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Toll-like Receptors in Inflammation
Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are critical mediators of the innate immune response in mammals. This family of receptors recognizes a variety of microbial products or motifs and initiates the host response to infection. Examples include TLR4 which recognizes lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Gram-negative bacteria, TLR3 which recognizes viral double-stranded RNA, and TLR9 which recognizes CpG DNA motifs, found in both viruses and bacteria. All TLRs possess an intracellular region termed the Toll-IL-1 receptor-Resistance (TIR) domain which is essential for signaling from these receptors. The specificity of signaling from individual TLRs arises from differential utilization of adapter proteins. This specificity results in a tailoring of the host defense response depending on the microbe being sensed. TLRs are increasingly being implicated in both infectious and inflammatory diseases, notable examples being sepsis, inflammatory bowel disease, atherosclerosis, and asthma. There is, therefore, great interest in targeting TLRs therapeutically since a disruption of TLR function will result in a decrease in the production of inflammatory mediators.
The bacterial cell wall : Methods and protocols
Explores methods currently used to investigate the cell wall of various bacterial species and pathogens. By using a combination of genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cytological techniques, the protocols address many fundamental questions involving the composition, biosynthesis, and regulation of bacterial peptidoglycan
Herbal antibiotics : Natural alternatives for treating drug-resistant bacteria ; 2nd ed.
Health care providers have discovered many new resistant strains of bacteria, researchers have added to the growing body of knowledge about herbs, and the need for antivirals to treat emerging infections like SARS and West Nile Encephalitis has become urgent. Within ten years, according to sources cited in the book, pharmaceutical antibiotics will begin to fail at epidemic rates. There are, in fact, no new antibiotics currently in planning or development at any of the major pharmaceutical companies. Most notably, there is none for Gram-negative bacteria, which are emerging as the most dangerous pathogens.
Bacteriocins : Ecology and Evolution
Microbes produce an extraordinary array of defense systems. These include bacteriocins, a class of antimicrobial molecules with narrow killing spectra, produced by bacteria. The book describes the diversity and ecological role of bacteriocins of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, presenting a new classification scheme for the former and a state-of-the-art look at the role of bacteriocins in bacterial communication. It discusses the molecular evolution of colicins and colicin-like bacteriocins, and provides a contemporary overview of archaeocins, bacteriocin-like antimicrobials produced by archaebacteria. Furthermore, various modeling (in silico) studies elucidate the role of bacteriocins in microbial community dynamics and fitness, delving into rock-paper-scissors competition and the counter-intuitive survival of the weakest. The book makes compelling reading for a multi-faceted scientific audience, including those working in the fields of biodiversity and biotechnology, notably in the human and animal health domain.
Advances in Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Public Health ; Vol.15
Focuses on current progress in the broad field of medical microbiology, and covers both basic and applied topics related to the study of microbes, their interactions with human and animals, and emerging issues relevant for public health. Original research and review articles present and discuss multidisciplinary findings and developments on various aspects of microbiology, infectious diseases, and their diagnosis, treatment and prevention.
