Cytology and Cell Physiology


Book Description

Cytology and Cell Physiology, Third Edition focuses on cell cytology and physiology as well as recent advances in the techniques in studying cells, including microscopy. It also describes cell membranes, surface, and physiology; cytoplasmic constituents; nucleus and nucleocytoplasmic reactions; enzyme histochemistry and cytochemistry; viruses within cells; and morphology of the cancer cell. Organized into 13 chapters, this edition begins with a historical overview of cytology, the template hypothesis of protein synthesis, and the respiratory function of mitochondria. It then discusses the subcellular components and their centrifugal isolation, some general principles of microscopy, selected physical and physicochemical methods, applications of enzyme histochemistry to electron microscopy, and structure and physical properties of the plasma membrane. The remaining chapters focus on the endoplasmic reticulum, the Golgi apparatus, the nucleus and its role in cell metabolism, RNA synthesis and movement, the behavior of viruses within cells, and pathological changes in cells. The book concludes with a chapter on the function and metabolism of cancer cells. This book is highly recommended to cytologists, investigators in the field of pathology, and graduate students in biology, biochemistry, physiology, and anatomy.




Cytochemical Bioassays


Book Description

Cytochemical Bioassays: Techniques and Clinical Applications describes the techniques and clinical applications of cytochemical bioassays, particularly with respect to polypeptide hormones. This book discusses the clinical and research implications of studies that use these techniques. This text is comprised of 14 chapters; the first of which introduces the reader to the origins and general principles of cytochemical bioassays, along with their advantages. This discussion is followed by a chapter that explains what is meant by ""an assay""; for what purpose assays are done; the basic components of an assay method; and the nature of the difference between in vivo and in vitro hormone bioassays, in vitro ligand assays, and enzyme assays. Attention then turns to the techniques of cytochemical bioassays and the cytochemical bioassay procedures for adrenocorticotropic hormones; thyroid-stimulating hormones; the thyroid-stimulating antibody of Graves' disease; thyroid growth stimulating and blocking immunoglobulins; and luteinizing hormones. The next chapters focus on the technique and clinical relevance of a cytochemical bioassay for gastrin-like activity and for measurement of antidiuretic hormones, parathyroid hormones, angiotensin II, natriuretic hormones, and hypothalamic regulating hormones. This book will be of interest to clinicians and practitioners of biology, biochemistry, and endocrinology.




The Plant Plasma Membrane


Book Description

The plasma membrane forms the living barrier between the cell and its surroundings. For this reason it has a wide range of important functions related to the regulation of the composition of the cell interior and to com munication with the cell exterior. The plasma membrane has therefore attracted a lot of research interest. Until the early 1970's it was only pos sible to study the plasma membrane in situ, its structure e. g. by electron microscopy and its function e. g. by uptake of radioactively labeled com pounds into the intact cell or tissue. The first isolation of plant protoplasts by enzymatic digestion of the cell wall in the early 1970's was an important step forward in that it provided direct access to the outer surface of the plasma membrane. More importantly, T. K. Hodges and R. J. Leonard in 1972 published the description of a method by which a fraction enriched in plasma membranes could be isolated from plant tissues using sucrose gradient centrifugation. As a result, the 1970's saw a leap forward in our understanding of the structurc and function of the plasma membrane. In 1981, S. Widell and C. Larsson published the first of a series of papers in which plasma membrane vesicles of high yield and purity were isolated from a wide range of plant tissues using aqueous polymer two-phase parti tioning.




The Leukemia-Lymphoma Cell Line Factsbook


Book Description

The Leukemia-Lymphoma Cell Line Factsbook represents an essential reference manual for all of the well-characterized leukemia-lymphoma cell lines currently available. It provides the most important facts, using the succinct and user-friendly format that has made the FactsBooks so popular with scientists and clinical researchers. Introductory chapters provide background and perspective for culturing malignant hematopoietic (blood forming) cell lines. These chapters are followed by over 400 comprehensive individual entries. Each cell line entry highlights essential clinical, immunological, genetic, and functional features and includes a comprehensive listing of references. - The full spectrum of malignant cell lines from all hematopoietic cell lineages - Sister cell lines and relevant subclones - Clinical data: patient, diagnosis, treatment status, and specimen source - Authentication of derivation and availability - Immunophenotype - Cytogenetic karyotype - Translocations and fusion genes - Receptor gene rearrangements and genetic alterations - Cell cultures aspects: establishment, medium, doubling time, growth - Cytochemical profile - Cytokine production and response to cytokines - Proto-oncogene and transcription factor expression/alteration - Functional features: differentiation induction, heterotransplantability - Special unique features - Key references




Freeze-Fracture Studies of Membranes


Book Description

This volume is a kind of celebration of the progress of freeze-fracture electron microscopy in recent years. Many of the authors are leaders of the advancing front. Instead of offering an instruction manual of how to perform new techniques or a review to recover what has happened in the past in respect fields, both which are abundantly available as journal articles and monographs, this volume is a collection of personal testimonies as examples of the power of the new freeze-fracture technology. Since each chapter also centres around specific biological problem, it also serves to illustrate how much the understanding of the problem has been advanced by the new freeze-fracture methodology, which is most cases is developed by the author(s) themselves. A characteristic of frontier development is that many chapters are dealing with controversial subjects. The Inclusion of these subjects in the volume represents the dynamic nature of the subject as viewed by the authors rather than the final verdicts of the subject matter.




Cellular Biology of Ectoenzymes


Book Description

Cells do not normally live as single entities but are grouped together in specific functional and structural configurations in various tissues. Intra cellular mechanisms maintain cellular viability and provide the means necessary for their specific cellular functions. The interaction between cells is maintained by mechanisms involving extracellular signalling. Such extracellular mechanisms may include special properties of the cell surface which involve immediate cell contact, but may also represent mechanisms which act at a distance and are mediated via special secretions and/or re ceptors. Recent studies on cell-cell contact have tended to stress cell sur face components directly mediating cellular interactions; the extracellular medium as a metabolically active compartment has been rather neglected. However, it represents a vital medium through which cells communicate, being important in, for example, chemotaxis in primitive organisms, and in devel~ment and in the coordination of multiple functions in multi cellular 0 ganisms. It is not surprising, therefore, that a number of mole cular me anisms have developed together with increasing biological complexi during evolution. Two aspects of the extracellular space have received increasing attention in the last few years. First, several macro molecules such as collagen, laminin and fibronectin have been identified as components of an extracellular matrix giving a structural dimension to the extracellular compartment.




Introduction to Electron Microscopy for Biologists


Book Description

This volume demonstrates how cellular and associated electron microscopy contributes to knowledge about biological structural information, primarily at the nanometer level. It presents how EM approaches complement both conventional structural biology (at the high end, angstrom level of resolution) and digital light microscopy (at the low end, 100-200 nanometers). Basic techniques in transmission and scanning electron microscopy Detailed chapters on how to use electron microscopy when dealing with specific cellular structures, such as the nucleus, cell membrane, and cytoskeleton Discussion on electron microscopy of viruses and virus-cell interactions




The Nucleus


Book Description

This volume presents detailed, recently-developed protocols ranging from isolation of nuclei to purification of chromatin regions containing single genes, with a particular focus on some less well-explored aspects of the nucleus. The methods described include new strategies for isolation of nuclei, for purification of cell type-specific nuclei from a mixture, and for rapid isolation and fractionation of nucleoli. For gene delivery into and expression in nuclei, a novel gentle approach using gold nanowires is presented. As the concentration and localization of water and ions are crucial for macromolecular interactions in the nucleus, a new approach to measure these parameters by correlative optical and cryo-electron microscopy is described. The Nucleus, Second Edition presents methods and software for high-throughput quantitative analysis of 3D fluorescence microscopy images, for quantification of the formation of amyloid fibrils in the nucleus, and for quantitative analysis of chromosome territory localization. Written in the successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible protocols, and notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and easily accessible, The Nucleus, Second Edition seeks to serve both professionals and novices with its well-honed methods for the study of the nucleus.




Comparative Biology of the Normal Lung


Book Description

Comparative Biology of the Normal Lung, Second Edition, offers a rigorous and comprehensive reference for all those involved in pulmonary research. This fully updated work is divided into sections on anatomy and morphology, physiology, biochemistry, and immunological response. It continues to provide a unique comparative perspective on the mammalian lung. This edition includes several new chapters and expanded content, including aging and development of the normal lung, mechanical properties of the lung, genetic polymorphisms, the comparative effect of stress of pulmonary immune function, oxygen signaling in the mammalian lung and much more. By addressing scientific advances and critical issues in lung research, this 2nd edition is a timely and valuable work on comparative data for the interpretation of studies of animal models as compared to the human lung. - Edited and authored by experts in the field to provide an excellent and timely review of cross-species comparisons that will help you interpret and compare data from animal studies to human findings - Incorporates lung anatomy and physiology, cell specific interactions and immunological responses to provide you with a single and unique multidisciplinary source on the comparative biology of the normal lung - Includes new and expanded content on neonatal and aged lungs, developmental processes, cell signaling, antioxidants, airway cells, safety pharmacology and much more - Section IV on Physical and Immunological Defenses has been significantly updated with 9 new chapters and an increased focus on the pulmonary immunological system




Neural Membranes


Book Description

One of the most active and productive areas of biological science in the past decade has been the study of the biochemical and biophysical prop erties of cell membranes. There is little doubt that membranes are essen tial components of all cellular systems and that each type of membrane manifests specific and characteristic cellular functions. In the nervous system, important events such as neurotransmission, receptor binding, ion transport, axonal transport, and cell uptake are all known to take place within the neural cell membrane. Phospholipids, one of the major components of membranes, not only provide the membrane with its structural integrity and physical proper ties, but also play an important role in regulating membrane function. Attention has recently been focused on the asymmetric localization of these molecules, the identification of discrete metabolic pools of phospholipids within the membrane matrix, and their involvement in sig nal transmission. Although synaptic membranes generally lack an active mechanism for the de novo biosynthesis of phospholipids, a number of enzymic routes are present for their interconversions and for facilitating metabolic turnover. Metabolites generated during the interconversion reactions may also exert a great influence in modulating membrane func tions. The phosphogylcerides of neural membranes are especially enriched in polyunsaturated fatty acids. However, only very small amounts of these fatty acids are present in the free form, and they are maintained in dynamic equilibrium with the membrane phospholipids.