Bacterial Cell Wall


Book Description

Studies of the bacterial cell wall emerged as a new field of research in the early 1950s, and has flourished in a multitude of directions. This excellent book provides an integrated collection of contributions forming a fundamental reference for researchers and of general use to teachers, advanced students in the life sciences, and all scientists in bacterial cell wall research. Chapters include topics such as: Peptidoglycan, an essential constituent of bacterial endospores; Teichoic and teichuronic acids, lipoteichoic acids, lipoglycans, neural complex polysaccharides and several specialized proteins are frequently unique wall-associated components of Gram-positive bacteria; Bacterial cells evolving signal transduction pathways; Underlying mechanisms of bacterial resistance to antibiotics.




Chemical Epigenetics


Book Description

This book presents an authoritative review of the most significant findings about all the epigenetic targets (writers, readers, and erasers) and their implication in physiology and pathology. The book also covers the design, synthesis and biological validation of epigenetic chemical modulators, which can be useful as novel chemotherapeutic agents. Particular attention is given to the chemical mechanisms of action of these molecules and to the drug discovery prose which allows their identification. This book will appeal to students who want to know the extensive progresses made by epigenetics (targets and modulators) in the last years from the beginning, and to specialized scientists who need an instrument to quickly search and check historical and/or updated notices about epigenetics.




Chemotherapy of Bacterial Infections


Book Description

Experimental Chemotherapy, Volume II: Chemotherapy of Bacterial Infections: Part I is devoted to the history, development, and progress of experimental chemotherapy of bacterial infections. The subject matter has been arranged according to particular groups of compounds, and in a few instances according to specific diseases. The emphasis of Volume II is placed on synthetic compounds. The literature is covered up to the latter part of 1963. It is hoped that this volume will be found useful by investigators and teachers concerned with experimental work on new substances and by physicians and veterinarians who use them. The book opens with a discussion of chemotherapy with antibacterial dyestuffs. This is followed by separate chapters on the mode of action of antibacterial substances such as sulfonamides, penicillins, and other antibiotics; the main lines on which research into antibacterial drugs has developed; and drug resistance for chemotherapy. Subsequent chapters deal with antibacterial chemotherapy with sulfonamides, the experimental pharmacology and toxicology of sulfonamides, the use of nitrofurans as chemotherapeutic agents, and antibacterial agents of limited action. The final chapters discuss experimental chemotherapy of tuberculosis and leprosy.




Mechanisms of antibiotic resistance


Book Description

Antibiotics represent one of the most successful forms of therapy in medicine. But the efficiency of antibiotics is compromised by the growing number of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Antibiotic resistance, which is implicated in elevated morbidity and mortality rates as well as in the increased treatment costs, is considered to be one of the major global public health threats (www.who.int/drugresistance/en/) and the magnitude of the problem recently prompted a number of international and national bodies to take actions to protect the public (http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_consumer/docs/road-map-amr_en.pdf: http://www.who.int/drugresistance/amr_global_action_plan/en/; http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/carb_national_strategy.pdf). Understanding the mechanisms by which bacteria successfully defend themselves against the antibiotic assault represent the main theme of this eBook published as a Research Topic in Frontiers in Microbiology, section of Antimicrobials, Resistance, and Chemotherapy. The articles in the eBook update the reader on various aspects and mechanisms of antibiotic resistance. A better understanding of these mechanisms should facilitate the development of means to potentiate the efficacy and increase the lifespan of antibiotics while minimizing the emergence of antibiotic resistance among pathogens.




Antibiotics


Book Description

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 molecular mechanisms and the targets on which they act. Novel targets such as cell signaling networks, riboswitches and bacterial chaperones are covered here, alongside the latest information on the molecular mechanisms of current blockbuster antibiotics. With its broad overview of current and future antibacterial drug development, this unique reference is essential reading for anyone involved in the development and therapeutic application of novel antibiotics.




Metal Nanoparticles in Microbiology


Book Description

Following an introduction to biogenic metal nanoparticles, this book presents how they can be biosynthesized using bacteria, fungi and yeast, as well as their potential applications in biomedicine. It is shown that the synthesis of nanoparticles using microbes is eco-friendly and results in reproducible metal nanoparticles of well-defined sizes, shapes and structures. This biotechnological approach based on the process of biomineralization exploits the effectiveness and flexibility of biological systems. Chapters include practical protocols for microbial synthesis of nanoparticles and microbial screening methods for isolating a specific nanoparticle producer as well as reviews on process optimization, industrial scale production, biomolecule-nanoparticle interactions, magnetosomes, silver nanoparticles and their numerous applications in medicine, and the application of gold nanoparticles in developing sensitive biosensors.




Membrane Biochemistry


Book Description

This manual collects in the form of laboratory protocols a series of experiments in the field of Membrane Transport and Membrane Bioenergetics. It represents the experience accumulated during four advanced courses held at the Depart ment of Biochemistry of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology on behalf of Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) in the years 1975 through 1978. The idea of collecting the experiments into a laboratory manual developed as a response to a demand from the students who took part in the courses. Further motivation came with the fmding that, in planning the laboratory sessions, the teaching staff had no organized, modern source of information in the literature. The experiments presented cover most areas of importance in the subject mat ter. Their presentation has been continuously modified in the course of the four years during which the manual took shape, to accommodate to experience and various suggestions. In their present form, all of the experiments described have been repeatedly practiced to optimize their execution. Efforts have been made to combine in the manual classical experiments, and techniques which require relatively unsophisticated instrumentation and can therefore be carried out in most laboratories, with more modern experiments and relatively newer technol ogies. In its present form, the manual should therefore provide a usefui tool in the hands of researchers and laboratory teachers at different levels of sophisti cation and instrumentation.




Bacterial Biofilms


Book Description

Throughout the biological world, bacteria thrive predominantly in surface-attached, matrix-enclosed, multicellular communities or biofilms, as opposed to isolated planktonic cells. This choice of lifestyle is not trivial, as it involves major shifts in the use of genetic information and cellular energy, and has profound consequences for bacterial physiology and survival. Growth within a biofilm can thwart immune function and antibiotic therapy and thereby complicate the treatment of infectious diseases, especially chronic and foreign device-associated infections. Modern studies of many important biofilms have advanced well beyond the descriptive stage, and have begun to provide molecular details of the structural, biochemical, and genetic processes that drive biofilm formation and its dispersion. There is much diversity in the details of biofilm development among various species, but there are also commonalities. In most species, environmental and nutritional conditions greatly influence biofilm development. Similar kinds of adhesive molecules often promote biofilm formation in diverse species. Signaling and regulatory processes that drive biofilm development are often conserved, especially among related bacteria. Knowledge of such processes holds great promise for efforts to control biofilm growth and combat biofilm-associated infections. This volume focuses on the biology of biofilms that affect human disease, although it is by no means comprehensive. It opens with chapters that provide the reader with current perspectives on biofilm development, physiology, environmental, and regulatory effects, the role of quorum sensing, and resistance/phenotypic persistence to antimicrobial agents during biofilm growth.




Antibiotic Discovery and Development


Book Description

This volume covers all aspects of the antibiotic discovery and development process through Phase II/III. The contributors, a group of highly experienced individuals in both academics and industry, include chapters on the need for new antibiotic compounds, strategies for screening for new antibiotics, sources of novel synthetic and natural antibiotics, discovery phases of lead development and optimization, and candidate compound nominations into development. Beyond discovery , the handbook will cover all of the studies to prepare for IND submission: Phase I (safety and dose ranging), progression to Phase II (efficacy), and Phase III (capturing desired initial indications). This book walks the reader through all aspects of the process, which has never been done before in a single reference. With the rise of antibiotic resistance and the increasing view that a crisis may be looming in infectious diseases, there are strong signs of renewed emphasis in antibiotic research. The purpose of the handbook is to offer a detailed overview of all aspects of the problem posed by antibiotic discovery and development.