Cardiac transplantation has had a major impact on the quality of life and longevity of an ever-increasing number of patients. This benefit is significantly eroded by the development of an accelerated form of coronary arterial disease which shows some, but not all, of the characteristics of native coronary artery disease, and itself is one of the major indications for transplantation. If cardiac transplantation is to realize its potential, it is essential to prevent transplant-related coronary disease. This can only be done by thorough understanding of the basic mechanisms involved. This could help in the fight against native atherosclerosis, which has a major impact on the community and in preventing vascular damage after other solid organ transplantation. To date, there is no agreement or good guidelines about the management of chronic rejection. Transplant-associated coronary disease is a multifactorial disease contributed by genetic factors in the donor and recipients. It is also linked to events occurring during brain death, harvesting and implantation, and most importantly, events after transplantation. The latter events can be conveniently divided into antigen-dependent and antigen-independent with immunological causes playing a part in both. Recent work has resulted in major and significant accumulation of knowledge in this field, particularly in the molecular mechanisms and to some extent, management, of the disease. This knowledge is extensively and methodically reviewed in this volume by a group of experts in the field.

This book, Islet Cell Growth Factors, provides a timely contribution to the current thinking regarding the concepts in the area of islet cell regeneration with special reference to insulin secreting beta cells. The contributions are from leaders in the field with a long-standing interest in the area of islet biology. In the first chapter Drs. Dirice and Kulkarni provide a broad introduction to the topic of islet cell regeneration with a focus on growth factor pathways, especially the insulin and insulin-like growth factor signaling mechanisms affecting beta cells in Type 1, Type 2 and gestational diabetes. This is followed by a contribution by Drs. Granot and Dor who describe an elegant lineage-trace model to confirm that proliferation is one of the major mechanisms underlying beta-cell regeneration in adult rodents. These findings are backed up by Drs. Georgia and Bhushan on cell cycle control in beta cells. Subsequent chapters are focused on proteins downstream of the growth factor pathways in the regulation of beta-cell biology. Thus, Drs. Ham and Stoffers discuss the role of the homeodomain protein, Pdx-1, on beta-cell growth while Dr. Bernal-Mizrachi describes the significance of Akt in beta-cell growth and function. Finally, Drs. Kitamura, Kitamura and Accili highlight the importance of the forkhead protein, FoxO1, in pancreatic betacells. In addition to insulin and IGF-I, several other growth factors play an important role in modulating beta-cell growth. The pathway utilized by the hepatocyte growth factor is discussed by Drs. Gonzalez-Perusa, Alonso and Garcia-Ocana. The significance of pathways relevant for beta-cell proliferation and apoptosis during pregnancy and the postnatal period is nicely presented by Drs. Fujinaka, Wang, Matsushita and Vasavada. Together these chapters provide a comprehensive and mechanistic view of the signaling pathways that are relevant for mammalian beta-cell proliferation. This is an excellent book for the research scientist