The aging process involves changes in neurotransmission at different levels. The purpose of this book is to help define the state-of-the-art of the field and to give directives for future research on the aging brain. Following topics are presented: the comparison of normal and pathological aging at the anatomical and neurochemical level; the knowledge of the responses of the aging brain to drug treatment or environmental stress; the neuro/immune and neuro/endocrine setting during aging; and the definition of therapeutical approaches in normal aging. This book will interest physicians and...

This book explains how extracellular and intracellular protozoa of major tropical diseases interact with their hosts and host cells to achieve successful parasitism. The assembled articles represent recent advances made mainly in the biochemistry, cell biology and molecular biology of these parasites, with particular reference to the cell surface and other molecules relevant to the process of infection. Special attention is given to the molecular ingenuity of these parasitic protozoa in recognizing host cells and escaping recognition by host defense mechanisms. This book is a basis for cross...

This volume deals with the significance of the apoblast and the intracellular matrix in cell to cell signaling in plants and animals. Researchers working on human, animal and plant systems discuss their own specific problems. The dynamics of the cell surface as related to both growth and development, as well as to the transduction of environmental signals and the feed-back from genetic information to the cell surface are comprehensively covered. Special emphasis is laid on experimental models, their applicability and discussion of possible directions for future research.

Translation, i.e. protein synthesis, studied from a genetic viewpoint is illustrated in this volume, demonstrating how researchers are employing both classical genetic and recombinant DNA techniques in studying the components, mechanisms, regulation and accuracy of protein synthesis. Both the prokaryotic (especially Escherichia coli) and eukaryotic (especially Saccharomyces cerevisiae) system are discussed, presenting both new information and the new genetic approaches available. This book does not concentrate on one particular aspect of translation, but provides an ideal...

Developmental biology deals with the regulatory principles underlying the generation of a new organism. The up-to-date knowledge of the molecular and cellular mechanisms that guide mammalian development from a single cell through a complex and integrated process of cell multiplication, differentiation and organisation of cells into tissues and organs is presented in this volume. Aspects of the molecular nature and developmental significance of cell-to-cell signals focus on: - hoxgenes, their products and potential role in mammalian morphogenesis; - growth factors, their receptors and signal...

This book introduces into a newly developing branch of biology, the semiotics of cellular communication. The number of known cell subpopulations of lymphocytes, their mediators and receptors has increased tremendously in recent years. An intercellular web of recognition and, in turn, activation or depression of various cellular functions joins all lymphocytes. This interaction of a particular lymphocyte in one subpopulation with the appropriate partner from another subpopulation for regulatory or cooperative purposes requires an efficient and unambiguous system of intercellular recognition...

Data of all relevant aspects of neuronal cell growth and differentiation are presented in this volume. Regulation of expression, storage and release of nerve growth factors, receptor control and the cellular responses to growth factors are comprehensively discussed. Treated are also influences of various neurotransmitters on neuronal morphogenesis and new results of interactions of cells and mediators of the immune, endocrine and nervous system. Special emphasis is given to those factors regulating regeneration and nerve spreading after injuries of the nerve tissue.

Radiation induces a variety of chemical processes in biological tissues. This volume is a synthesis of up-to-the-minute reviews on such photochemical and photobiological sensitized reactions with particular relevance to photomedicine. The first part gives a description of experimental techniques for the study of the primary processes after radiation absorption by biological systems. It is followed by chapters on singlet oxygen and photomedicine, considering both phototherapy and photochemotherapy. These sections also discuss the next generation of potential photosensitizing drugs.

In symbiosis, different organisms have to recognize each other and exchange material and information. While the functional morphology of symbiont cells has extensively been studied little attention has been paid to mutual interactions and cell-to-cell signals. The main topic of the book is the comparison and discussion of the short-distance signals triggering mutualism in animal and plant cells. Thus it provides a) the basis for a better understanding of various aspects of cell compatibility; b) standardisation of a common vocabulary for animal and plant symbiotic biology; c) optimization of...

To understand how information is processed and stored by the nervous system, and in particular the human brain, has been a major challenge in science for centuries and will remain so for some time to come. Not until recently did neurobiologists agree to seek plasticity of behavior primarily in the modulation of the properties of synapses between nerve cells. This must be understood within the context provided by a neural circuitry. Learning has become a topic of molecular biology. Three systems appear particularly promising for this approach: "Drosophila," the marine snails "Aplysia" and...