Books in the Novartis Foundation Symposia series

This book brings together contributions from key investigators in the area of osteoarthritic joint pain. It covers the clinical presentation of joint pain, the pathways involved in joint pain, osteoarthritis disease processes and pain, experimental models and pain control.

Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) genes were originally identified as encoding critical components of phototransduction in Drosophila. Since the discovery of the first mammalian transient receptor potential channel (TRPC) some eight years ago, more than 20 mammalian homologues have been reported.

Chronic inflammation predisposes to some forms of cancer and the host response to malignant disease shows several parallels with inflammation and wound healing. The cells involved in inflammation are detected in a range of common cancers, together with the inflammatory cytokines and members of the chemokine ligand/receptor systems.

For the first time contributions are brought together from a multidisciplinary team of biologists and computer scientists to explore the issues related to immune function. This will help biologists apply new computer scientific methods to immunological research. The book considers practical applications (e.g.

In keeping with the Novartis series this book draws together contributions from an international and interdisciplinary group of experts. Involved here are those studying the mechanisms of light signalling to the vertebrate clock, the connections between central and peripheral clocks and the genetics of the vertebrate clock and clock proteins.

This book draws together contributions from some of the leading investigators in the field of autism to consider specific problem areas in current research. Each contributor brings expertise from a different field, providing a balanced view of the whole spectrum of study of this disorder.

Over the last several years, immunologists have re-discovered the importance of regulatory lymphocytes, formerly termed 'suppressor cells'. Many recent reports have documented their existence, effector functions and potential therapeutic benefits in autoimmunity and transplantation.

Over recent decades vast amounts of biological data have been accumulated. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to apply traditional theoretical methods to the formulation of coherent pictures of cell and organ function because it is no longer possible for a human theorist to integrate all of the available information.

This book explores the latest research on the role of the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) in smooth muscle function. It examines the control and modulation of the SR and how this may vary among smooth muscle types. Potential therapeutic implications are also discussed.

The object of this book is to gather together workers in the fields of epilepsy, those concerned with the basic science of resistance and the blood-brain barrier, and those with clinical experience of drug resistance in cancer, with a view to stimulating further work on drug resistance in epilepsy.

The heat shock, or cell stress, response was first identified in the polytene chromosomes of Drosophila. This was later related to the appearance of novel proteins within stressed cells, and the key signal stimulating this appearance was identified as the presence of unfolded proteins within the cell.

* This book is a comprehensive and up-to-date account of where we stand in immunological strategies for preventing or treating type 1 diabetes (T1D).

The recent identification of susceptibility genes for schizophrenia, depression and learning and memory dysfunction suggest that psychiatric disorders may be influenced by a small number of genes with multiple actions.

Understanding stem cells at the molecular level is essential to understanding their behaviour in a physiological context. This volume in our acclaimed Novartis Foundation series features animated discussion from the world's experts in this topic on the important ethical issues that are raised by research on stem cells.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) comprises a group of idiopathic diseases of the intestine characterized by chronic inflammation of the bowel with periods of exacerbation and remission.

The past decade has seen mounting global concern regarding viral outbreaks such as SARS, avian influenza and West Nile virus. In 2004 and 2005, reports of bird-to-human, and possible human-to-human, transmissions of the H5N1 influenza viruses raised fears that these viruses could cause a pandemic on the scale of the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918.

To understand the brain and its devastating diseases, we need to reveal the mechanisms that produce it and the ways in which it can constantly change throughout a lifetime. This book features a timely and insightful discussion between developmental neurobiologists and clinicians who deal with disorders of the nervous system.

Acetaldehyde-Related Pathology brings together contributions from experts working on all aspects of acetaldehyde-related pathology in order to better understand the pathogenesis of diseases in which acetaldehyde, from whichever source, is implicated.

Fatty Acid and Lipotoxicity in Obesity and Diabetes deals with the molecular aspects of fatty acid action in obesity and insulin resistance. The topics include lipid metabolism and adipose tissue biology, and beta-cell function and insulin resistance. Chapters deal with the molecular genetics and molecular physiology of energy homeostasis.

Much recent research in evolutionary developmental biology has focused on the origin of new body plans. However, most evolutionary change at the population and species level consists of tinkering: small-scale alterations in developmental pathways within a single body plan.

Contributors to this book explore existing strategies and examine possible new strategies for using the genome sequences of human, mouse, other vertebrates and human pathogens to solve outstanding problems in the treatment of immunological diseases and chronic infections.

Part of the prestigious Novartis Foundation series, this volume uniquely addresses the use of innate immunity to treat or prevent infectious diseases of the lung.

This book brings together work from a wide range of disciplines to explain processes underlying empathy and fairness. It approaches the topic of empathy and fairness from different viewpoints, namely those of social cognitive neuroscience, developmental psychology, evolutionary anthropology, economics, and neuropathology.

This book features contributions from the world's leading researchers working on dengue and related flaviviruses who examine the current state of the art in the molecular biology of the dengue virus. Particular emphasis is placed on the structure and function of the virus and the targeting of virus proteins by potential antiviral agents.

Cl- absorption and HCO3- secretion are intimately associated processes vital to epithelial function, itself a key physiological activity. Until recently the transporters responsible remained obscure, but a breakthrough occurred with the discovery of the SLC26 transporters family.

Signalling Pathways in Acute Oxygen Sensing- No. 272 brings together contributions from experts in the field of acute oxygen sensing working on different tissues to address the controversies in the filed and their possible origins, and to develop approaches whereby these controversies might be resolved.

Addresses the research on mast cells and basophils and its significance in relation to allergic and autoimmune diseases. This is an area of burgeoning interest, driven by increasing recognition of the fundamental importance of these cell types in several disease processes.

Seemingly simple behaviours turn out, on reflection, to be discouragingly complex. For many years, cognitive operations such as sensation, perception, comparing percepts to stored models (short-term and long-term memory), decision-making and planning of actions were treated by most neuroscientists as separate areas of research.

The cerebral cortex is the crowning achievement of evolution and the biological substrate of human mental capacities. Using a comparative evolutionary developmental approach to the study of its origin helps to offer new insights into this complex and important problem.

Featuring contributions from many of the leading laboratories of mitochondrial biology worldwide, Novartis Foundation Symposium 287, Mitochondrial Biology: New Perspectives provides a timely summary of the current state-of-the-art in mitochondrial research.