Books in the Advances in Cell Aging & Gerontology series

Alterations in sleep are manifestations of aging that leads to health problems. This book covers the fields of sleep in aging and age-related disease from neurochemistry to the clinic. It includes diagrams that depict key concepts. It provides views of research on sleep and aging, and the potential for prevention and treatment of sleep disorders.

Aging occurs at the level of individual cells with genetically-determined cellular capacity to repair environmentally-induced DNA damage playing a central role in the rate of aging and its specific manifestations. This book provides a framework for aging of mitotic and post-mitotic cells.

Considers how lifespan and healthspan can be extended through knowledge of energy metabolism with the experimental model of dietary restriction being one example. The information in this volume of ACAG fosters novel approaches and experiments for further understanding the roles of energy metabolism in aging and disease.

It can be argued that ATP is the most important molecule in cells. Not only is ATP the key energy source for cells, but it is also the source of phosphate groups that are transferred to a variety of substrate proteins via the action of elaborate families of protein kinases. An equally elaborate array of protein phosphatases can remove phosphate groups from proteins. It is now well established that protein phosphorylation is a widely used mechanism for cells to selectively modulate the function of a variety of proteins including enzymes, ion channels and pumps and structural proteins. In this volume of ACAG leading experts describe the evidence that protein phosphorylation is altered in aging and age-related disease. Protein phosphorylation controls fundamental processes such as transcription and translation, regulation of the cell cycle, signalling within and between cells, cell motility, synaptic function and so on. Recent findings are revealing how phosphorylation dependent signalling cascades may control lifespan with a prime example being the insulin-signalling pathway first described in c-elegans and now emerging as an important regulator of lifespan of mammals also. Many of the functional changes that occur during aging such as impaired learning and memory and altered energy metabolism are controlled by protein phosphorylation and it is, therefore, important to understand how mechanisms of protein phosphorylation may either mediate aging or provide adaptive responses that allow successful disease-free aging. The authors in addition to considering the roles of protein phosphorylation in aging describe the evidence that abnormalities in protein phosphorylation contribute to the pathogenesis of major age-related diseases including diabetes, atherosclerosis and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.

The lipids of cellular membranes not only serve roles in controlling structure and fluidity of membrane, but are increasingly recognized for their roles as signalling molecules and modifiers of membrane protein function. This book provides a comprehensive review of specific membrane lipid mediators and their roles in aging and age-related disease.

Reviews the area of telomerase research with a focus at the molecular and cellular levels. This volume is suitable 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.

Includes chapters which provide the reader with insight into the inter-relationships of the function of different organelles in the sequences of events that lead to cellular dysfunction and degeneration in the aging human population.

Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is an adaptive form of cell death that plays a critical role in turnover of mitotic cells and various tissues in the adult, including epithelial cells, fibroblasts and various endocrine cells. This book details the molecular, biochemical and cellular mechanisms of apoptosis.