The use of cells for the treatment of a variety of diseases is no longer a dream. Today, blood transfusion, bone marrow transplantation, the use of ex vivo cultured skin in wound healing, and peripheral stern cell transplantation, including the ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic stern cells after high-dose chemo/radiation therapy, are routine. This high standard of knowledge and skills in cell transplantation might also re sult in tackling hitherto untreatable diseases. Organ transplantati...

Cell biology has made an appreciable impact on the evaluation of physiological and pathophysiological processes leading to a more detailed understanding of the signaling mechanisms by which cells communicate in vivo and in vitro and modify adaptively. By using cell culture models in addition to animal experiments we are now able to better define the overall and the selective potential of drugs. This book is designed to give information on the advantages and limitations and on new aspects a...

As dogmas in stem cell research are losing their impact and recent findings regarding the use and cultivation of stem cells and tissue transplantation have opened up new therapeutic avenues, this Ernst Schering Research Foundation Workshop was initiated to highlight current and future approaches in this field. The only stem cells that have been used clinically for a long time is the hematopoietic stem cell as a source for bone marrow transplantation. Recent findings now indicate that hemat...

Stem Cell Biology in Health and Disease presents an up-to-date overview about the dual role of stem cells in health and disease. The Editors have drawn together an international team of experts providing chapters which, in this fully-illustrated volume, discuss:- the controversial debate on the great expectations concerning stem cell based regeneration therapies raised by the pluripotency of various stem cells.- the advantages and concerns about embryonic st...

There has been major growth in understanding immune suppression mechanisms and its relationship to cancer progression and therapy. This book highlights emerging new principles of immune suppression that drive cancer, and it offers radically new ideas about how therapy can be improved by attacking these principles. Following work that firmly establishes immune escape as an essential trait of cancer, recent studies have now defined specific mechanisms of tumor immune suppression. It also dem...

The need for novel antibiotics is greater now than perhaps any time since the pre-antibiotic era. Indeed, the recent collapse of many pharmaceutical antibacterial groups, combined with the emergence of hypervirulent and pan-antibiotic-resistant bacteria has severely compromised infection treatment options and led to dramatic increases in the incidence and severity of bacterial infections.This collection of reviews and laboratory protocols gives the reader an introduction to the cau...

Most of the antibiotics now in use have been discovered more or less by chance, and their mechanisms of action have only been elucidated after their discovery. To meet the medical need for next-generation antibiotics, a more rational approach to antibiotic development is clearly needed.Opening with a general introduction about antimicrobial drugs, their targets and the problem of antibiotic resistance, this reference systematically covers currently known antibiotic classes, their m...

Stem cell technology is moving forward at a tremendous rate. Recent discoveries have surprised even the most expert researchers. While every piece of new data broadens the current knowledge and contributes to this moving forward, the new data also serve as paradigm shifters of fundamental knowledge of cell biology. While the question ‘What is a Stem Cell’ may now seem to basic to even discuss, there are still some discrepancies, however, between groups in terms of their functional roles. T...

There have been tremendous strides in cellular transplantation in recent years, leading to accepted practice for the treatment of certain diseases, and use for many others in trial phases. The long history of cellular transplantation, or the transfer of cells from one organism or region of the body to another, has been revolutionized by advances in stem cell research, as well as developments in gene therapy. Cellular Transplants: From Lab to Clinic provides a thorough foundation of the bas...

The development of the cardiovascular system is a rapidly advancing area in biomedical research, now coupled with the burgeoning field of cardiac regenerative medicine. A lucid understanding of these fields is paramount to reducing human cardiovascular diseases of both fetal and adult origin. Significant progress can now be made through a comprehensive investigation of embryonic development and its genetic control circuitry. Heart Development and Regeneration, written by experts in the fie...