Biokemi

Oncogenic transcription factors are an increasingly important target for anticancer therapies. Inhibiting these transcription factors could allow tumour cells to be "e;reprogrammed"e;, leading to apoptosis or differentiation from the malignant phenotype. As the use of kinase inhibitors is gradually declining, transcription factor inhibition is the next hot topic for oncology research and merits much attention. This book highlights recent progress in the development of small-molecule inhibitors of oncogenic transcription factors. It also presents the evidence that this important protein class can be modulated in a number of ways to develop novel classes of therapeutic agents. The broad range of aspects covered by the book is noteworthy and renders it enormously valuable. This title serves as a unique reference book for postgraduates, academic researchers and practitioners working in the fields of biochemistry, biotechnology, cell and molecular biology and bio-inorganic chemistry.

Emil Fischer war erster deutscher Chemie-Nobelpreistr ger im Jahre 1902. In seiner Biograhie beschreibt er seinen beeindruckenden Werdegang. Er erhielt den Nobelpreis als Anerkennung des au erordentlichen Verdienstes, das er sich durch seine Arbeiten auf dem Gebiet der Zucker- und Purin-Gruppen erworben hat.

Almen biokemi er en lærebog for dem, der ønsker en detaljeret indføring i den humane metabolisme ved vægt på energistofskiftet. Bogen indeholder alle væsentlige aspekter af den humane metabolisme, og størstedelen af bogen er således en grundig indføring i de metaboliske hovedveje. Det vil sige omsætning af protein, fedt og kulhydrat og disses byggesten samt herunder omsætningsvejenes regulering og energiforhold. For at sikre en dybere forståelse af de termodynamiske og enzymologiske aspekter af energistofskiftet er der særskilte kapitler om disse emner. Hertil er der henvisninger i resten af bogen, som man kan bruge efter behov. Bogen slutter af med kapitler om alkoholomsætning, blodkoagulation og hormon­receptorer. Sidstnævnte kapitel rummer en grundig gennemgang af signaleringsmekanismerne for de metabolisk vigtige hormoner. Den traditionelle celle- og molekylærbiologi er ikke en del af bogen, men et kapitel om cellebiologi omhandler de begreber omkring fx DNA-, RNA- og protein­syntese, som er nødvendige for at forstå den metaboliske biokemi (fx regulation af genekspression). Bogen rummer også en gennemgang af cellernes opbygning, byggesten og organeller – igen målrettet de begreber, der også har betydning for forståelsen af den metaboliske biokemi. Bogen er velegnet for alle, der ønsker et grundigt kendskab til den humane biokemi med vægt på energistofskiftet og dets regulation. Den er skrevet som lærebog til undervisning i almen biokemi for tandlægestuderende ved Københavns Universitet, men kan være af interesse på mange andre uddannelser, hvor menneskets energiomsætning er vigtig, fx idrætsuddannelser. I forhold til første udgave er der sket en omfattende redigering af teksten, idet der dog ikke er ændret i indhold og omfang.

Oxygen (O ) appeared in significant amounts in the Earth's atmosphere over 2. 2 2 billion years ago, largely due to the evolution of photosynthesis by cyanobacteria (Halliwell 2006). The O molecule is a free radical, as it has two impaired electrons 2 that have the same spin quantum number. This spin restriction makes O prefer to 2 accept its electrons one at a time, leading to the generation of the so-called reactive oxygen species (ROS). The chemical nature of these species dictates that they can create damage in cells. This has contributed to the creation of the "e;oxidative stress"e; concept; in this view, ROS are unavoidable toxic products of O metabolism and 2 aerobic organisms have evolved antioxidant defences to protect against this tox- ity (Halliwell 1981; Fridovich 1998). Indeed, even in present-day plants, which are full of antioxidants, much of the protein synthetic activity of chloroplasts is used to replace oxidatively damaged D1 and other proteins (Halliwell 2006). Yet, the use of the "e;oxidative stress"e; term implies that ROS exert their effects through indiscriminate widespread inactivation of cellular functions. In this context, ROS must not be able to react with lipids, proteins or nucleic acids in order to avoid any damage to vital cellular components. However, genetic evidence has suggested that, in planta, purely physicoche- cal damage may be more limited than previously thought (Foyer and Noctor 2005).

This book of the proceedings of the 1997 NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) on Direct Methods for Solving Macromolecular Structures was assembled from the lecturers' contributions and represents a comprehensive and in-depth overview of crystallographic structure determination methods for macromolecules. While having a focus based on the direct methods, the Institute adopted an inclusive and broad perspective. Thus, both direct and experimental phasing techniques are presented in this book, highlighting their complementarities and synergies. As weil, methodologies spanning the full crystallographic image reconstruction process - from low resolution envelope definition to high resolution atomic refinement- are discussed. The first part of the book introduces the array of tools currently used in structure determination, whether originating from a mathematical, computational or experimental framework. This section of the book displays the variety and ingenuity of old and new phasing approaches developed to solve increasingly complex structures. Some of the contributions focus on recent developments and/or implementations that have given older approaches a new life. A case in point is the re-implementation of Buerger's superposition approach, which is now solving protein structures. Another beautiful example is found in the introduction to the traditional multiple isomorphous replacement approach where new techniques, such as site-directed mutagenesis and the use of inert gases in the preparation of heavy atom derivatives, are described. Equally impressive are the presentations of newer approaches, which take advantage of advances on the experimental front (e. g.

G.HAINNAUX Departement Milieu et Activites Agricoles, Centre ORSTOM, 911 Avenue d' Agropolis, B.P. 5045, 34032 Montpellier Cedex , France. Solid state fermentation, popularly abbreviated as SSF, is currently investigated by many groups throughout the world. The study of this technique was largely neglected in the past in European and Western countries and there is now a high demand for SSF, meaning in food, environment, agricultural, phannaceutical and many other biotechnological applications. It gives me satisfaction to note that the importance of this technique was realised at my department way back in 1975 since then, our team has put concentrated efforts on developing this technique. xvii Foreword Advances in Solid State Fermentation Foreword M. PUYGRENIER Agropolis Valorisation, Avenue d' Agropolis, 34394 Montpellier Cedex 5, France. On the name of the Scientific Community, I would like to express the wish that this International Symposium on SSF should be successful. Solid State Fermentation is part of biotechnology research. It consists on seeding solid culture medium with bacteria or fungi (filamentous or higher) and on producing, in this medium (solid components and exudates) metabolites and high value products. In fact, this process is very old. In older industries such the food and agricultural, this technique has been extensively used. An example of this is the production of pork sausages and Roquefort cheese. Pharmaceutical industry could make extensive use of SSF in the production of secondary metabolites of many kinds and development in this direction is soon expected.

The beginnings of human civili zation can be traced back to the time , ne- ly 12 ,000 years ago , when th e early humans gradually ch anged from a life of hunting and gathering food , to producing food. This beginning of pri- tive agriculture ensured a dependable supply of food , and fostered the living together of people in groups and the development of s o c i e ty. During th is time, plant s e e ds were recognized a s a valuable s o ur c e of food and nutrition , and began to be used for growing plants for food. Ever s i n c e , plant seeds have played an important role in the development of the human civilization . Even today, s e e ds of a few crop s p e c i e s , s uc h as the cereals and legume s, are the primary s o u r c e of most human food , and the predominant commodity in international agriculture. Owing to their great importance as food for human s and in international trade , seeds have been a favorite object of s t u d y by developmental biologists and physiologi sts , nutritionist s and chem i sts . A wealth of useful information i s available on th e biology of seed s .

The first four volumes of Pseudomonas series covered the biology of pseudomonads in a wide context, including the niches they inhabit, the taxonomic relations among members of this group, the molecular biology of gene expression in different niches and under different environmental conditions, the analysis of virulence traits in plants, animals and human pathogens as well as the determinants that make some strains useful for biotechnological applications and promotion of plant growth.Pseudomonas volume 5 is intended to collect new information on the genomics of saprophytic soil Pseudomonas, as well as functions related to genomic islands. Pseudomonas are ubiquitous inhabitants and this volume explores life styles in different settings and sheds further insights on the wide metabolic potential of this microbe for the removal of pollutants and production of added-value products. This volume also explores how Pseudomonas responds and reacts to environmental signals, including detection of cell density. This fifth volume covers the following topics:GenomicsPhysiology and metabolismDatabasesGene regulationPathogenesisCatabolism and biotransformations.Pseudomonas volume 5 will be of use to researchers working on these bacteria, particularly those studying virulence, genomics, physiology, biotechnology, biotransformations, etc. Advanced students in biology, medicine and agronomy will also find this volume a valuable reference during their studies.

Combining an ecosystems approach with new insights at the molecular and biochemical level, this book presents the latest findings on how plants respond, physiologically, to sulfur in their environment. It explores key areas - such as biotic and abiotic interactions, adaptations to fluctuating supply, and sulfur's role in plant metabolic networks - to assess the functions and implications of this essential plant nutrient in a range of natural, semi-natural and anthropogenic environments.Leaders in the field, Hawkesford and de Kok, draw together an international group of experts in plant sulfur nutrition, to collate and integrate new information from molecular biology, ecology and physiology. The result is an important new reference on the relationships between plants and sulfur at all levels - including contributions arising from recent 'omic' approaches. With implications for issues such as agriculture, forestry, water management and ecosystem restoration, this book is relevant to a wide audience, from graduate level students and researchers, to policy makers and practitioners.

Genomes and Genomics of Nitrogen-fixing Organisms This is Volume 3 of a seven-volume series on all aspects of Nitrogen Fixation. The series aims to be the definitive authority in the field and to act as a benchmark for some years to come. Rather than attempting to cram the whole field into a single volume, the subject matter is divided among seven volumes to allow authors the luxury of writing in depth with a comprehensive reference base. All authors are recognized practicing scientists in the area of their contribution, which ensures the high quality, relevance, and readability of the chapters. In establishing the rationale for, and the organization of, this book, we realized the need to divide it into two sections. The first section should be organism based and should review our current knowledge of the genomes of nitrogen-fixing organisms and what these nucleotide sequences tell us. The second section should then be technology based. It should review what technologies are available to mine the data inherent in the nucleotide sequences and how they are now being used to produce gene-function data from differential gene expression.

Sequence - Evolution - Function is an introduction to the computational approaches that play a critical role in the emerging new branch of biology known as functional genomics. The book provides the reader with an understanding of the principles and approaches of functional genomics and of the potential and limitations of computational and experimental approaches to genome analysis. Key topics covered in this textbook are: *the completed and ongoing genome sequencing projects, *databases that store and organize genomic data, with their unique advantages and pitfalls, *principles and methods of genome analysis and annotation, *ways to automate the searches and increase search sensitivity while minimizing the error rate, *the first lessons from the Human Genome Project, *the contribution of comparative genomics to the understanding of hereditary diseases and cancer, *fundamental and practical applications of comparative genomics, *the use of complete genomes for evolutionary analysis, *the application of comparative genomics for identification of potential drug targets in microbial genomes, *Problems for Further Study, which are designed to be solved by using methods available through the WWW. Sequence - Evolution - Function should help bridge the "e;digital divide"e; between biologists and computer scientists, allowing biologists to better grasp the peculiarities of the emerging field of Genome Biology and to learn how to benefit from the enormous amount of sequence data available in the public databases. The book is non-technical with respect to the computer methods for genome analysis and discusses these methods from the user's viewpoint, without addressing mathematical and algorithmic details. Prior practical familiarity with the basic methods for sequence analysis is a major advantage, but a reader without such experience will be able to use the book as an introduction to these methods. This book is perfect for introductory level courses in computational methods for comparative and functional genomics.