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Membrane Computing ; Vol. 3365 ; 5th International Workshop, WMC 2004, Milan, Italy, June 14-16, 2004, Revised Selected and Invited Papers
Constitutes the refereed extended postproceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Membrane Computing, held in Italy, in June 2004. This book addresses various topics in the area of membrane computing, ranging from mathematics and theoretical computer science to applications in biology, linguistics, and computer graphics.
Hedgehog-Gli Signaling in Human Disease
Hedgehog-GLI Signaling in Human Disease represents the first compilation of up-to-date reviews by top-level scientists in this important field of research. The chapters cover a wide spectrum of related interests, from the molecular bases of morphogen function, to human genetics to cancer research. The aim of the book is to disseminate information on this exciting field, to allow students, scientists and the public in general to gain access current information from research leaders and to provide a book that encompasses different aspects of research showing the fusion of basic research in model systems and medicine. This is a timely primer on how a system of cell communication, Hedgehog-GLI signaling, plays a critical role in human disease and thus provides the background for the development of novel and rational therapies.
Control of Biofilm Infections by Signal Manipulation
Describes the molecular mechanisms of cell-to-cell communication among bacterial cells in a biofilm, the development of antibiofilm inhibitors, like quorum-sensing inhibitors, and the use of biofilm inhibitors to prevent and treat bacterial infections in humans and other animals.
Cell-Cell Channels
The biological sciences are dominated by the idea that cells are the functionally autonomous, physically separated, discrete units of life. This concept was propounded in the 19th century by discoveries of the cellular structuring of both plants and animals. Moreover, the ap parent autonomy of unicellular eukaryotes, as well as the cellular basis of the mammalian brain (an organ whose anatomy for a long while defied attempts to validate the idea of the cellular nature of its neurons), seemed to provide the final conclusive evidence for the completeness of *cell theory', a theory which has persisted in an almost dogmatic form up to the present day. However, it is very obvious that there are numerous observations which indicate that it is not the cells which serve as the basic units of biological life but that this property falls to some other, subcellular assemblage. To deal with this intricate problem concerning the fundamental unit of living matter, we proposed the so-called Cell Body concept which, in fact, devel ops an exceedingly original idea proposed by Julius Sachs at the end of the 19th century. In the case of eukaryotic cells, DNA-enriched nuclei are intimately associated with a microtubular cytoskeleton. In this configuration—as a Cell Body—these two items comprise the fundamental functional and struc tural unit of eukaryotic living matter. The Cell Body seems to be inherent to all cells in all organisms.
Cell Communication in Nervous and Immune System
At first glance, the nervous and immune systems appear very different. However, both systems have developed mechanisms for memory formation – though of quite different quality and significance for the organism. One striking example is that both systems form and communicate via synapses armed with similar sets of proteins. This collection of reviews, contributed by internationally recognized immunologists and molecular and cellular neurobiologists, puts side by side cellular communication devices and signaling mechanisms in the immune and nervous systems and discusses mechanisms of interaction between the two systems, the significance of which has only recently been fully appreciated.
