Immunobiology Of The Shark

Immunity studies in sharks over the past three decades have produced some remarkable discoveries. If one message rings true, it is that alternative animal model systems, such as sharks and their relatives, have contributed very substantially to a better understanding of the development evolution of our own immune system. Immunobiology of the Shark describes the cellular, genetic, and molecular specifics of immune systems in sharks. Diverse approaches were employed to study the immunobiology of the shark from basic microscopic observations to detailed genome annotation. The book also raises a series of fascinating questions, which can be addressed experimentally using today’s technology. This book will be a valuable resource for mainstream immunologists, comparative immunologists, geneticists, ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and investigators engaged in shark research. The book also aims to illustrate the magnificence of these animals as model systems and underscores the importance of their study to further understand their complex, and often enigmatic, biology.

Immunologists, perhaps understandably, most often concentrate on the human immune system, an anthropocentric focus that has resulted in a dearth of information about the immune function of all other species within the animal kingdom. However, knowledge of animal immune function could help not only to better understand human immunology, but perhaps more importantly, it could help to treat and avoid the blights that affect animals, which consequently affect humans. Take for example the mass death of honeybees in recent years – their demise, resulting in much less pollination, poses a serious threat to numerous crops, and thus the food supply. There is a similar disappearance of frogs internationally, signaling ecological problems, among them fungal infections. This book aims to fill this void by describing and discussing what is known about non-human immunology. It covers various major animal phyla, its chapters organized in a progression from the simplest unicellular organisms to the most complex vertebrates, mammals. Chapters are written by experts, covering the latest findings and new research being conducted about each phylum. Edwin L. Cooper is a Distinguished Professor in the Laboratory of Comparative Immunology, Department of Neurobiology at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine.

This fresh and fascinating exploration of new directions in cancer research focuses on the important role of the immune system in combatting this dread disease. Integrating clues from the animal kingdom, the veterinary clinic, extraordinary human cases, and even embryology, the author—a cancer physician, biologist, and physicist—creates a novel and compelling account of tumor immunology and the promises of immunotherapy. As the author explains, animals offer us many tantalizing clues about the nature of cancer in humans. Tasmanian devils are on the verge of extinction due to a virulent form of contagious cancer; soft-shelled clams on the East coast of North America are vanishing due to another epidemic of contagious cancer; dogs also contract a contagious cancer but they spontaneously overcome it; and a type of mouse and the homely mole rat are not susceptible to the disease at all. In humans, there are rare instances of spontaneous cures of advanced cancers induced by radiation. An uncommon form of dwarfism called Laron syndrome confers total cancer immunity on the people who inherit the condition. And recent research suggests that cancer has stolen the secret that shields the embryo against hostile attacks from the mother’s immune system. The author makes a convincing case that what all of these diverse examples have in common is the immune system and its ability or inability to respond to malignancies. He concludes with a review of the exciting research on the human immune system and the development of new treatments that are inducing the immune system to combat and conquer even the deadliest cancers.

Encyclopedia of Immunobiology, Five Volume Set provides the largest integrated source of immunological knowledge currently available. It consists of broad ranging, validated summaries on all of the major topics in the field as written by a team of leading experts. The large number of topics covered is relevant to a wide range of scientists working on experimental and clinical immunology, microbiology, biochemistry, genetics, veterinary science, physiology, and hematology. The book is built in thematic sections that allow readers to rapidly navigate around related content. Specific sections focus on basic, applied, and clinical immunology. The structure of each section helps readers from a range of backgrounds gain important understanding of the subject. Contains tables, pictures, and multimedia features that enhance the learning process In-depth coverage allows readers from a range of backgrounds to benefit from the material Provides handy cross-referencing between articles to improve readability, including easy access from portable devices

Now thoroughly revised and updated, this comprehensive, up-to-date text is ideal for graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, microbiologists, infectious disease physicians, and any physician who treats diseases in which immunologic mechanisms play a role.

Selected as a Doody's Core Title for 2022! Defining the field of immunology for 40 years, Paul’s Fundamental Immunology continues to provide detailed, authoritative, up-to-date information that uniquely bridges the gap between basic immunology and the disease process. The fully revised 8th edition maintains the excellence established by Dr. William E. Paul, who passed away in 2015, and is now under new editorial leadership of Drs. Martin F. Flajnik, Nevil J. Singh, and Steven M. Holland. It’s an ideal reference and gold standard text for graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, basic and clinical immunologists, microbiologists and infectious disease physicians, and any physician treating diseases in which immunologic mechanisms play a role.

The articles in this volume represent papers delivered by invited speakers at the 6th International Symposium on the Immunobiology of Proteins and Peptides. In addition, a few of the abstracts submitted by participants were scheduled for minisymposia and some of the authors, whose presentations were judged by the Scientific Council to be of high quality, were invited to submit papers for publication in this volume. This symposium was established in 1976 for the purpose of bringing together, once every two or three years, active investigators in the forefront of contemporary immunology, to present their findings and discuss t heir significance in the light of current concepts and to identify important new directions of investigation. The founding of the symposium was stimulated by the achievement of major breakthroughs in the understanding of the immune recognition of proteins and peptides. We believed that these breakthroughs will lead to the creation of a new generation of peptide reagents which should have enormous potential in biological, therapeutic and basic applications. This anticipated explosion has in fact since occurred and many applications of these pep tides are now being realized.