior and human health. Leukocyte trafficking (Haskard et al.), cancer metastasis (Marshall and Hart), cell migration (Paleck et al.), and implantation and placentation (Damsky et al.) are the topics considered in depth.
The different sections are, of course, not mutually exclusive: it is both undesirable and impossible to separate structure from function when considering cell adhesion. Each chapter has its unique features, but some overlap is both invevitable and valuable since it provides different perspectives on closely related topics. We hope that the whole contributes a valuable and stimulating consideration of this important topic.

International Review of Cell and Molecular Biology, Volume 337 reviews and details current advances in cell and molecular biology. The IRCMB series has a worldwide readership, maintaining a high standard by publishing invited articles on important and timely topics that are authored by prominent cell and molecular biologists. Sections in this new release include the karyosphere (karyosome) and its peculiar structure of the oocyte nucleus, organoids as models of disease, lipid droplets as organelles, the dark side of apoptosis, interconnections between autophagy and secretion, and the regulation and function of intracellular pressure in cell biology.

Cell Surface GRP78, a New Paradigm in Signal Transduction Biology presents a new paradigm that has emerged in the past decade with the discovery that various intracellular proteins may acquire new functions as cell surface receptors. Two very prominent examples are ATP synthase and GRP78. While the role of cell surface ATP synthase has been reviewed in various books, this book directs its attention to the story of cell surface GRP78.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become pervasive in most areas of research and applications. While computation can significantly reduce mental efforts for complex problem solving, effective computer algorithms allow continuous improvement of AI tools to handle complexity-in both time and memory requirements-for machine learning in large datasets. Meanwhile, data science is an evolving scientific discipline that strives to overcome the hindrance of traditional skills that are too limited to enable scientific discovery when leveraging research outcomes. Solutions to many problems in medicine and life science, which cannot be answered by these conventional approaches, are urgently needed for society. This edited book attempts to report recent advances in the complementary domains of AI, computation, and data science with applications in medicine and life science. The benefits to the reader are manifold as researchers from similar or different fields can be aware of advanced developments and novel applications that can be useful for either immediate implementations or future scientific pursuit. Features: Considers recent advances in AI, computation, and data science for solving complex problems in medicine, physiology, biology, chemistry, and biochemistry Provides recent developments in three evolving key areas and their complementary combinations: AI, computation, and data science Reports on applications in medicine and physiology, including cancer, neuroscience, and digital pathology Examines applications in life science, including systems biology, biochemistry, and even food technology This unique book, representing research from a team of international contributors, has not only real utility in academia for those in the medical and life sciences communities, but also a much wider readership from industry, science, and other areas of technology and education.

Metabolic Aspects of Aging, Volume 155, the latest release in the Progress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science series seeks to provide the most topical, informative and exciting monographs available on a wide variety of research topics related to prions, viruses, bacteria and eukaryotes. The series includes in-depth knowledge on the molecular, biological aspects of organismal physiology and function, with this release including chapters on Longevity, Metabolic Disease and Community Health, the Metabolic Aspects of Aging, Obesity, Metabolism, and Aging: A Multiscalar Approach, The Intersection of Curandismo and Western Medicine and Their Epidemiological Impact for Aging Mexican Americans, and more.

Mechanisms of DNA Recombination and Genome Rearrangements: Methods to Study Homologous Recombination, Volume 600, the latest release in the Methods in Enzymology series, continues the legacy of this premier serial with quality chapters authored by leaders in the field. Homologous genetic recombination remains the most enigmatic process in DNA metabolism. The molecular machines of recombination preserve the integrity of the genetic material in all organisms and generate genetic diversity in evolution. The same molecular machines that support genetic integrity by orchestrating accurate repair of the most deleterious DNA lesions, however, also promote survival of cancerous cells and emergence of radiation and chemotherapy resistance. This two-volume set offers a comprehensive set of cutting edge methods to study various aspects of homologous recombination and cellular processes that utilize the enzymatic machinery of recombination The chapters are written by the leading researches and cover a broad range of topics from the basic molecular mechanisms of recombinational proteins and enzymes to emerging cellular techniques and drug discovery efforts.

This detailed volume presents a comprehensive compendium of clinical metabolomics protocols covering LC-MS, GC-MS, CE-MS, and NMR-based clinical metabolomics as well as bioinformatics and study design considerations. The methodologies explored here form the core of several very promising initiatives evolving around personalized health care and precision medicine, which can be seen as complimentary to the field of clinical chemistry and aid the aforementioned field with novel disease markers and diagnostic patterns. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include brief introductions to their 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, Clinical Metabolomics: Methods and Protocols aims to serve as the basis for successful communication between scientists from several fields, including chemists, biologist, bioinformaticians, and clinicians, ultimately leading to effective study design and completion.

Synthetic Biology - A Primer gives a broad overview of the emerging field of synthetic biology and the foundational concepts on which it is built. It will be of interest to final year undergraduates, postgraduates and established researchers who are interested in learning about this exciting new field. The book introduces readers to fundamental concepts in molecular biology and engineering and then explores the two major themes for synthetic biology, namely 'bottom-up' and 'top-down' engineering approaches. 'Top-down' engineering utilises a conceptual framework of engineering and systematic design to build new biological systems by integrating robustly characterised biological parts into an existing system through the use of extensive mathematical modelling. The 'bottom-up' approach involves the design and building of synthetic protocells using basic chemical and biochemical building blocks from scratch. Exemplars of cutting-edge applications designed using synthetic biology principles are presented, including the production of novel biofuels from renewable feedstocks, microbial synthesis of pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals, and the design and implementation of biosensors to detect infections and environmental waste. The book also uses the Internationally Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition to illustrate the power of synthetic biology as an innovative research and training science. Finally, the primer includes a chapter on the ethical, legal and societal issues surrounding synthetic biology, illustrating the integration of social sciences in synthetic biology research.

The dark side of the genome represents vast domains of the genome that are not encoding for proteins - the basic bricks of cellular structure and metabolism. Up to 98% of the human genome is non-coding and produces so-called long non-coding RNA. Some of these non-coding RNA play fundamental roles in cellular identity, cell development and cancer progression. They are now widely studied in many organisms to understand their function. This book reviews this expanding field of research and present the broad functional diversities of those molecules and their putative fundamental and therapeutic roles and develops the recent history of non-coding RNA, their very much debated classification and how they raise a formidable interest for developmental and tumorigenesis biology. Using classical examples and an extensive bibliography, the book illustrates the most studied and attractive examples of these long non-coding RNA, how they interface with epigenetics, genome integrity and expression and what are the current models of their regulatory mechanisms.

Membrane processes today play a signifi cant role in the replacement therapy for acute and chronic organ failure diseases. Current extracorporeal blood purifi cation and oxygenation devices employ membranes acting as selective barriers for the removal of endogeneous and exogeneous toxins and for gas exchange, respectively. Additionally, membrane technology offers new interesting opportunities for the design of bioartificial livers, pancreas, kidneys, lungs etc. This book reviews the latest developments in membrane systems for bioartificial organs and regenerative medicine, investigates how membrane technology can improve the quality and efficiency of biomedical devices, and highlights the design procedures for membrane materials covering the preparation, characterization, and sterilization steps as well as transport phenomena. The different strategies pursued for the development of membrane bioartifi cial organs, including crucial issues related to blood/cell-membrane interactions are described with the aim of opening new and exciting frontiers in the coming decades. The book is a valuable tool for tissue engineers, clinicians, biomaterials scientists, membranologists as well as biologists and biotechnologists. It is also a source of reference for students, academic and industrial researchers in the topic of biotechnology, biomedical engineering, materials science and medicine.

Chemical Glycobiology, Part B, Volume 598, the latest release in the Methods in Enzymology series, continues the legacy of this premier serial with quality chapters authored by leaders in the field. This volume is the second release on chemical glycobiology.

Transcriptional Gene Regulation in Health and Disease, Volume 335, the latest release in the International Review of Cell and Molecular Biology reviews and details current advances in cell and molecular biology. The IRCMB series has a worldwide readership, maintaining a high standard by publishing invited articles on important and timely topics that are authored by prominent cell and molecular biologists. The articles published in IRCMB have a high impact and an average cited half-life of nine years. This great resource ranks high amongst scientific journals dealing with cell biology.

This manual is designed as an intensive introduction to the various tools of molecular biology. It introduces all the basic methods of molecular biology including cloning, PCR, Southern (DNA) blotting, Northern (RNA) blotting, Western blotting, DNA sequencing, oligo-directed mutagenesis, and protein expression.
Key Features
* Provides well-tested experimental protocols for each technique
* Lists the reagents and preparation of each experiment separately
* Contains a complete schedule of experiments and the preparation required
* Includes study questions at the end of each chapter

A proper understanding of the diversity, systematics, and nomenclature of microbes is increasingly important in many branches of biological science. The molecular approach to phylogenetic analysis - pioneered by Carl Woese in the 1970s and leading to the three-domain model (Archaea, Bacteria, Eucarya) - has revolutionized our thinking about evolution in the microbial world. The technological innovation of modern molecular biology and the rapid advancement in computational science have led to a flood of nucleic acid sequence information, bioinformatic tools, and phylogenetic inference methods. Phylogenetic analysis has long played a central role in microbiology and the emerging fields of comparative genomics and phylogenomics require substantial knowledge and understanding of phylogenetic analysis and computational methods. In this book, leading scientists from around the world explore current concepts in molecular phylogeny and their application with respect to microorganisms. The authors describe the different approaches applied today to elucidate the molecular phylogeny of prokaryotes (and eukaryotic protists) and review current phylogenetic methods, techniques, and software tools. Topics covered include: a historical overview, computational tools, multilocus sequence analysis, 16S rRNA phylogenetic trees, rooting of the universal tree of life, applications of conserved indels, lateral gene transfer, endosymbiosis, and the evolution of plastids.

CRISPR in Animals and Animal Models, Volume 152, the latest release in the Progress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science series, explores the genome editing CRISPR system in cells and animal models, its applications, the uses of the CRISPR system, and the past, present and future of CRISPR genome editing. Topics of interest in this updated volume include a section on CRISPR history, The genome editing revolution, Programming CRISPR and its applications, CRISPR Delivery methods, CRISPR libraries and screening, CRISPR investigation in haploid cells, CRISPR in the generation of transgenic animals, CRISPR therapeutics, and Promising strategies and present challenges.

Natural Variances and Clocks, Volume 99 in the Advances in Genetics series provides the latest information on the rapidly evolving field of genetics, presenting new medical breakthroughs and advances. This updated release includes chapters on a variety of new research, including the Natural variation of the circadian clock in Neurospora, Natural variation and genetics of the photoperiodic timer in the pitcher-plant mosquito, Natural variation in human clocks, and Natural variation in the circadian clock genes in Drosophila and other insects. This series continually publishes important reviews that are ideal for geneticists and their colleagues in affiliated disciplines, critically analyzing future directions.

Overflow Metabolism: From Yeast to Marathon Runners provides an overview of overflow metabolism, reviewing the major phenomenological aspects as observed in different organisms, followed by a critical analysis of proposed theories to explain overflow metabolism. In our ideal view of metabolism, we think of catabolism and anabolism. In catabolism nutrients break down to carbon dioxide and water to generate biochemical energy. In anabolism nutrients break down to generate building blocks for cell biosynthesis. Yet, when cells are pushed to high metabolic rates they exhibit incomplete catabolism of nutrients, with a lower energy yield and excretion of metabolic byproducts. This phenomenon, characterized by the excretion of metabolic byproducts that could otherwise be used for catabolism or anabolism, is generally known as overflow metabolism. Overflow metabolism is a ubiquitous phenotype that has been conserved during evolution. Examples are the acetate switch in the bacterium E. coli, Crabtree effect in unicellular eukaryote yeasts, the lactate switch in sports medicine, and the Warburg effect in cancer. Several theories have been proposed to explain this seemingly wasteful phenotype. Yet, there is no consensus about what determines overflow metabolism and whether it offers any selective advantage.

Peptidomics of Cancer-Derived Enzyme Products, Volume 42, the latest in The Enzymes series, is ideal for researchers in biochemistry, molecular and cell biology, pharmacology, and cancer, with this volume featuring high-caliber, thematic articles on the topic of peptidomics of cancer-derived enzyme products. Specific chapters cover Circulating peptidome and tumor-resident proteolysis, Colon tumor secretopeptidome, Chemoenzymatic method for glycomics, Human plasma peptidome for pancreatic cancer, Lipoproteomics and quantitative proteomics, Salivaomics: Protein markers/extracellular RNA/DNA in saliva, and Enzyme-responsive vectors for cancer therapy.

G Protein Coupled Receptors, Second Edition, Volume 143, a new volume in the Methods in Cell Biology series, continues the legacy of this premier serial with quality chapters authored by leaders in the field. It contains a wide array of topics about the G protein coupled receptors, as well as updates of chapters from the first edition.

This second edition integrates the more technical and mathematical aspects of bioinformatics with concrete examples of their application to current research problems in molecular, cellular and evolutionary biology. This broad, unified approach is made possible, in large part, by the very wide scope of Dr. Xia's own research experience. The integration of genomics, proteomics and transcriptomics into a single volume makes this book required reading for anyone entering the new and emerging fields of Systems Biology and Evolutionary Bioinformatics.

Living organisms exhibit specific responses when confronted with sudden changes in their environmental conditions. The ability of the cells to acclimate to their new environment is the integral driving force for adaptive modification of the cells. Such adaptation involves a number of cellular and biochemical alteration including metabolic homeostasis and reprogramming of gene expression. Changes in metabolic pathways are generally short-lived and reversible, while the consequences of gene expression are a long-term process and may lead to permanent alternation in the pattern of adaptive responses.
The heart possesses remarkable ability to adapt itself against any stressful situation by increasing resistance to the adverse consequences. Stress composes the foundation of many degenerative heart diseases including atherosclerosis, spasm, thrombosis, cardiomyopathy, and congestive heart failure. Based on the concept that excessive stress may play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of ischemic heart disease, attempts were made to design methods for preventing of myocardial injury. Creation of stress reactions by repeated ischemia and reperfusion or subjecting the hearts to heat or oxidative stress enables them to meet the future stress challenge. Repeated stress exposures adapt the heart to withstand more severe stress reactions probably by upregulating the cellular defense and direct accumulation of intracellular mediators, which presumably constitute the material basis of increased adaptation to stress. Thus, the powerful cardioprotective effect of adaptation is likely to originate at the cellular and molecular levels that compose fundamental processes in the prophylaxis of such diseases.
Volume six of the Advances in Organ Biology series contains state-of-the-art reviews on myocardial preservation and cellular adaptation from the leading authorities in this subject.

A Structure-Function Toolbox for Membrane Transporter and Channels, Volume 594, a new release in the Methods in Enzymology series, continues the legacy of this premier serial with quality chapters authored by leaders in the field. New chapters in the updated serial include Cryo-EM on membrane proteins embedded in nanodics, Solid-Supported membrane-based electrophysiology on membrane transporters and channels, Saposin-lipoprotein scaffolds for structure determination of membrane transporters and channels, Single-molecule FRET on transporters, Dynamics of channels and transporters investigated by NMR, Structure-function studies on channels and transporters, and a section on MemStar, a new GFP-based expression and purification system for transporters and channels.

This book provides authentic and comprehensive information on the concepts, methods, functional details and applications of nano-emulsions. Following an introduction to the applications of nanotechnology in the development of foods, it elaborates on food-grade nano-emulsion and their significance, discusses various techniques and methods for producing food-grade nano-emulsion, and reviews the main ingredient and component of food-grade nano-emulsions. Further, the book includes a critical review of the engineering aspect of fabricating food-grade nano-emulsions and describe recently developed vitamin encapsulated nano-systems. In closing, it discuss the challenges and opportunities of characterizing nano-emulsified systems, the market risks and opportunities of nano-emulsified foods, and packaging techniques and safety issues - including risk identification and risk management - for nano-foods. The book offers a unique guide for scientists and researchers working in this field. It will also help researchers, policymakers, industry personnel, journalists and the general public to understand food nanotechnology in great detail.