Search

There is an urgent need to uncover new therapies that will protect against malaria, as the parasite becomes increasingly resistant to available drugs and this book offers insights into three interrelated aspects of the malaria-infected erythrocyte: • The transport of solutes into and out of the infected cell and the use of specific trafficking pathways in drug targeting • The traffic of proteins produced by the intracellular parasite as an essential process for the biogenesis of transport systems. • The relationship between the transport of drugs into the infected cell and the mode of drug action and drug resistance.

Gap Junction-Mediated Intercellular Signalling in Health and Disease Chairman: Norton B. Gilula 1999 The last few years have seen considerable progress in this field, and exciting new implications concerning the roles of gap junctional intercellular communication are being raised. It is clear that good communication is essential for normal embryonic development and function in adult organs, although the individual functions of the proteins that form channels (connexins) are not yet fully understood. It is an exciting time in the gap junction field because the associations between failures in gap junction communication and resultant diseases are beginning to emerge. For example, mutations in the major connexin of the heart (C�43) have been found in human patients suffering from visceroatrial heterotaxia syndrome, and mutations in the gene encoding C�32 have been found in patients suffering from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. This book is the first of its kind to highlight the recent progress in understanding gap junction structure, and discuss the specific roles of individual connexins. It brings together an interdisciplinary group of experts who review the role of gap junctions in the heart, the retina and lens, the auditory system, the reproductive system, and cell proliferation and cancer. It will appeal to all those interested in cell biology, embryonic development, neurobiology, cardiology, gynaecology and oncology.

'Homology'as a concept became increasingly elusive during the course of the 20th century. The central debates and controversies concern both fundamental definitions and the nature of the criteria by which homology is judged. Attempts to move away from comparative morphology to ideas based on developmental pathways have tended to founder on the fact that developmental pathways evolve and that similar cells or tissues or structures in animals will often have different developmental origins. The use of information about conserved molecules in seemingly conserved developmental processes has also proven controversial. In molecular biology, the use of the term'homology'has given rise to more debate, although here the issue seems to involve primarily the criteria for assessing whether parts of genes are the same because of shared descent or for other reasons. The contributions to the book explore these topics systematically. There are chapters on the historical development of the concept of homology and its use in population studies. Other chapters deal with issues of homology in morphological and developmental studies, in behavioural studies, and especially in studies at the level of molecular genetics.

Microbial responses to acidic and alkaline pH are important in many areas of bacteriology. For example, the mechanisms of resistance to acidic pH are important in the understanding of the passage of human pathogens through the acid of the stomach; and an understanding of microbial degradation of alkaline industrial waste is important for the environment. Bringing together contributions from an international and interdisciplinary group of experts working on the many aspects of bacterial cellular responses to pH, this stimulating volume draws together new and innovative work in this area. It delineates both similarities and differences between mechanisms of tolerance and response, providing readers with an invaluable resource on the subject.