Bücher der Reihe Progress in Molecular and Subcellular Biology

This volume focuses on the biomedical aspects of inorganic polyphosphates, a family of unique bio-inorganic polymers.In recent years, great advances have been made in understanding the development, metabolism, and physiological role of inorganic polyphosphates. These energy-rich polymers, which consist of long chains of phosphate units, are evolutionary old molecules. The acidocalcisomes, conserved organelles from bacteria to humans, as well as the mitochondria play a central role in polyphosphate production and storage. Polyphosphates have been assigned multiple functions, some of which are closely related to medically important processes, such as blood coagulation and fibrinolysis, energy metabolism, cell cycle regulation, apoptosis, chaperon function, microvascularization, stress response, neurodegeneration and aging. The development of bioinspired polyphosphate particles, in combination with suitable hydrogel-forming polymers enabled the development of new strategies in regenerative medicine, in particular for hard and soft tissue repair, but also in drug delivery and antimicrobial defense. This book not only highlights the basic research in this area, but also discusses possible applications. Therefore, it appeals to scientists working in cell biology, biochemistry, and biomedicine and practicioners alike.

Apoptosis plays a central role in the regulation of cell proliferation. Disruption of this control mechanism may cause serious human diseases such as encephalomyelitis and cancer. Thus, understanding of the molecular mechanisms of apoptotic cell death should lead to fundamental advances in the therapy of these diseases.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), tentatively defined as ncRNAs of more than two hundred nucleotides in length, are characterized by the complexity and diversity of their sequences and mechanisms of action.

This book describes the discovery of molecules from unexploited extreme marine environments, and presents new approaches in marine genomics.

14 different model systems have been chosen, comprising well known symbioses as well as novel experimental systems which have only recently become amenable to experimental manipulation.

Successful aestivation requires the selection of a proper microhabitat, variable degrees of metabolic arrest and responsiveness to external stimuli, the ability to sense the proper time of year for emergence, the preservation of inactive tissue, and much more.

In this book, tumour growth is perceived as a deviation from the normal development of the human organism. Several mechanisms are proposed to explain the distribution of cancers during the human life span and the decline of the incidence of cancers during human senescence.

Cell biologists have recently come to understand that asymmetry of division is an important regulatory phenomenon in the fate of a cell. This book describes the phenomenon in different organisms and addresses its implications for the development of the organism, cell differentiation, human aging and the biology of cancers.

Lake Baikal is the oldest, deepest and most voluminous lake on Earth, comprising one fifth of the World's unfrozen fresh water. This process is explored using modern molecular biological and cellular biological techniques to outline strategies to fabricate novel materials applicable in biomedicine and nanooptics.

Sponges (phylum Porifera) are known to be very rich sources for bioactive compounds, mainly secondary metabolites. Main efforts are devoted to cell- and mariculture of sponges to assure a sustainable exploitation of bioactive compounds from biological starting material.

Successful aestivation requires the selection of a proper microhabitat, variable degrees of metabolic arrest and responsiveness to external stimuli, the ability to sense the proper time of year for emergence, the preservation of inactive tissue, and much more.

Inorganic polyphosphates - polymers of orthophosphate linked by high-energy phosphoanhydride bonds - have been found in apparently all forms of life, from bacteria, yeasts and fungi to higher plants and animals. In addition, the methods to study these polymers as well as the biotechnological applications of inorganic polyphosphates are described.

This volume concentrates on the origin of multicellular animals, Metazoa. Based on sequence data of genes typical for multicellularity it is demonstrated that all Metazoa, including Porifera, should be placed into the kingdom Animalia together with the Eumetazoa. Therefore it is most likely that all animals are of monophyletic origin.

Recently, new genes and their proteins that revealed striking new insights into the early evolution of multicellular animals have been identified and characterized from members of the lowest metazoan phylum, the porifera (sponges).

The biological bases of invertebrate immune responses have interested scientists for decades, from the first relevant observation by E.

This book discusses genome-based strategies to provide a holistic understanding of yeasts in Human Health and as model organisms in basic research or industrial production. Using numerous Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains and various non-conventional yeast species isolated from diverse origins, it describes essential biological processes, the biotechnological exploitation of yeast and pathogenesis control. It also demonstrates how functional and comparative genomics and the development of genome engineering tools are used in modern yeast research.The use of yeasts as experimental eukaryotic models increasingly gained prominence when several Nobel Prizes in Physiology/Medicine and Chemistry were awarded for innovative research, using yeast strains to elucidate molecular mechanisms in a wide range of human physiological processes and diseases, such as autophagy, cell cycle regulation and telomerase activity.This book offers useful insights for scientists in yeast research, clinical scientists working with yeast infectious models and for industrial researchers using applied microbiology.

The new receptor era of mammalian endocrinology stimulated research on invertebrate hormone receptors, and sophisticated methods are applied also to determine hormones. About two decades ago, first observations on the presence of hormone receptors reacting to vertebrate hormones in protozoa were made.

Examples for biomedical inorganic polymers that had been proven to exhibit biomedical effects and/or have been applied in preclinical or clinical trials are polysilicate / silica glass (such as naturally formed "biosilica" and synthetic "bioglass") and inorganic polyphosphate.

Examples for biomedical inorganic polymers that had been proven to exhibit biomedical effects and/or have been applied in preclinical or clinical trials are polysilicate / silica glass (such as naturally formed "biosilica" and synthetic "bioglass") and inorganic polyphosphate.

Based on the assumption that invertebrates as well as vertebrates possess factors regulating hematopoiesis, response to infection or wounding, studies dealing with the evolution of immunity have focused on the isolation and characterization of putative cytokine-related molecules from invertebrates.

This volume explores nuclear structure and trafficking involving or relevant to RNA and RNPs. Topics include advances and current problems in the structural organization of different subnuclear compartments, Cajal bodies and gems, speckles containing splicing factors, and PML bodies characteristic of ProMyelocytic leukemia.

This volume presents the response of the eukaryotic translational apparatus to cellular stress and apoptosis, including kinases activated through both the ERK and stress-activated pathways. Both the regulation of initiation and elongation are discussed, and the mechanisms of apoptosis are related to changes in the protein synthesis machinery.

Molecules serving as guidance cues for migratory cells, growing axons and for recognition of postsynaptic targets are a major topic for research because they are directly involved in the formation of neuronal circuits, thus creating the foundation for subsequent functional refinement through interactions with the environment.

Epigenetics refers to heritable patterns of gene expression which do not depend on alterations of genomic DNA sequence. The other one deals with parental genomic imprinting, a process which allows to express a few selected genes from only one of the parental allele while extinguishing the other.

This work focuses on a family of cellular proteins which transmit signals in the form of small molecules outside the cell, the Rho Ras-like GTPases, and examines their role in normal cellular processes and development. Also discussed are their roles in cancer formation and microbial pathogenesis.

Concerning centromere-specific chromatin modification, it is now evident that all centromeres contain a centromere specific histone H3 variant, CenH3, which replaces histone H3 in centromeric nucleosomes and provides a structural basis that epigenetically defines centromere and differentiates it from the surrounding chromatin.

This book is dedicated to understanding how miRNAs affect translation. It includes chapters representing work in plants and Caenorhabditis elegans, the biological systems that originally led to the discovery of small interfering RNAs.

The articles in the present volume are by major contributors to our under standing of signaling pathways affecting protein synthesis. Since amino acids serve as precursors for proteins, one might expect that with holding an essential amino acid would inhibit the elongation phase.

This volume presents the response of the eukaryotic translational apparatus to cellular stress and apoptosis, including kinases activated through both the ERK and stress-activated pathways. Both the regulation of initiation and elongation are discussed, and the mechanisms of apoptosis are related to changes in the protein synthesis machinery.