Apoptosis, or cell death, can be pathological, a sign of disease and damage, or physiological, a process essential for normal health. This book, with contributions from experts in the field, provides a timely compilation of reviews of mechanisms of apoptosis. The book is organized into three convenient sections. The first section explores the different processes of cell death and how they relate to one another. The second section focuses on organ-specific apoptosis-related diseases. The third section explores cell death in non-mammalian organisms, such as plants. This comprehensive text is a must-read for all researchers and scholars interested in apoptosis.
Part I. General Principles of Cell Death
1. Human caspases - apoptosis and inflammation signaling proteases
2. Inhibitor of apoptosis proteins
3. Death domain-containing receptors: decisions between suicide and fire
4. Mitochondria and cell death
5. BCL-2 family proteins and the control of mitochondrial apoptosis
6. Endoplasmic reticulum stress response in cell death and cell survival
7. Autophagy: the liaison between the lysosomal system and cell death
8. Cell death in response to genotoxic stress and DNA damage
9. Ceramide and lipid mediators in apoptosis
10. Cytotoxic granules house potent pro-apoptotic toxins critical for anti-viral responses and immune homeostasis
Part II. Cell Death in Tissues and Organs
11. Cell death in nervous system development and neurological disease
12. Role of programmed cell death in neurodegenerative diseases
13. Implications of nitrosative stress-induced protein misfolding in neurodegeneration
14. Mitochondrial mechanisms of neural cell death in cerebral ischemia
15. Cell death in spinal cord injury: an evolving taxonomy with therapeutic promise
16. Apoptosis and homeostasis in the eye
17. Cell death in the inner ear
18. Cell death in the olfactory system
19. Apoptosis regulation of the endocrine pancreas and pathophysiology of diabetes
20. Apoptosis in the physiology and diseases of the respiratory tract
21. Regulation of cell death in the gastrointestinal track
22. Apoptosis in the kidney
23. Physiological and pathological cell death in the mammary gland
24. Apoptosis in the female reproductive biology - implications for therapy
25. Apoptotic signaling in male germ cells
26. Cell death in the cardiovascular system
27. Cell death regulation in muscle
28. Cell death in the skin
29. Apoptosis and cell survival in the immune system
30. Cell death regulations in the hematopoietic system
31. Apoptotic cell death in sepsis
32. Host-pathogen interactions
Part III. Cell Death in Non-Mammalian Organisms
33. Programmed cell death in the yeast, S. cerevisiae
34. C. elegans and apoptosis
35. Apoptotic cell death in drosophila
36. Analysis of cell death in zebrafish
John C. Reed is Chief Executive Officer of the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute. Dr Reed is also Professor and Donald Bren Executive Chair at Sanford-Burnham, with adjunct professor appointments at several universities. Dr Reed is the recipient of numerous awards and honors and has been awarded more than 76 research grants for his work. He is a named inventor for more than 99 patents and the founder or co-founder of four biotechnology companies. Dr Reed has served as an advisor to numerous biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and has also served on the boards of directors of several public and private biotechnology companies and life-sciences organizations. Douglas R. Green is Chair of the Department of Immunology at St Jude Children's Research Hospital, where he also holds the Peter Doherty Endowed Chair. Dr Green came to St Jude in 2005, prior to which he was Head of the Division of Cellular Immunology at the La Jolla Institute of Allergy and Immunology. Dr Green serves as an editor for a number of leading journals and is editor-in-chief of the journal Oncogene.