This volume is composed of chapters that review important fundamental aspects of HCV biology and disease pathogenesis including, for example, the discovery and identification of the HCV genome, early virus-cell interactions including identification of various cellular receptors, HCV gene expression studied using the HCV replicon system, identification and characterization of HCV structural- and non-structural HCV proteins, HCV replication in cultured cells, and host factors involved in viral replication. This volume also contains chapters dealing with immunity to HCV infection and pathogenesis. This is particularly important in understanding hepatitis C because HCV infection alone is not cell lytic. Mechanisms underlying the persistent nature of HCV infection are also discussed in these chapters. Many of the authors published articles that were listed among the "top 10 papers" published in the 24 years since HCV was discovered in 1989. Their citations are above 1,000 (Web of Science). The authors describe the background and significance of their contributions to the field in the context of findings from other research groups.

This book discusses recent advances in our understanding of the role of oxidants in microbial pathophysiology, providing valuable insights into the complex role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in host-microbial interactions. The various chapters take readers through the function of ROS in infections ranging from viral to bacterial, and describe how microorganisms have developed complex strategies to not only avoid contact with phagocyte-derived oxidants, but also protect themselves from injury when oxidants are encountered. Featuring the latest research in the field of microbial diseases, this timely book is a ready reference for scientists looking to develop new anti-microbial drugs.

This volume gives a state-of-the-art overview on macrophage functions in various invertebrate and vertebrate systems and diseases. It also covers various aspects of macrophage development and formation, behavior and response to nano- and biomaterials, the latter of which have become very important components of modern medicine. Macrophages are evolutionarily conserved phagocytotic cells. In recent years macrophages have emerged as one of the most versatile cells of immune system, which, depending on the milieu and circumstance, participate in development or inhibition of cancer, regeneration, wound healing, inflammation, organ rejection and interaction between mother and a fetus. This book will be of particular interest to researchers working in immunology, cancer research, developmental biology, or related fields.

This volume presents a comprehensive overview of the latest developments in symbiosis research. It covers molecular, organellar, cellular, immunologic, genetic and evolutionary aspects of symbiotic interactions in humans and other model systems. The book also highlights new approaches to interdisciplinary research and therapeutic applications. Symbiosis refers to any mutually beneficial interaction between different organisms. The symbiotic origin of cellular organelles and the exchange of genetic material between hosts and their bacterial and viral symbionts have helped shaped the current diversity of life. Recently, symbiosis has gained a new level of recognition, due to the realization that all organisms function as a holobiome and that any kind of interference with the hosts influences their symbionts and vice versa, and can have profound consequences for the survival of both. For example, in humans, the microbiome, i.e., the entirety of all the microorganisms living in association with the intestines, oral cavity, urogenital system and skin, is partially inherited during pregnancy and influences the maturation and functioning of the human immune system, protects against pathogens and regulates metabolism. Symbionts also regulate cancer development, wound healing, tissue regeneration and stem cell function. The medical applications of this new realization are vast and largely uncharted. The composition and robustness of human symbionts could make them a valuable diagnostic tool for predicting impending diseases, and the manipulation of symbionts could yield new strategies for the treatment of incurable diseases.

This book is the second volume in the series Livestock Diseases and Management, and reviews the importance and implications of animal origin viral zoonoses. It also highlights the specific etiology and epidemiology of these viral infections and discusses their various biological and mechanical transmission mechanisms. Further, the book reviews various measures for controlling viral zoonoses and examines novel therapeutic and prophylactic strategies. Discussing recent studies on the pathogenesis and host immune response to these infections, it underscores the importance of using vaccines against these viral diseases to reduce the risk of them being transmitted to humans.Lastly, it describes in detail the challenges posed by these viral infections and our readiness to face them.

A fully comprehensive and up-to-date edition covering all aspects of Acanthamoeba biology. Following the success of the first edition of this book, the author has extensively revised and expanded the text to produce a new volume that includes all the latest research and information on every aspect of this organism. There is a particular emphasis on the Acanthamoeba genome sequence and the novel insights gained from the application of molecular methods to Acanthamoeba developmental and cellular biology in terms of metabolism and morphogenesis, classification, ecology and role in the ecosystem, host-pathogen interactions, virulence factors and immunological basis of pathogenesis, clinical manifestation, diagnosis, treatment, new target development and drug resistance and its interactions with other microbes in the environment. This new edition is an essential reference text for parasitologists, microbiologists, immunologists, and physicians in the field of basic and medical microbiology, as well as an invaluable reference for new and experienced researchers who wish to understand this organism better. This book is the definitive guide to current research on this increasingly important organism.

Introduction to Pathophysiology for Nurses and Healthcare Professionals is the most comprehensive visual survey of pathophysiology affecting each body system. Using full colour illustrations, photographs and learning features, this book makes the potentially complex subject of pathophysiology interesting and accessible. Each chapter discusses the common pathologies for each body system, along with the prevalence of the disease in the UK. The text is aimed at students and healthcare professionals who are learning about applied pathophysiology and related pharmacology and is an ideal introduction to the subject, enabling care to be based on a sound foundation of what is going on in the body.

Translational medicine addresses the gap between research and the clinical application of new discoveries. To efficiently deliver new drugs to care centers, a preclinical evaluation, both in vitro and in vivo, is required to ensure that the most active and least toxic compounds are selected as well as to predict clinical outcome. Antimicrobial nanomedicines have been shown to have higher specificity in their therapeutic targets and the ability to serve as adjuvants, increasing the effectiveness of pre-existing immune compounds. The design and development of new standardized protocols for evaluating antimicrobial nanomedicines is needed for both the industry and clinical laboratory. These protocols must aim to evaluate laboratory activity and present models of pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic and toxicokinetic behavior that predict absorption and distribution. Likewise, these protocols must follow a theranostics approach, be able to detect promising formulations, diagnose the infectious disease, and determine the correct treatment to implement a personalized therapeutic behavior. Given the possibilities that nanotechnology offers, not updating to new screening platforms is inadequate as it prevents the correct application of discoveries, increasing the effect of the valley of death between innovations and their use. This book is structured to discuss the fundamentals taken into account for the design of robust, reproducible and automatable evaluation platforms. These vital platforms should enable the discovery of new medicines with which to face antimicrobial resistance (RAM), one of the great problems of our time.

Caliciviruses are positive-sense, single stranded RNA viruses containing four recognized genera: Norovirus, Sapovirus, Lagovirus, and Vesivirus. They are ubiquitous in the environment and are a major cause of disease in humans as well as many animals. Examples include Norwalk virus - a norovirus, thought to be responsible for roughly 90% of epidemic, non-bacterial outbreaks of gastroenteritis in humans around the world. The lack of a suitable cell culture system for human caliciviruses has limited studies in previous decades, however the recent application of modern genomic technologies has revolutionized the field, leading to an explosion in calicivirus publications. In this book, a panel of experts distil the most important up-to-date research findings in their respective calicivirus field of study, producing timely and comprehensive reviews. Each chapter gives the reader a brief introduction to the topic, followed by a descriptive discussion of the past and present research areas. Topics include: norovirus epidemiology * calicivirus contamination of the environment * genome organization and recombination, proteolytic cleavage, and viral proteins * viral protein structures * virus-host interactions * calicivirus reverse genetics and replicon systems * feline calicivirus * swine calicivirus * murine norovirus pathogenesis and immunity * murine norovirus translation, replication, and reverse genetics * and lagoviruses. This book will be essential reading for all virologists working on caliciviruses and related viruses and is recommended for all virology, immunology, and molecular biology laboratories.

Learn, understand, and master pathophysiology! Corresponding to the chapters in McCance & Huether's Pathophysiology: The Biologic Basis for Disease in Adults and Children, 9th Edition, this study guide offers practical activities and detailed case studies to help you review and remember basic pathophysiology and make the connections between theory and practice. Interactive questions provide you with a working knowledge of disease etiology and disease processes - giving you practice applying what you've learned to clinical practice. Best of all, the answers are in the back of the book so that you can check your understanding as you go! More than 1,200 questions in a wide variety of challenging formats cover all areas of pathophysiology. Practice exams provide immediate feedback by helping you understand the rationale behind each answer. Concise chapter summaries highlight need-to-know information and help you quickly review content. Over 120 illustrations appear in active learning exercises to engage and reinforce understanding for visual learners. Answer key in the back of the study guide allows you to check answers and evaluate your progress. NEW! Thoroughly revised and updated information mirrors content from the 9th edition of the McCance & Huether's Pathophysiology textbook. NEW! Over 40 detailed case scenarios provide real-world examples of how pathophysiology is used in the clinical setting, helping you integrate knowledge, develop clinical judgment, and apply theory to practice.

Childhood acute leukemias are one of the main causes of death in children aged 1 to 14 years in some countries; and unfortunately, we have been unable to prevent it. Certainly, a good parcel of it is due to the poor understanding about its etiology. This book aims to describe the most important theories and hypothesis regarding childhood acute leukemia. Written by the most outstanding researchers in the field, this book intends to contribute to a greater understanding of the etiology of this disease. It goes beyond the simple and common analysis of risk factors, which hardly allows us to draw definite conclusions. By addressing the etiology of the disease, discussing from molecular biology until epidemiology and clinical manifestations, this book will guide present and future approaches, contributing for a better clinical management of leukemia in children. The knowledge regarding etiology is a crucial step for a better evaluation, prevention and treatment of a disease. Thus, this book finally intends to provide such knowledge, allowing physicians and practitioners to a better manage of childhood acute leukemias.

This volume discusses the interactions between viruses and their host cells, and explores the roles of host and viral genes and non-coding RNAs in the virus replication cycle. During infection, viruses express a variety of genes, encoding proteins and RNAs that serve to subjugate the cell - by redirecting cellular processes to support viral replication and, at the same time, by mitigating the cellular response to infection. In this book, experts discuss these interactions in depth, and elaborate on our current understanding of virus-cell interactions for a diverse range of viruses, including positive and negative sense RNA viruses, DNA viruses, and a vector-borne virus. The roles of non-coding RNAs are also discussed. While each class of viruses has distinct replication requirements, this volume reveals unique features and commonalities in viral replication cycles. Accordingly, it represents a valuable source of information for researchers and clinicians alike.

This volume brings together recent developments in quasispecies theory extended to variable environments and practical applications in elucidating viral dynamics and treatment designs. In particular, the existence of an error threshold in rugged fitness landscapes has opened the way to a new antiviral strategy termed lethal mutagenesis, which is now under intensive theoretical, experimental and clinical investigation. As such the book explains how an understanding of quasispecies dynamics within infected organisms has increased our knowledge of viral disease events. From a clinical perspective, population dynamics highlights important problems for viral disease control, such as the selection of drug-resistant mutants that often accompanies treatment failures, and suggests means of increasing the effectiveness of antiviral treatments. The book is intended for students and scientists interested in basic and applied aspects of biophysics, chemistry, biology, evolution and medical virology.

This book reviews recent knowledge of the role of gut microbiome in health and disease. It covers extensive topics for several diseases, including metabolic-related diseases, allergies, gastrointestinal diseases, psychiatric diseases, and cancer, while also discussing therapeutic approaches by microbiota modification. Comprehensive and cutting-edge, Gut Microbiome-Related Diseases and Therapies deepens a reader's theoretical expertise in gut microbiome. Graduate and postdoctoral students, medical doctors, and biomedical researchers will benefit from this book.

Michael Sand gives the reader an overview of current techniques in expression profiling of miRNAs and their maturation machinery in the skin. This book is a postdoctoral thesis on miRNAs in cutaneous malignant melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer with a focus on the miRNA processing machinery and miRNA expression profiling. The research presented in this book was performed in the Dermatologic Surgery Section at the Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology of the Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany and gives the reader an overview of current techniques in expression profiling of miRNAs and their maturation machinery in the skin.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a human gamma herpes virus that is best known for being the causative agent of infectious mononucleosis in man. A fascinating feature of this virus is its ability to persist in the host, and it is estimated that more than 95% of adults are carriers of the virus. Importantly, EBV can transform latently infected primary cells from healthy individuals into cancerous ones, thereby causing important human cancers such as B-cell neoplasms (e.g. Burkitt's lymphoma and Post-transplant lymphomas), certain forms of T-cell lymphoma, and some epithelial tumors (e.g. gastric carcinomas). Understanding viral latency, what triggers viral reactivation and the mechanism of transformation of normal host cells into malignant cells are critical for the development of strategies for the prevention and control of this intriguing virus and related cancers. In this book, expert EBV virologists comprehensively review this important subject from a genetic, biochemical, immunological, and cell biological perspective. Topics include: latent infections, EBV leader protein, EBNA-1 in viral DNA replication and persistence, EBNA-2 in transcription activation of viral and cellular genes, the nuclear antigen family 3 in regulation of cellular processes, molecular profiles of EBV latently infected cells, latent membrane protein 1 oncoprotein, regulation of latency by LMP2A, role of noncoding RNAs in EBV-induced cell growth and transformation, and the regulation of EBV latency by viral lytic proteins. This book is essential reading for all EBV virologists, as well as clinical and basic scientists working on oncogenic viruses.

Immunologists, perhaps understandably, most often concentrate on the human immune system, an anthropocentric focus that has resulted in a dearth of information about the immune function of all other species within the animal kingdom. However, knowledge of animal immune function could help not only to better understand human immunology, but perhaps more importantly, it could help to treat and avoid the blights that affect animals, which consequently affect humans. Take for example the mass death of honeybees in recent years - their demise, resulting in much less pollination, poses a serious threat to numerous crops, and thus the food supply. There is a similar disappearance of frogs internationally, signaling ecological problems, among them fungal infections. This book aims to fill this void by describing and discussing what is known about non-human immunology. It covers various major animal phyla, its chapters organized in a progression from the simplest unicellular organisms to the most complex vertebrates, mammals. Chapters are written by experts, covering the latest findings and new research being conducted about each phylum. Edwin L. Cooper is a Distinguished Professor in the Laboratory of Comparative Immunology, Department of Neurobiology at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine.

This volume discusses protocols, ranging from vector production to delivery methods, used to execute gene therapy applications. Chapters are divided into four parts, and cover topics such as design, construction, and application of transcription activation-like effectors; multi-modal production of adeno-associated virus; construction of oncolytic herpes simplex virus; AAV-mediated gene delivery to the mouse liver; and intrathecal delivery of gene therapeutics by direct lumbar puncture in mice. 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 authoritative, Viral Vectors for Gene Therapy: Methods and Protocols is a valuable resource for researchers, clinicians, and students looking to utilize viral vectors in gene therapy experiments.

This innovative text explores the cellular transport of organic cations, from functional and structural properties to pharmacological implications and psychiatric developments. The authoritative chapters introduce organic cation transporters and then proceed to discuss their mechanisms such as binding of substrates and inhibitors; their drug dispositions and toxicity; their relationships to genetic and pathophysiological variability; and their roles in endocrine, metabolic, and neurological systems. The final chapters delve into the use of animal models for the study of organic cation transporter function and their possible use in environmental cycling of pharmaceutical residues. This comprehensive volume unites integrative transporter physiology with structural and molecular biology, genetics, pharmacology and pathophysiology, offering a holistic approach to utilizing this novel technique in physiological contexts. It will prove invaluable reading for researchers and students in various areas of integrative, organ, cell and molecular physiology as well as pharmacologists and neurologists.

This volume focuses on antibiotics research, a field of topical significance for human health due to the worrying increase of nosocomial infections caused by multi-resistant bacteria. It covers several basic aspects, such as the evolution of antibiotic resistance and the influence of antibiotics on the gut microbiota, and addresses the search for novel pathogenicity blockers as well as historical aspects of antibiotics. Further topics include applied aspects, such as drug discovery based on biodiversity and genome mining, optimization of lead structures by medicinal chemistry, total synthesis and drug delivery technologies. Moreover, the development of vaccines as a valid alternative therapeutic approach is outlined, while the importance of epidemiological studies on important bacterial pathogens, the problems arising from the excessive use of antibiotics in animal breeding, and the development of innovative technologies for diagnosing the "bad bugs" are discussed in detail. Accordingly, the book will appeal to researchers and clinicians alike.