Junctions

This book summarizes the history and present status and applications of Josephson junctions. These devices are leading elements in superconducting electronics and provide state-of-the-art performance in detection of small magnetic fields and currents, in several digital computing methods, and in medical diagnostic devices and now provide voltage standards used worldwide. Astronomical infrared (IR) telescopes, including the South Pole Telescope, use these junctions in combinations called superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs).

As the first detailed overview of the subject, Tight Junctions brought together diverse perspectives from leading investigators to provide a multidisciplinary overview of the field. Since its publication in 1992, there has been an explosion of information about tight junctions, particularly in the area of molecular structure, cell and molecular biology, genetics and physiology. The field has advanced so fast and so far that it influences many areas of biology and now has practical implications for pharmacology of drug delivery and understanding a wide range of diseases altering epithelial permeability.

The objective in editing this volume was twofold: to provide a reasoned overview of the field as well as to furnish one that provided this overview within the context of the intellectual boundaries of those who initially attempted to define the purview of gap junction research. The latter objective has been realized by selecting the topics for review in this volume. The former objective was achieved by securing the cooperation of leaders in their fields as chapter co-authors.

In addition to chemical links across synapses, neurons can also form direct connections via electrical gap junctions. These channels play a key role in brain development and intercellular communication. Dere (pathophysiology of cerebral aging, U. Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris; AP-HP Hôpital Charles Foix, Centre de Recherche et Développement, Ivry-sur-Seine, France) introduces types of gap junctions, their structural aspects, expression patterns of connexins (transmembrane proteins), and gap junction-related diseases due to mutations in connexin genes. International researchers working in this emerging field discuss specific connexin genes and their mechanisms of action and function in the developing neocortx, behavior, and neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases. The text includes color and b&w illustrations including schematic representations and models. Academic Press is an imprint of Elsevier. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

This volume explores the dynamic topic of tight junctions. The book focuses on tight junctions' role in sealing adjacent epithelial cells in a narrow band just beneath their apical surface. The book explains how tight junctions consist of a network of claudins and other proteins, and delves into how they hold cells together and form functional and protective barriers, regulating the passage of molecules and ions through the space between cells. The book opens with a discussion of the evolution of research on tight junctions, discussing a range of primary areas of growth, including the current knowledge on the particular physiological function of different claudins due to the development of an array of knock out mice. The chapters also explore in-depth studies of tight junctions in specific tissues (gut, lung and endothelia). This book offers a comprehensive understanding on post-translational modifications of occludin and its impact on tight junction function, as well as the molecular composition and function of tricellular tight junctions. This volume is particularly relevant to students and scientists in neuroscience, cell biology, physiology, cell differentiation, and cancer research.

This long-awaited, first comprehensive book on this topic of fundamental importance in our understanding of cancer begins with an overview of cellular junctions, before covering cell-matrix junctions, cell-cell junctions and cell-matrix and cell-cell adhesion in separate sections. Of high interest to cell and molecular biologists, cancer researchers, oncologists, biochemists, pharmaceutists and those working in the pharmaceutical industry.

Research on intercellular communication through gap junctions has continued to expand, and the meeting on which this book is based brought together many scientists from many different countries and disciplines. In line with the objective of the meeting, this volume focuses on the biological meaning of intercellular communication through gap junctions in various organs. The most recent up-to-date findings have been included in this extensive volume, valuable to all those interested in this rapidly expanding field.