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At last – a volume that virologists have been waiting for: a fully updated new edition of a major study in a key subject area. The first edition of this work, published in 1997, described the molecular biology of coxsackie B viruses, as well as clinical, epidemiological, and immunological aspects of group B coxsackievirus disease. This brand new edition covers all the research accomplishments of the last ten years in this vital area of medicine, including immunopathology.
RNA technologies are the driving forces of modern medicine and biotechnology. They combine the fields of biochemistry, chemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, physics, nanotechnology and bioinformatics. The combination of these topics is set to revolutionize the medicine of tomorrow. After more than 15 years of extensive research in the field of RNA technologies, the first therapeutics are ready to reach the first patients. Thus we are witnessing the birth of a very exciting time in the development of molecular medicine, which will be based on the methods of RNA technologies. This volume is the first of a series. It covers various aspects of RNA interference and microRNAs, although antisense RNA applications, hammerhead ribozyme structure and function as well as non-coding RNAs are also discussed. The authors are internationally highly respected experts in the field of RNA technologies.
The interplay between tumors and their immunologic microenvironment is complex, difficult to decipher, but its understanding is of seminal importance for the development of novel prognostic markers and therapeutic strategies. The present review discusses tumor-immune interactions in several human cancers that illustrate various aspects of this complexity and proposes an integrated scheme of the impact of local immune reactions on clinical outcome. Current active immunotherapy trials have shown durable tumor regressions in a fraction of patients. However, clinical efficacy of current vaccines is limited, possibly because tumors skew the immune system by means of myeloid-derived suppressor cells, inflammatory type 2 T cells and regulatory T cells (Tregs), all of which prevent the generation of effector cells. To improve the clinical efficacy of cancer vaccines in patients with metastatic disease, we need to design novel and improved strategies that can boost adaptive immunity to cancer, help overcome Tregs and allow the breakdown of the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment.
Nearly 25 years of intensive research have uncovered many diverse functions for the dimeric transcription factor known as NF-kappaB (nuclear factor-kappaB). NF-kappaB affects most aspects of cellular physiology—from immunity and inflammation to apoptosis, cell survival, growth, and proliferation
We are celebrating this year the hundred years ́ anniversary of allergen-specific immunotherapy. In 1911 Leonard Noon published his seminal work “Prophylactic inoculation against hay fever” describing his attempts to achieve active immunity against “grass pollen toxin” by administering increasing doses of grass pollen extract before the grass pollen season to allergic patients. Although it was unknown at that time that allergy represents an immunological hypersensitivity disease, the treatment was effective and many observations made by Noon remained valid until today. Today allergen-specific immunotherapy is well established as the only allergen-specific and disease-modifying treatment for IgE-mediated allergies and has long-lasting effects. In fact, more than 25% of the population suffer from IgE-mediated allergies which therefore represent a major health burden of our society, particularly because untreated allergy often progresses to severe disabling forms of disease, such as asthma and sometimes kills sensitized people through anaphylaxis.
The aim of the issue is to describe and explain the importance of the chemokine system in hematology. The chemokine system is probably important for many aspects of normal as well as malignant hematopoiesis. A major focus is the development and treatment of hematologic malignancies, including the immunobiology of stem cell transplantation. The present reviews illustrate that chemokines can be involved in leukemogenesis. The chemokine system is also important both for the crosstalk between malignant cells and their neighbouring nonmalignant stromal cells (including endothelial cells) as well as for immunoregulation in patients treated with allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Thus, chemokines are important both for the pathogenesis and treatment of hematological diseases.
Mammalian Toll-like receptors (TLRs) were first identified in 1997 based on their homology with Drosophila Toll, which mediates innate immunity in the fly. In recent years, the number of studies describing TLR expression and function in the nervous system has been increasing steadily and expanding beyond their traditional roles in infectious diseases to neurodegenerative disorders and injury. Interest in the field serves as the impetus for this volume in the Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology series entitled "Toll-like receptors: Roles in Infection and Neuropathology". The first five chapters highlight more traditional roles for TLRs in infectious diseases of the CNS. The second h...
Autophagy is a fundamental biological process that enables cells to autodigest their own cytosol during starvation and other forms of stress. It has a growing spectrum of acknowledged roles in immunity, aging, development, neurodegeneration, and cancer biology. An immunological role of autophagy was first recognized with the discovery of autophagy’s ability to sanitize the cellular interior by killing intracellular microbes. Since then, the repertoire of autophagy’s roles in immunity has been vastly expanded to include a diverse but interconnected portfolio of regulatory and effector functions. Autophagy is an effector of Th1/Th2 polarization; it fuels MHC II presentation of cytosolic (s...
Researchers have used a variety of techniques over the past century to gain fun- mental insights in the field of immunology and, as technology has advanced, so too has the ability of researchers to delve deeper into the biological mechanics of immunity. The immune system is exceedingly complex and must patrol the entire body to protect us from foreign invaders. This requires the immune system to be highly mobile and adaptable - able to respond to diverse microbial challenges while maintaining the ability to distinguish self from a foreign invader. This latter feature is of great importance because the immune system is equipped with toxic mediators, and a failure in self/non-self discriminati...
Our gut is colonized by numerous bacteria throughout our life, and the gut epithelium is constantly exposed to foreign microbes and dietary antigens. Thus, the gut epithelium acts as a barrier against microbial invaders and is equipped with various innate defense systems. Resident commensal and foreign invading bacteria interact intimately with the gut epithelium and can impact host cellular and innate immune responses. From the perspective of many pathogenic bacteria, the gut epithelium serves as an infectious foothold and port of entry for disseminate into deeper tissues. In some instances when the intestinal defense activity and host immune system become compromised, even commensal and op...