Search

Published in 2014, Protein Deimination in Human Health and Disease was the first book on this novel post-translational modification, in which selected positively-charged arginine amino acids are converted to neutral citrulline amino acids by the peptidyl-arginine deiminase (PAD) family of enzymes. This area of research continues to expand rapidly, necessitating the need for this second edition. Chronicling the latest inflammatory, epigenetic, neurodegenerative, and carcinogenic processes, Protein Deimination in Human Health and Disease, Second Edition, updates the latest advances in deimination research, including new information on PAD enzyme structure and activity, and how PAD knock-out animals are being used to study known and newly-discovered links to various human diseases. The first edition outlined what was known about citrullinated proteins in normal tissues such as skin and hair, as well as in maladies such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), multiple sclerosis (MS), Alzheimer's disease (AD), glaucoma, peripheral nerve injury, neonatal hypoxic brain damage, and breast cancer. This second edition addresses numerous additional disorders such as diabetes, asthma, traumatic brain injury, inflammatory bowel disease, lupus, bone disease, heart failure, fronto-temporal dementia, and prostate and colon cancer. It also provides updates on the deimination research covering the three seminal diseases first linked to this process (RA, MS and AD), and details how auto-antibodies against citrullinated proteins contribute to disease. In addition, new hypotheses on the possible pathologic mechanisms of citrullinated myelin basic protein and glial fibrillary acidic protein are also proposed. This second edition also outlines the latest developments in therapeutic strategies, including the use of new PAD antagonists and innovative techniques such as micro-vescicles and stem cells as possible mechanisms to treat these conditions.

Description based on print version record.

Advances in Immunology, a long established and highly respected publication, presents current developments as well as comprehensive reviews in immunology. Articles address the wide range of topics that comprise immunology, including molecular and cellular activation mechanisms, phylogeny and molecular evolution, and clinical modalities. Edited and authored by the foremost scientists in the field, each volume provides up-to-date information and directions for future research.

This is the first book to address all aspects of the biology of autoantibodies in a single volume, including a discussion of immunology, experimental models, clinical aspects, and the use of autoantibodies as probes in molecular and cellular biology. The editor, currently professor at the W.M. Keck Autoimmune Disease Center of The Scripps Research Institute, has assembled an all-star team of authors to report on the latest research, technologies, and applications. Following an introductory chapter, the book goes on to cover such topics as cellular mechanisms of autoantibody production, clinical and diagnostic usefulness in human disease, and animal models used to study the elicitation of autoantibodies. The whole is rounded off with a look at future perspectives. With its comprehensive coverage, this volume will appeal not only to immunologists and clinicians but also to cell and molecular biologists.

The literature on cytokine genetics is vast, so vast that it is now practically beyond the time or logistical constraints of most scientists to successfully keep pace with it. A compilation of the latest research, Cytokine Gene Polymorphisms in Multifactorial Conditions brings together, reviews, and structures up-to-date information on polymorphism

Autoimmunity-which affects up to 10% of the world's population-can damage nearly every tissue or cell type of the human body with greatly debilitating or fatal results. In Autoimmunity: Methods and Protocols, expert medical researchers describe in step-by-step detail molecular techniques and in vitro/in vivo model systems for discovering the causes of autoimmunity, as well as how best it may be regulated. The methods to assess the immunological and biochemical pathways relevant for pathogenesis include identifying susceptibility genes, intercellular signaling via cytokines, intracellular signaling through the T-cell receptor, signal processing via protein kinases, identification and enumeration of antigen-specific T cells and autoantibodies, and the dysregulation of apoptosis and its role in modification of self-antigens. Additional protocols serve to establish the presence of and assess inflammatory arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, multiple sclerosis, myocarditis, thyroiditis, scleroderma, uveitis, and vitiligo. These methods can be used to assess the genetic, immunological, and biochemical parameters underlying spontaneous or exogenous antigen-induced diseases. The protocols follow the successful Methods in Molecular Medicine™ series format, each one offering step-by-step laboratory instructions, an introduction outlining the principle behind the technique, lists of the necessary equipment and reagents, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Innovative and easy to follow, Autoimmunity: Methods and Protocols offers today's investigators a cutting-edge collection of readily reproducible methods for establishing and interrogating human and animal models of autoimmune diseases.