A. Sitaramayya – Signal Transduction Pathways, Mechanisms and Diseases (2010)

Автор: A. Sitaramayya
Название книги: Signal Transduction Pathways, Mechanisms and Diseases
Формат: PDF
Жанр: Медицина
Страницы: 429
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

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.

Teaching a graduate course on signal transduction in the fall of 2007 was very
enjoyable. Each week, my students and I discussed a recently published research
paper in some area of signaling, argued about the appropriateness of the methodology
used in the research, the design of the experiments, and whether the conclusions
drawn were supported by the results presented. Finally, each student was
asked to list what was good and what was deficient in the paper and whether she/he
would have accepted or rejected it had she/he reviewed it for publication. For a
good number of recent papers, a consistent complaint of the students was that the
background to the research was not adequately described. It can of course be argued
that students should research the background. Either way, the need for a good
source of background material in order to appreciate the research presented in a
paper became apparent to me and was the inspiration for developing this book.
The goal in bringing this book was to provide students with a review of recent
developments in specific areas of current interest in signal transduction, sufficiently
in depth to make recent research publications accessible. However, given the wide
range of research topics being investigated today in signaling, a choice had to be
made to focus on a select few. This choice was made not only keeping the current
research interest in mind, but also with the anticipation that these areas will
continue to be of interest over the next several years.
In choosing papers for discussion in my class, I look for health-relatedness of the
research, and that is reflected in the list of the broad areas covered in this book – G
protein coupled receptors, growth factors, nuclear receptors, reactive oxygen and
nitrogen species, cell cycle and cancer; the emphasis has been on areas of signaling
research with immediate clinical significance. I believe this book will serve well as
supplemental reading material for undergraduate and graduate students with similar
interest.
Another area covered in this book, one not often highlighted in signal transduction
books, is that of signaling platforms, which is emerging as a significant area of
research relevant to cellular metabolism, cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis,
neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. The authors contributing to this book
are experts and active contributors to research in their specific areas of signaling.
I would like to thank them for their contributions and their suggestions in the
development of the book. I would like to acknowledge the help of Frank Tedeschi,
a student in my department, who assisted in editing the manuscripts and in preparing
the index. I would also like to thank Dr. Sabine Schwarz, Life Sciences Editor at
Springer Verlag, and Dr. Jutta Lindenborn who have been very helpful at every
stage of production of this book.