Signal Transduction Research Trends

Signal transduction is any process by which a cell converts one kind of signal or stimulus into another. Processes referred to as signal transduction often involve a sequence of biochemical reactions inside the cell, which are carried out by enzymes and linked through second messengers. In many transduction processes, an increasing number of enzymes and other molecules become engaged in the events that proceed from the initial stimulus. Responses of cells to environmental signals, toxins and stressors have profound implications for diverse aspects of human health and disease including development, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, asthma, heart, autoimmune diseases and cancer. The delineation of the signal transduction pathways affected in these and other complex human diseases are likely to present new avenues for therapeutic intervention and understanding of human disease mechanisms.

Signal transduction is any process by which a cell converts one kind of signal or stimulus into another. Processes referred to as signal transduction often involve a sequence of biochemical reactions inside the cell, which are carried out by enzymes and linked through second messengers. In many transduction processes, an increasing number of enzymes and other molecules become engaged in the events that proceed from the initial stimulus. Responses of cells to environmental signals, toxins and stressors have profound implications for diverse aspects of human health and disease including development, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, asthma, heart, autoimmune diseases and cancer. The delineation of the signal transduction pathways affected in these and other complex human diseases are likely to present new avenues for therapeutic intervention and understanding of human disease mechanisms.

Providing an overview of recent developments in the field of signal transduction, this volume emphasizes direct clinical significance. As such, topics like nuclear receptors, apoptosis, growth factors, cell cycles and cancer are examined.

Signal Transduction is a well-illustrated, coherent look at cellular signaling processes. Beginning with the basics, it explains how cells respond to external cues, hormones, growth factors, cytokines, cell surfaces, etc., and then shows how these inputs are integrated and coordinated. The extensive color artwork provides the reader with a clearer comprehension of key topics, and margin notes are incorporated to highlight milestones in the evolution of signal transduction. This book serves as an invaluable resource for advanced undergraduates, graduate researchers, and established scientists working in cell biology, pharmacology, immunology, and related fields. Coherent, precise text providing insight in depth to a subject that is central to cell biology and fundamental to many areas of biomedicine Extensive conceptual colour artwork assists with the comprehension of key topics Extensive referencing provides an invaluable link to the core and historical literature Margin notes highlighting milestones in the evolution of our understanding of signalling mechanisms

Cancer is a multifaceted disease and overwhelmingly increasing experimental evidence has helped us to develop a deeper understanding of the role of signal transduction cascades in cancer development and progression. Tissue microarrays and next generation sequencing technologies have assisted us to gather missing pieces of jigsaw puzzle and we now know that deregulation of spatio-temporally controlled signaling cascades play fundamental role in metastasis and resistance against wide ranging therapeutics. This book offers a balanced overview of the rapidly emerging cutting edge research in molecular oncology and good source of knowledge for established oncologists, basic and medical students and pharmaceutical industry associated R&D departments.

It is increasingly clear that signal transduction is a highly organized and integrated process. Divided into two convenient sections, Signal Transduction Protocols, Third Edition focuses on experimental approaches to better understand the complexity of signal transduction. Introductory chapters provide perspective on several of the challenges involved in signal transduction research and offer guidance on selecting the best approaches to various types of questions. The individual chapters provide detailed experimental protocols covering various topics, from the effects of ligand binding on receptor conformation and effector coupling, to moving inside the cell in order to capture the spatial and temporal characteristics of signaling events. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular BiologyTM series format, chapters contain introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and accessible, Signal Transduction Protocols serves as an ideal guide to scientists of all backgrounds and is a valuable resource for future progress in the field of signal transduction research.

One of the most exciting areas of cancer research now is the development of agents which can target signal transduction pathways that are activated inappropriately in malignant cells. The understanding of the molecular abnormalities which distinguish malignant cells from their normal counterparts has grown tremendously. This volume summarizes the current research on the role that signal transduction pathways play in the pathogenesis of cancer and how this knowledge may be used to develop the next generation of more effective and less toxic anticancer agents. Series Editor comments: "The biologic behavior of both normal and cancer cells is determined by critical signal transduction pathways. This text provides a comprehensive review of the field. Leading investigators discuss key molecules that may prove to be important diagnostic and/or therapeutic targets."

Interdisciplinarity is more often invoked than practised. This is hardly surprising, considering the daunting vastness of modern biology. To reach a satisfactory understanding of a complex biological system, a wide spectrum of conceptual and experimental tools must be applied at different levels, from the molecular to the cellular, tissue and organismic. We believe the multifaceted regulatory interplay between integrin receptors and ion channels offers a rich and challenging field for researchers seeking broad biological perspectives. By mediating cell adhesion to the extracellular matrix, integrins regulate many developmental processes in the widest sense (from cell choice between differentiation and proliferation, to tissue remodeling and organogenesis). Rapidly growing evidence shows that frequent communication takes place between cell adhesion receptors and channel proteins. This may occur through formation of multiprotein membrane complexes that regulate ion fluxes as well as a variety of intracellular signaling pathways. In other cases, cross talk is more indirect and mediated by cellular messengers such as G proteins. These interactions are reciprocal, in that ion channel stimulation often controls integrin activation or expression. From a functional standpoint, studying the interplay between integrin receptors and ion channels clarifies how the extracellular matrix regulates processes as disparate as muscle excitability, synaptic plasticity and lymphocyte activation, just to mention a few. The derangement of these processes has many implications for pathogenesis processes, in particular for tumor invasiveness and some cardiovascular and neurologic diseases. This book provides a general introduction to the problems and methods of this blossoming field.