Regulation of Hepatic Metabolism Through PGC-1 [alpha]-mediated Pathways


Book Description

PGC-1alpha is a transcriptional coactivator selectively expressed in tissues with high metabolic demands and induced by a variety of metabolic stressors, including cold, exercise, and fasting. When expressed, PGC-1alpha can coactivate a number of transcription factors to coordinately activate metabolic pathways that supply tissues and the body with necessary nutrients. PGC-1alpha has emerged as a master controller of mitochondria and many of the processes focused within them, including oxidative phosphorylation, fatty acid oxidation, the TCA cycle and free radical scavenging. PGC-1alpha also induces gluconeogenesis and expression of glucose transporters, thereby regulating blood glucose levels. Given this integral role in modulating energy homeostasis, understanding how PGC-1alpha functions and what factors regulate its activity could help identify processes and proteins that malfunction in various metabolic disorders.







Hormones, Metabolism and the Benefits of Exercise


Book Description

The world is faced with an epidemic of metabolic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. This is due to changes in dietary habits and the decrease in physical activity. Exercise is usually part of the prescription, the first line of defense, to prevent or treat metabolic disorders. However, we are still learning how and why exercise provides metabolic benefits in human health. This open access volume focuses on the cellular and molecular pathways that link exercise, muscle biology, hormones and metabolism. This will include novel “myokines” that might act as new therapeutic agents in the future.




The Liver


Book Description

Bridging the gap between basic scientific advances and the understanding of liver disease — the extensively revised new edition of the premier text in the field. The latest edition of The Liver: Biology and Pathobiology remains a definitive volume in the field of hepatology, relating advances in biomedical sciences and engineering to understanding of liver structure, function, and disease pathology and treatment. Contributions from leading researchers examine the cell biology of the liver, the pathobiology of liver disease, the liver’s growth, regeneration, metabolic functions, and more. Now in its sixth edition, this classic text has been exhaustively revised to reflect new discoveries in biology and their influence on diagnosing, managing, and preventing liver disease. Seventy new chapters — including substantial original sections on liver cancer and groundbreaking advances that will have significant impact on hepatology — provide comprehensive, fully up-to-date coverage of both the current state and future direction of hepatology. Topics include liver RNA structure and function, gene editing, single-cell and single-molecule genomic analyses, the molecular biology of hepatitis, drug interactions and engineered drug design, and liver disease mechanisms and therapies. Edited by globally-recognized experts in the field, this authoritative volume: Relates molecular physiology to understanding disease pathology and treatment Links the science and pathology of the liver to practical clinical applications Features 16 new “Horizons” chapters that explore new and emerging science and technology Includes plentiful full-color illustrations and figures The Liver: Biology and Pathobiology, Sixth Edition is an indispensable resource for practicing and trainee hepatologists, gastroenterologists, hepatobiliary and liver transplant surgeons, and researchers and scientists in areas including hepatology, cell and molecular biology, virology, and drug metabolism.




A Flexible System of Enzymatic Analysis


Book Description

A Flexible System of Enzymatic Analysis is a multipurpose manual of laboratory methods that offers a systematic scheme for the analysis of biological materials from the level of the wholeorgan down to the single cell and beyond. It intends to guide the development of methods, the refinement of old ones, and the adaptation in general of methods to almost any scale of sensitivity. This manual is organized into three parts: a general section, one on quantitative histochemistry, and an appendix containing information that may be useful to have at the bench. The general section is comprised of nine chapters that focus on properties of the pyridine nucleotides, kinetics, and glassware, as well as on improvement, modification, adaptation, trouble shooting, and development of methods. This part also describes the preparation of tissues for analysis, the enzymatic cycling methods, and a compendium of 36 metabolite assays. The quantitative histochemistry section is comprised of four chapters that include information on the preparation of frozen-dried material and dissection of samples for analysis; the fishpole balance for weighing samples; and the generalities of analysis with emphasis on the ""oil well technique."" This book will be useful to novices as well as experts who are familiar with other analytical styles.




Mitochondria and Cancer


Book Description

Nearly a century of scientific research has revealed that mitochondrial dysfunction is one of the most common and consistent phenotypes of cancer cells. A number of notable differences in the mitochondria of normal and cancer cells have been described. These include differences in mitochondrial metabolic activity, molecular composition of mitochondria and mtDNA sequence, as well as in alteration of nuclear genes encoding mitochondrial proteins. This book, Mitochondria and Cancer, edited by Keshav K. Singh and Leslie C. Costello, presents thorough analyses of mitochondrial dysfunction as one of the hallmarks of cancer, discusses the clinical implications of mitochondrial defects in cancer, and as unique cellular targets for novel and selective anti-cancer therapy.




Glucocorticoid Signaling


Book Description

This timely volume provides a comprehensive overview of glucocorticoids and their role in regulating many aspects of physiology and their use in the treatment of disease. The book is broken into four sections that begin by giving a general introduction to glucocorticoids and a brief history of the field. The second section will discuss the effects of glucocorticoids on metabolism, while the third section will cover the effects of glucocorticoids on key tissues. The final section will discuss general topics, such as animal models in glucocorticoid research and clinical implications of glucocorticoid research. Featuring chapters from leaders in the field, this volume will be of interest to both researchers and clinicians.




ATP and the Heart


Book Description

ATP plays a central role in the two leading causes of cardiac morbidity and mortality in the western world: ischemia and heart failure. We are in our infancy applying what is known about biology and chemistry of ATP toward developing effective therapies for these diseases. In this volume, the current understanding of the chemistry and biology of ATP specifically in the cardiomyocyte is presented. New insights into ATP have been gleaned using biophysical techniques allowing dynamic measurement of chemical events in the intact beating heart and using new animal models in which cardiac proteins are either over expressed, deleted or harbor specific mutations. This book provides a summary of the basic understanding and includes illustrations of why ATP and the Heart is important to both the clinician and scientist.




Mechanisms of Insulin Action


Book Description

More than 18 million people in the United States have diabetes mellitus, and about 90% of these have the type 2 form of the disease. This book attempts to dissect the complexity of the molecular mechanisms of insulin action with a special emphasis on those features of the system that are subject to alteration in type 2 diabetes and other insulin resistant states. It explores insulin action at the most basic levels, through complex systems.




High Density Lipoproteins


Book Description

In this Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology on “High Density Lipoproteins – from biological understanding to clinical exploitation” contributing authors (members of COST Action BM0904/HDLnet) summarize in more than 20 chapters our current knowledge on the structure, function, metabolism and regulation of HDL in health and several diseases as well as the status of past and ongoing attempts of therapeutic exploitation. The book is of interest to researchers in academia and industry focusing on lipoprotein metabolism, cardiovascular diseases and immunology as well as clinical pharmacologists, cardiologists, diabetologists, nephrologists and other clinicians interested in metabolic or inflammatory diseases.