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Natural products are a marvel of evolution. Plants are chemical factories and have produced a vast number of highly diverse and interesting natural substances with their extraordinary properties, which we humans have been using for centuries to relieve and cure diseases. At the latest since the discovery of penicillin, natural substances have become an important source of medicines, but we know only very few of the presumably many millions that are still waiting to be discovered. Important antibiotics, immunosuppressants, anticancer agents, hormones, and antiviral agents are among the natural products. But do natural products still matter in the age of biotechnology and genetic engineering? Yes, more than ever, because medicinal chemists draw creative inspiration for their syntheses from nature to develop the next blockbuster in medicine. Oliver Kayser tells the story of natural products and medicinal plants in this book in a highly informative and amusing way from a new perspective. He explores how natural products from naturopathy gave birth to the pharmaceutical industry, how they shaped our society as medicines and remedies, enabled wars, and paved the way to Nobel Prizes. The author paints a fascinating panorama of natural product chemistry in plants, microorganisms, and animals. Starting with the first isolations at the beginning of the industrial revolution, he leads us with the ideas and enthusiasm of many scientists into the modern era of drug testing, computer chemistry, and the highly successful serendipitous discoveries of active ingredients. Natural product research in the laboratory has an enormous impact on our lives today. The author offers a glimpse over the shoulder of how the search for the new drugs of tomorrow works today. This book is the ultimate book from the pen of a scientist deeply rooted in research, providing the reader with an enlightening and at the same time entertaining insight into how scientists think and how arduous research can be.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been sought to be a potential alternative to the current arsenal of antibiotics against undesirable microbes. AMPs synthesized by lactic acid bacteria have attracted significant attention due to their strong activity against a broad range of bacteria including pathogens. The bacteriocin (an AMP) has been known to us since early 1928, a year before penicillin was reported. This is possibly due to their narrower activity compared to antibiotics. However, several AMPs having promising activity have been thoroughly characterized in the past few decades. Renewed interest has developed focusing on industrially important bacteriocins produced by lactic acid bacteria. Some of these AMPs are also active against food spoilage and clinically important pathogens. Similar to antibiotics, large-scale intellectual screening is ongoing in the search for novel AMPs with unique properties. Recent research has revealed that AMPs may also play a role in maintaining gut microflora and keeping us protected from food-borne pathogens. The ongoing genomic studies suggest that there may be more such bioactive compounds waiting to be explored. This book provides an overview of the fundamental knowledge accumulated so far regarding the diversity and potential applications of AMPs produced by lactic acid bacteria. This updated reference book on AMPs from lactic acid bacteria is timely, covering the most important achievements in the field and providing the scientific community particularly graduate students, researchers, and clinicians with the latest updates. The goal of this book is to illustrate and detail the findings made so far, debate the state of the art, and draw new perspectives.

Emergence of lifestyle diseases, e.g., type II diabetes, cancers, obesity, cardiovascular disorders, liver cirrhosis, etc., are exponentially increasing day by day. Modern drifts toward the utilization of herbal medicines in different healthcare aspects necessitate (demand) the replacement of synthetic molecules with phytoconstituents because of their biocompatibility, biodegradability, economic extraction process, and ready availability from the natural source. This book provides a thorough insight into the comprehensive and up-to-date trends of phytomedicines in the management of lifestyle diseases and its mechanisms, modern methods of extraction and purification of phytoconstituents, and chemical characterization as well as standardization of phytoconstituents using modern equipments.

This book provides a comprehensive reference for various plant bioactive compounds for research and pharmacological significance across the entire spectrum of phytochemical genomics. The book opens with general information on diversity, analysis and genomic basis of phytochemicals, computational approaches, databases for responsible genes, and biosynthetic pathways, and it delves very much into the details behind phytochemical diversity and diverse roles of plant metabolites. The later parts of the book also explore the direct drug discovery and omics approaches including metabolomics, transcriptomics, as well as gene editing technology experiments to further inspire readers into its unlimited potentials. Each chapter includes detailed analysis and relevant experiments for better and deeper understanding of the concepts. The book will be an invaluable aid for medicinal plant researchers and a rich source of information and advice for advanced undergraduates and graduates in the fields of medicine, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, flavor, and fragrance studies.

This book provides a comprehensive introduction and review of state-of-the-art biotechnological tools in enhancement of bioactive compounds in medicinal and aromatic plants. Plant bioactive compounds are plant-based natural products that display a variety of pharmacological applications. These bioactive compounds are important as medicines, pigments, flavorings and drugs because most of the pharmaceutical industries are highly dependent on medicinal plants and their extraction. The book introduces a systematic overview of state-of-the-art biotechnological techniques such as Omics, Crisper /Cas9 and RNAi to enhance the plant bioactive contents as well as enlists various in vitro techniques, hairy root culture and transgenic technology to enhance plant bioactive contents using plant tissue culture approaches. The book also provides an overview of the role of induced mutation, biotic and abiotic stress to increase the bioactive contents in plants and discusses the significant role of endophytes to enhance the contents of plant bioactive compound. The book also opens discussions related to standard operating procedures using hydroponics system of cultivation for significant enhancement of bioactive compound(s) and much more. This book serves as an excellent reference book for the researchers working in the field of plant secondary metabolites and pharmaceutical industries at global level.

This book overviews purinergic receptors that are playing key roles in human and pathophysiological processes. The book elaborates on how selective P1 and P2 modulators have been developed as therapeutics for a variety of diseases. It also provides an overview of current perspectives in the design of purinergic receptor modulators and future challenges such as the availability of selective ligands for all receptor subtypes.Divided into 12 chapters, this comprehensive volume also offers a multidisciplinary perspective on the historical evolution, starting with a chapter devoted to the roots and early discoveries of adenosine and its receptors, followed by a twenty-year retrospective on the synthesis, properties, and functional potential of adenosine receptor ligands, probes, and functional conjugates. In the next chapters, experts in the field delve into topics such as the therapeutic potential of adenosine receptor ligands in wound healing and fibrosis, the therapeutic benefits of A2A receptor antagonists, the A2B adenosine receptor as a target for brain ischemia or demyelination, the development and latest advancements in clinical trials of A3 adenosine receptor ligands. Other chapters describe bifunctional tools to study adenosine receptors, allosteric modulators of adenosine receptors, and new computational approaches to inspect adenosine receptor-ligand recognition processes. Furthermore, the book discusses the role of P2X4 receptors in immunity and inflammation. The final chapters illustrate CD73 inhibitors as antitumor agents, and bacterial ectonucleotidases as underexplored antibacterial drug targets. This book is a valuable resource for scholars working in the field of medicinal chemistry, as well as researchers in the industry, providing readers with a comprehensive understanding of adenosine receptor biology and its therapeutic potential.

Redox Chemistry and Biology of Thiols offers an applied, comprehensive overview of redox chemistry and biology of thiol-dependent processes. Running from basic biology and chemistry of redox phenomena to research methods and highlighting recently identified roles of thiols across cellular and bodily systems, this book draws upon a range of disciplines to illuminate new research directions, new applications of thiol studies, and clinical translation. Sections cover thiol oxidizing species, thiol reactivity and modifications, thioredoxin, glutaredoxin, glutathione, peroxidases, thiol repair enzymes, thiol oxidative signaling, disulfide bond formation, thiol-based redox biosensors, cysteine and hydrogen sulfide metabolism, iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis, thiols in chloroplasts, blood thiols, sugar and polyamine thiols in pathogenic organisms, redox medicine (therapeutic applications of thiols and drug development), as well as methods and bioinformatics tools. - Runs from basic thiol biology and chemistry to applications and clinical translation - Provides methods and protocols that will power new research across biomedicine, cell biology, plant biology, drug development, and protein folding and modulation - Includes chapter contributions from international leaders in the field

This book assembles state-of-the-art approaches for harnessing light energy as a model to develop natural systems such as biofuels. After the basics and potential of photosynthesis of microalgae it discusses topics from engineering micro-algae towards increased photosynthetic efficiency till the optimization of photobioreactor techniques for enhanced biotechnological applications such as cyanobacteria.

An update to the popular guide to proteomics technology applications in biomedical research Building on the strength of the original edition, this book presents the state of the art in the field of proteomics and offers students and scientists new tools and techniques to advance their own research. Written by leading experts in the field, it provides readers with an understanding of new and emerging directions for proteomics research and applications. Proteomics for Biological Discovery begins by discussing the emergence of proteomics technologies and summarizing the potential insights to be gained from proteome-level research. The tools of proteomics, from conventional to novel techniques, are thoroughly covered, from underlying concepts to limitations and future directions. Later chapters provide an overview of the current developments in post-translational modification studies, structural proteomics, biochemical proteomics, applied proteomics, and bioinformatics relevant to proteomics. Chapters cover: Quantitative Proteomics for Differential Protein Expression Profiling; Protein Microarrays; Protein Biomarker Discovery; Biomarker Discovery using Mass Spectrometry Imaging; Protein-Protein Interactions; Mass Spectrometry Of Intact Protein Complexes; Crosslinking Applications in Structural Proteomics; Functional Proteomics; High Resolution Interrogation of Biological Systems via Mass Cytometry; Characterization of Drug-Protein Interactions by Chemoproteomics; Phosphorylation; Large-Scale Phosphoproteomics; and Probing Glycoforms of Individual Proteins Using Antibody-Lectin Sandwich Arrays. Presents a comprehensive and coherent review of the major issues in proteomic technology development, bioinformatics, strategic approaches, and applications Chapters offer a rigorous overview with summary of limitations, emerging approaches, questions, and realistic future industry and basic science applications Features new coverage of mass spectrometry for high throughput proteomic measurements, and novel quantitation strategies such as spectral counting and stable isotope labeling Discusses higher level integrative aspects, including technical challenges and applications for drug discovery Offers new chapters on biomarker discovery, global phosphorylation analysis, proteomic profiling using antibodies, and single cell mass spectrometry Proteomics for Biological Discovery is an excellent advanced resource for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and scientists across all the major fields of biomedical science.

This book focuses on proteomics biomarker discovery and validation procedures from the clinical perspective. It provides an overview of current technology and the challenges encountered throughout the process. This covers all key stages, from biomarker discovery and validation, through to registration with the European and US regulatory authorities (FDA and EMEA). All the important elements (such as patient selection, sample handling, data processing, and statistical analysis) are described in detail and the reader is introduced to each topic with well-described examples or guidelines for best practice. Case studies are also included to demonstrate clinical applications. Individual chapters explain the best performing techniques for profiling complex body fluids and biomarker discovery. This includes the application of mass spectrometry imaging combined with chromatography in profiling platforms and the use of laser micro dissection and MALDI imaging to study tissues in their natural environment. Future developments needed to improve the success rate of translating biomarker discovery into useful clinical tests are also discussed. Common pitfalls and success stories are described as are the limitations of the various technologies involved. Broad and interdisciplinary in approach, this book provides an excellent source of information for industrial and academic researchers, and those managing biobanks.

Polyploidy – whole-genome duplication (WGD) – is a fundamental driver of biodiversity with significant consequences for genome structure, organization, and evolution. Once considered a speciation process common only in plants, polyploidy is now recognized to have played a major role in the structure, gene content, and evolution of most eukaryotic genomes. In fact, the diversity of eukaryotes seems closely tied to multiple WGDs. Polyploidy generates new genomic interactions – initially resulting in “genomic and transcriptomic shock” – that must be resolved in a new polyploid lineage. This process essentially acts as a “reset” button, resulting in genomic changes that may ultimately promote adaptive speciation. This book brings together for the first time the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of polyploid genome evolution with syntheses of the patterns and processes of genome evolution in diverse polyploid groups. Because polyploidy is most common and best studied in plants, the book emphasizes plant models, but recent studies of vertebrates and fungi are providing fresh perspectives on factors that allow polyploid speciation and shape polyploid genomes. The emerging paradigm is that polyploidy – through alterations in genome structure and gene regulation – generates genetic and phenotypic novelty that manifests itself at the chromosomal, physiological, and organismal levels, with long-term ecological and evolutionary consequences.

This book contains a compilation of papers presented at the II International Conference on Environmental, Industrial and Applied Microbiology (BioMicroWorld2007) held in Seville, Spain on 28 November - 1 December 2007, where over 550 researchers from about 60 countries attended and presented their cutting-edge research. The main goals of this book are to: (1) identify new approaches and research opportunities in applied microbiology, presenting works that link microbiology with research areas usually related to other scientific and engineering disciplines; and (2) communicate current research priorities and progress in the field. The contents of this book mirror this focus.Microbiologists interested in environmental, industrial and applied microbiology and, in general, scientists whose research fields are related to applied microbiology can find an overview of the current state of the art in the topic. In addition to the more general topic, some chapters are devoted to specific branches of microbiology research, such as bioremediation; biosurfactants; microbial factories; biotechnologically relevant enzymes and proteins; microbial physiology, metabolism and gene expression; and future bioindustries.

As natural phenomena are being probed and mapped in ever-greater detail, scientists in genomics and proteomics are facing an exponentially growing vol­ ume of increasingly complex-structured data, information, and knowledge. Ex­ amples include data from microarray gene expression experiments, bead-based and microfluidic technologies, and advanced high-throughput mass spectrom­ etry. A fundamental challenge for life scientists is to explore, analyze, and interpret this information effectively and efficiently. To address this challenge, traditional statistical methods are being complemented by methods from data mining, machine learning and artificial intelligence, visualization techniques, and emerging technologies such as Web services and grid computing. There exists a broad consensus that sophisticated methods and tools from statistics and data mining are required to address the growing data analysis and interpretation needs in the life sciences. However, there is also a great deal of confusion about the arsenal of available techniques and how these should be used to solve concrete analysis problems. Partly this confusion is due to a lack of mutual understanding caused by the different concepts, languages, methodologies, and practices prevailing within the different disciplines.

Written by recognized experts in the study of proteins,Proteomics for Biological Discovery begins bydiscussing the emergence of proteomics from genome sequencingprojects and a summary of potential answers to be gained fromproteome-level research. The tools of proteomics, from conventionalto novel techniques, are then dealt with in terms of underlyingconcepts, limitations and future directions. An invaluable sourceof information, this title also provides a thorough overview of thecurrent developments in post-translational modification studies,structural proteomics, biochemical proteomics, microfabrication,applied proteomics, and bioinformatics relevant to proteomics. • Presents a comprehensive and coherent review of the majorissues faced in terms of technology development, bioinformatics,strategic approaches, and applications • Chapters offer a rigorous overview with summary of limitations,emerging approaches, questions, and realistic future industry andbasic science applications • Discusses higher level integrative aspects, including technicalchallenges and applications for drug discovery • Accessible to the novice while providing experiencedinvestigators essential information Proteomics for Biological Discovery is anessential resource for students, postdoctoral fellows, andresearchers across all fields of biomedical research, includingbiochemistry, protein chemistry, molecular genetics,cell/developmental biology, and bioinformatics.

Chemical BiologyTechniques and Applications Written by a team of international researchers and teachers at the cutting edge of chemical biology research, this book provides an exciting, comprehensive introduction to a wide range of chemical and physical techniques with applications in areas as diverse as molecular biology, signal transduction, drug discovery and medicine. Techniques include; Cryo-electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry in the study of lipid structures, membrane potentials and membrane probes, identification and quantification of lipids using mass spectroscopy, liquid state NMR, solid state NMR in biomembranes, molecular dynamics, two dimensional infra-red studies of biomolecules, single and two-photon fluorescence, optical tweezers, PET imaging and chemical genetics. key Features a unique guide to the rapidly evolving, interdisciplinary field of chemical biology. adopts a modular structure for maximum flexibility. addresses relevant, topical chemical biological questions throughout. includes stunning illustrations in full colour. associated website with PowerPoint slides of figures within the book. Chemical Biology: Techniques and Applications will provide an invaluable resource for final year undergraduate and post graduate bioscience and biomedical science students and pharmaceutical researchers with an interest in this fascinating, and ever changing field.

A compendium of thirty-four powerful techniques for identifying and analyzing the diversity of proteins expressed in cells. Thee readily reproducible proteomic methods range from general to specific techniques, and include methods for data analysis, posttranslational modification, and its variants and isoforms. Additional methods demonstrate the application of proteomics to the discovery of serological tumor markers, to identifying the determinants of sensitivity to antitumor drugs, and to specialized fields, such as endocrinology, plant biology, nephrology, and urology.