Query: Cell and Molecular Biology

title: Cell and Molecular Biology

title: Water is an active matrix of life for cell and molecular biology
abstract: Szent Gyorgi called water the "matrix of life" and claimed that there was no life without it. This statement is true, as far as we know, on our planet, but it is not clear whether it must hold throughout the cosmos. To evaluate that question requires a close consideration of the many varied and subtle roles that water plays in living cells a consideration that must be free of both an assumed essentialism that gives water an almost mystical life giving agency and a traditional tendency to see it as a merely passive solvent. Water is a participant in the "life of the cell," and here I describe some of the features of that active agency. Water's value for molecular biology comes from both the structural and dynamic characteristics of its status as a complex, structured liquid as well as its nature as a polar, protic, and amphoteric reagent. Any discussion of water as life's matrix must, however, begin with an acknowledgment that our understanding of it as both a liquid and a solvent is still incomplete.

title: Biochemistry and molecular cell biology of diabetic complications
abstract: Diabetes specific microvascular disease is a leading cause of blindness, renal failure and nerve damage, and diabetes accelerated atherosclerosis leads to increased risk of myocardial infarction, stroke and limb amputation. Four main molecular mechanisms have been implicated in glucose mediated vascular damage. All seem to reflect a single hyperglycaemia induced process of overproduction of superoxide by the mitochondrial electron transport chain. This integrating paradigm provides a new conceptual framework for future research and drug discovery.

title: Euglena: Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology
abstract: Euglenids (Excavata, Discoba, Euglenozoa, Euglenida) is a group of freeliving, single celled flagellates living in the aquatic environments. The uniting and unique morphological feature of euglenids is the presence of a cell covering called the pellicle. The morphology and organization of the pellicle correlate well with the mode of nutrition and cell movement. Euglenids exhibit diverse modes of nutrition, including phagotrophy and photosynthesis. Photosynthetic species (Euglenophyceae) constitute a single subclade within euglenids. Their plastids embedded by three membranes arose as the result of a secondary endosymbiosis between phagotrophic eukaryovorous euglenid and the Pyramimonas related green alga. Within photosynthetic euglenids three evolutionary lineages can be distinguished. The most basal lineage is formed by one mixotrophic species, Rapaza viridis. Other photosynthetic euglenids are split into two groups: predominantly marine Eutreptiales and freshwater Euglenales. Euglenales are divided into two families: Phacaceae, comprising three monophyletic genera (Discoplastis, Lepocinclis, Phacus) and Euglenaceae with seven monophyletic genera (Euglenaformis, Euglenaria, Colacium, Cryptoglena, Strombomonas, Trachelomonas, Monomorphina) and polyphyletic genus Euglena. For 150 years researchers have been studying Euglena based solely on morphological features what resulted in hundreds of descriptions of new taxa and many artificial intra generic classification systems. In spite of the progress towards defining Euglena, it still remains polyphyletic and morphologically almost undistinguishable from members of the recently described genus Euglenaria; members of both genera B. Zakrys R. Milanowski A. Karnkowska Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Zwirki i Wigury 101, 02 089 Warsaw, Poland e mail: zakrys@biol.uw.edu.pl 1

title: Nanoparticles and their applications in cell and molecular biology.
abstract: Nanoparticles can be engineered with distinctive composition, size, shape, and surface chemistry to enable novel techniques in a wide range of biological applications. The unique properties of nanoparticles and their behavior in biological milieu also enable exciting and integrative approaches to studying fundamental biological questions. This review will provide an overview of various types of nanoparticles and concepts of targeting nanoparticles. We will also discuss the advantages and recent applications of using nanoparticles as tools for drug delivery, imaging, sensing, and for the understanding of basic biological processes.

title: Molecular Biology of the Cell
abstract: cellular viewpoint. That is all very well. In any case academics will swallow almost anything if it's their job. Even if the botanists of the 18th century, the well intentioned of the 19th century and the latterday enthusiasts of this century believed in the cell, is it an approach that is truly relevant? Such must surely be the attitude of today's sceptical medical students, and of many of their now middle aged predecessors. Well, let a battle scarred predecessor speak. Even a conventional diet of comparative and classical morphology, combined with exposure to prefashionable Eltonian ecology, and a native distrust of big business 'nouvelle vague' biology has not blinkered your reviewer to the virtues of Alberts' Molecular Biology of the Cell. This is undoubtedly a landmark for the student and his teacher in the field of preclinical medicine. Many American undergraduate texts in biochemistry and molecular genetics clearly outsell competing English publications. Only English textbooks in immunology remain popular, and effective sellers in this field. The successful texts in these areas eschew traditional academic contrapuntal argument. The new bestselling formula involves clarity of presentation, the effective use of multi coloured diagrams and the detailed exposition of basic processes. Such didactic approaches suit undergraduates today, and certainly ease the hardship for their seniors needing a refresher

title: Cell and molecular biology of epidermal growth factor receptor.
abstract: The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has been one of the most intensely studied cell surface receptors due to its well established roles in developmental biology, tissue homeostasis, and cancer biology. The EGFR has been critical for creating paradigms for numerous aspects of cell biology, such as ligand binding, signal transduction, and membrane trafficking. Despite this history of discovery, there is a continual stream of evidence that only the surface has been scratched. New ways of receptor regulation continue to be identified, each of which is a potential molecular target for manipulating EGFR signaling and the resultant changes in cell and tissue biology. This chapter is an update on EGFR mediated signaling, and describes some recent developments in the regulation of receptor biology.

title: Cell and molecular biology of septins.
abstract: Septins are a family of GTP binding proteins that assemble into cytoskeletal filaments. Unlike other cytoskeletal components, septins form ordered arrays of defined stoichiometry that can polymerize into long filaments and bundle laterally. Septins associate directly with membranes and have been implicated in providing membrane stability and serving as diffusion barriers for membrane proteins. In addition, septins bind other proteins and have been shown to function as multimolecular scaffolds by recruiting components of signaling pathways. Remarkably, septins participate in a spectrum of cellular processes including cytokinesis, ciliogenesis, cell migration, polarity, and cell pathogen interactions. Given their breadth of functions, it is not surprising that septin abnormalities have also been linked to human diseases. In this review, we discuss the current knowledge of septin structure, assembly and function, and discuss these in the context of human disease.

title: Unicellular eukaryotes as models in cell and molecular biology: critical appraisal of their past and future value.
abstract: Unicellular eukaryotes have been appreciated as model systems for the analysis of crucial questions in cell and molecular biology. This includes Dictyostelium (chemotaxis, amoeboid movement, phagocytosis) Tetrahymena (telomere structure, telomerase function) Paramecium (variant surface antigens, exocytosis, phagocytosis cycle) or both ciliates (ciliary beat regulation, surface pattern formation) Chlamydomonas (flagellar biogenesis and beat) and yeast (S. cerevisiae) for innumerable aspects. Nowadays many problems may be tackled with "higher" eukaryotic/metazoan cells for which full genomic information as well as domain databases, etc. were available long before protozoa. Established molecular tools, commercial antibodies, and established pharmacology are additional advantages available for higher eukaryotic cells. Moreover, an increasing number of inherited genetic disturbances in humans have become elucidated and can serve as new models. Among lower eukaryotes, yeast will remain a standard model because of its peculiarities, including its reduced genome and availability in the haploid form. But do protists still have a future as models? This touches not only the basic understanding of biology but also practical aspects of research, such as fund raising. As we try to scrutinize, due to specific advantages some protozoa should and will remain favorable models for analyzing novel genes or specific aspects of cell structure and function. Outstanding examples are epigenetic phenomena a field of rising interest.

title: Cell and Molecular Biology
abstract: Cell and molecular biology Cell and molecular biology khtbkhnh lkhtrwnykh w dyjytl adhrs