The role of carcinogenic agents in the deveolopment of human cancers is now being defined using a variety of human cells as experi- mental model systems. A workshop on "neoplastic transformation in human cell systems in vitro: mechanisms of carcinogenesis" was held at the Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, on April 25-26, 1991. The aims of the workshop were to present the state-of-the- art in the transformation of human cells in culture, as well as to provide insight into the molecular and cellular changes involved in the conver- sion of normal cells to a neoplastic state...

Methods in Protein Sequence Analysis -1986 brings together reports of the most recent methodology available to protein chemists for studying the molecular detail of proteins. The papers in this volume constitute the proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Methods in Protein Sequence Analysis, which was held at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington on August 17-21, 1986. This series of conferences has taken place during a period when new techniques in protein chemistry and molecular biology have enabled not only exploration of the control of protein function, but...

In 1928, it was discovered that copper was essential for normal human metabolism. A decade later, in 1938, it was observed that patients with rheu matoid arthritis exhibited a higher than normal serum copper concentration that returned to normal with remission of this disease. Thirteen years later, it was found that copper complexes were effective in treating arthritic dis eases. The first report that copper complexes had antiinflammatory activity in an animal model of inflammation appeared twenty-two years after the dis covery of essentiality. In 1976, it was suggested that the active forms...

Methods in Protein Sequence Analysis contains an intensely prac tical account of all the new methodology available to scientists carrying out protein and peptide sequencing studies. Many of the striking advances in fields as diverse as immunology, cell motility, and neurochemistry have in fact been fueled by our ever more powerful ability to determine the sequences and structures of key proteins and peptides. It is our hope that the rich array of tech niques and methods for sequencing proteins discussed in this volume-methods that generate much of the information crucial to progress in modern...

This book represents the proceedings of a Satellite Symposium of the XIth International Congress of Biochemistry on "Control of Membrane Fluidity" which was held on July 7, 1979 at the Charles H. Best Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. The meeting was organized by M. Kates and A. Kuksis and was supported by the International Congress of Biochemistry. The purpose of the meeting was to review recent progress in many different areas of investigation bearing on the role of lipids in the structural and functional property of the cell membrane commonly referred to as fluidity. The...

Nutrients in Cancer Prevention and Treatment contains articles that were presented by leading researchers and physicians in the field of nutritional oncology. Most of the previous conference proceedings on Nutrition and Cancer have dealt primarily with the issue of the role of nutrients in cancer prevention. This is logical because enormous quantities of laboratory and epi demiologic data have been published on the topic. Nutrients in Cancer Prevention and Treatment also contains several studies on the role of diet and vitamins in cancer treat ment. There are very few books that have reviewed...

Hepatic Encephalopathy (HE) is a neuropsychiatric disorder resul t ing from liver failure. HE may be associated with fulminant (acute) hepatic failure or chronic liver disease with portal-systemic shunting. The latter condition is characterized neuropathologically by astro cytic rather than neuronal changes (Alzheimer Type II astrocytosis). The former is frequently accompanied by cerebral edema. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the pathogene sis of HE. These include: 1. A toxic action of a substance (or substances) such as ammonia on brain function 2. A deficit of cerebral...

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is one of the most widespread human viruses, with over 80% of the general population exposed by young adulthood, as determined by antibody studies. Initial infection usu ally occurs during childhood or the teenage years. It is clear that, de pending on the age of the recipient, clinical manifestations of the primary infection can vary. It has been known for 20 years that EBV is the etiologic agent of acute infectious mononucleosis (IM) and is also closely associated with African Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) and naso it is a pharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). There is increasing...

Alcohol abuse throughout the world is associated with serious social and medical implications. Problems such as intoxication, tol erance, and development of physical dependence have been well recognized. The central nervous system and the liver are especially affected. There is little doubt that alcohol abuse can result in organ damage, which in turn leads to deleterious health consequences to the individual. Understanding ethanol action presents a special and functional diver challenge because of its molecular simplicity sity. In fact, the ability for alcohol to disrupt cellular function is...

During the last 10 years, the role of specific nutrients in cancer prevention and cancer treatment has been the subject of intense basic, preclinical, and clinical research. At present, the major focus of nutri tional oncology is on the mechanisms of carcinogenesis and their modification by nutrients and on cancer prevention studies in animals and humans. Some human epidemiological studies have confirmed the hypothesis, developed on animals, that there is an inverse relation ship between the intake and/or level of 3-carotene, vitamin A vita min E, or vitamin C and the risk of cancer, whereas...