Books in the Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology series

At present there are a growing number of biomolecules under investigation to understand their potential role as cancer biomarker for diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic purposes.  Intriguingly, the state of art on cancer biomarkers research shows interesting and promising results together to clamorous failures. Also from a clinical point of view, there are contradictory results on routine clinical use of the present cancer biomarkers. Some patients may be simply  monitored in their course by a periodic blood sample, but sometimes this monitoring shows dramatic limits. A lot of patients show serious and extensive relapses without significant change in serum concentrations of biomarkers tested. Often the physician who should utilize these biomarker does not entirely  know their limits and the total potential applications as well and sometimes this knowledge is influenced by economical and marketing strategies. This limited and ¿polluted¿ knowledge may have dramatic consequences for patient.  The aim of this book is to diffuse all aspects of cancer biomarkers, from their biochemical peculiarities to all clinical implications by passing through their physiology and pathophysiology.This critical approach towards old and new cancer biomarkers should foster a deepened and useful understanding of the diagnostic and prognostic index of these fundamental parameters of laboratory medicine and in the same time facilitating the research of new and more sensitive-specific signals of the cancer cell proliferation.

The book provides a reference for years to come, written by world-renowned expert investigators studying sex differences, the role of sex hormones, the systems biology of sex, and the genetic contribution of sex chromosomes to metabolic homeostasis and diseases.

a chapter on regulation of nephrin phosphorylation in diabetes and chronic kidney injury and a chapter on The Structure-Forming Juncture in oxidative protein folding and the events in the ER.

It has not been possible to cover all the DNA repair deficient diseases in this volume, hence diseases such as Bloom's syndrome, Werner's syndrome, Nijmegen breakage syndrome, ataxia telangiectasia-like disorder, RA D 50 deficiency, RIDDLE syndrome and others will be presented in a forthcoming volume.

RNAs form complexes with proteins and other RNAs. RNA Infrastructure and Networks brings together these ideas to illustrate the scope of RNA-based biology, and how connecting RNA mechanisms is a powerful tool to investigate regulatory pathways.

This book systemically describes the mechanisms underlying the neural regulation of metabolism. Metabolic diseases, including obesity and its associated conditions, currently affect more than 500 million people worldwide. Recent research has shown that the neural regulation of metabolism is a central mechanism that controls metabolic status physiologically and pathophysiologically. The book first introduces the latest studies on the neural and cellular mechanisms of hypothalamic neurons, hypothalamic glial cells, neural circuitries, cellular signaling pathways, and synaptic plasticity in the control of appetite, body weight, feeding-related behaviors and metabolic disorders. It then summarizes the humoral mechanisms by which critical adipocyte-derived hormones and lipoprotein lipase regulate lipid and glucose metabolism, and examines the role of the hypothalamus-sympathetic nerve, a critical nerve pathway from CNS to peripheral nervous system (PNS), in the regulation of metabolism in multiple tissues/organs. Furthermore, the book discusses the functions of adipose tissue in energy metabolism. Lastly, it explores dietary interventions to treat neural diseases and some of the emerging technologies used to study the neural regulation of metabolism. Presenting cutting-edge developments in the neural regulation of metabolism, the book is a valuable reference resource for graduate students and researchers in the field of neuroscience and metabolism.

This book presents a comprehensive discussion on the novel concepts in stem cell heterogeneity, from pluripotent stem cells to human mesenchymal stem cells, adult and cancer stem cells of the thyroid, sarcoma, and more.

Following the Third Alcohol and Cancer Conference, this volume compiles the most up-to-date research on the role of alcohol consumption in carcinogenesis, from epidemiology to pathology metabolism and stem cells.

The book contains the refereed contributions from the 45th Annual Meeting of the International Society on Oxygen Transport to Tissue (ISOTT) 2017. This volume covers cross-disciplinary work on a broad range of topics related to the dynamics of oxygen transport: microcirculation and vascular medicine; O2 deficiency and its impact on molecular processes in cells and tissues; cellular metabolism and mitochondrial function; multimodal functional imaging; mathematical modeling; the clinical relevance of oxygen supply as well as therapeutic interventions (e.g. in oncology or critical care medicine). The annual meetings of ISOTT bring together scientists from diverse fields (medicine, physiology, mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, etc.) in a unique international forum. The book includes sections on brain oxygenation and function, NIRS oxygenation measurements, tumor oxygenation, cell metabolism, tissue oxygenation and treatment, methodical aspects of O2 measurements and physicochemical aspects of oxygen diffusion.Chapters 3, 24, 49 and 51 of this book are open access under a CC BY 4.0 license.

This book provides a comprehensive review of the major barriers to HIV cure and vaccine. It covers the fundamental virology and immunology leading to HIV transmission, protection from infection and long term HIV persistence on antiretroviral therapy.

The companion title, Cell & Molecular Biology of Prostate Cancer, covers classic and modern cell and molecular biology as well as genetics, epigenetics, mitochondrial dysfunctions and apoptosis, cancer stem cells, angiogenesis, progression to metastasis, and treatment strategies including clinical trials related to prostate cancer.

Given the susceptibility of pancreatic islets to the enzymatic digestion and mechanical stress required to obtain them, the isolation of islets is often considered as the delicate "work of a craftsman".

This book covers the latest data available to understand the mechanisms causing the formation of single species fungal biofilms or polymicrobial biofilms involving fungal species;

Chapters examine the deleterious effects of nutrient excess at molecular level including the cellular and molecular aspects of breast cancer, resistance to leptin, insulin, adiponectin, and interconnection between the circadian clock and metabolic pathways during high-fat feeding.

Cell surface small molecules and macromolecules, such as members of cholesterol family (including steroid hormones), the glycolipid family (sphingolipids), the glycoprotein family (both N-linked and O-linked), and a vast array of other receptors have been shown to be involved in normal and abnormal cellular processes.

This, the first of two volumes on personalized medicine in lung cancer, touches on the core issues related to the understanding of lung cancer-statistics and epidemiology of lung cancer-along with the incidence of lung cancer in non-smokers.

Upon chronic infection, the epigenetic cellular balance can become disrupted and, in the long run, through the epigenetic reprogramming of host cell genomes, contribute to the malignant conversion of formerly healthy cells, in many cases preceded by the establishment of an epigenetic field of cancerization.

The book provides a reference for years to come, written by world-renowned expert investigators studying sex differences, the role of sex hormones, the systems biology of sex, and the genetic contribution of sex chromosomes to metabolic homeostasis and diseases.

This book provides an overview of the role and function of regulatory RNAs that lack protein-coding potential in key reproductive tissues. This includes the role of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs), PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs).

Much research has focused on the basic cellular and molecular biological aspects of stem cells. Much of this research has been fueled by their potential for use in regenerative medicine applications, which has in turn spurred growing numbers of translational and clinical studies. However, more work is needed if the potential is to be realized for improvement of the lives and well-being of patients with numerous diseases and conditions.This book series 'Cell Biology and Translational Medicine (CBTMED)' as part of SpringerNature's longstanding and very successful Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology book series, has the goal to accelerate advances by timely information exchange. Emerging areas of regenerative medicine and translational aspects of stem cells are covered in each volume. Outstanding researchers are recruited to highlight developments and remaining challenges in both the basic research and clinical arenas. This current book is the fifth volume of a continuing series.

This volume is the first-ever complete treatise on polymyxins and presents the most comprehensive and up-to-date reviews of all major research and clinical topics from chemistry, microbiology, pharmacology, clinical use, to drug discovery. All chapters were written by internationally leading researchers and clinicians in the field.It is our wish that readers discover the importance of polymyxin structure in relation to the mechanisms of activity, resistance and toxicity. We emphasized that reliable analytic methods for polymyxins are critical when investigating their pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD). The complicated dose definitions and different pharmacopoeial standards have already compromised the safe use of polymyxins in patients. Therefore, informed by the latest pharmacological information, scientifically-based dosing recommendations have been proposed for intravenous polymyxins. Considering the PK/PD limitations and potential development of resistance, polymyxin combinations are encouraged; however, the current literature has not shown definite microbiological benefits, possibly because most clinical studies to date overlooked key PK/PD principles. Nephrotoxicity is the major dose-limiting factor and it is imperative to elucidate the mechanisms and develop novel approaches to minimize polymyxin-associated toxicities. In addition, the anti-endotoxin effect of polymyxins supports their clinical use to treat Gram-negative sepsis. Fortunately, the discovery of new-generation polymyxins with wider therapeutic windows has benefited from the latest achievements in polymyxin research.This book provides extensive pharmacological information on polymyxins to infectious diseases clinicians, pharmacists, clinical microbiologists, antimicrobial pharmacologists, and pharmaceutical scientists, and is an essential read for those who aim to develop novel polymyxins and improve their clinical use as a last-line defense against Gram-negative 'superbugs'.

In this book, renowned scientists describe how cholesterol interacts with various proteins. In the second part of the book, examples of cholesterol binding sites and consequences of specific cholesterol recognition for protein function are presented for G protein-coupled receptors, ion channels and cholesterol-transporting proteins.

This book provides a cutting-edge review of polyglutamine disorders. It primarily focuses on two main aspects: (1) the mechanisms underlying the pathologies' development and progression, and (2) the therapeutic strategies that are currently being explored to stop or delay disease progression. Polyglutamine (polyQ) disorders are a group of inherited neurodegenerative diseases with a fatal outcome that are caused by an abnormal expansion of a coding trinucleotide repeat (CAG), which is then translated in an abnormal protein with an elongated glutamine tract (Q). To date, nine polyQ disorders have been identified and described: dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA); Huntington's disease (HD); spinal-bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA); and six spinocerebellar ataxias (SCA 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, and 17).The genetic basis of polyQ disorders is well established and described, and despite important advances that have opened up the possibility of generating genetic models of the disease, the mechanisms that cause neuronal degeneration are still largely unknown and there is currently no treatment available for these disorders. Further, it is believed that the different polyQ may share some mechanisms and pathways contributing to neurodegeneration and disease progression.

This book presents descriptive overviews of gene editing strategies across multiple species while also offering in-depth insight on complex cases of application in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

This book systemically presents the latest research on renal fibrosis, covering all the major topics in the field, including the possible mechanisms, biomarkers, and strategies for prevention and treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD).

The 9th International Symposium on Yersinia was held in Lexington, Kentucky, USA, in October 2006. In addition to 37 oral presentations, there were 150 poster presentations. This Symposium volume is based on selected presentations from the meeting and contains both reviews and research articles.