Bøker i Progress in Inflammation Research-serien

Autophagy principally serves an adaptive function to protect organisms against diverse human pathologies, including cancer and neurodegeneration. Recent developments using in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo models show the involvement of the autophagy pathway in immunity and inflammation. Moreover, direct interactions between autophagy proteins and immune signalling molecules have also been demonstrated. Defects in autophagy - similar to cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and aging - through autophagy gene mutation and/or microbial antagonism, may underlie the pathogenesis of many infectious diseases and inflammatory syndromes. In spite of the increasing awareness of the importance of autophagy in these pathophysiological conditions, this process remains underestimated and is often overlooked. As a consequence, its role in the initiation, stability, maintenance, and progression of these diseases are still poorly understood. This book reviews the recent advances regarding the functions of the autophagy pathway and autophagy proteins in immunity and inflammation, focusing on their role in self-nonself distinction, their implications in innate and adaptive immune responses and their dysregulation in the pathology of certain inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

For over 50 years, clinicians have known that macrolide antibiotics have effects on inflammation and the immune system that are not related to their antimicrobial properties. These immunomodulatory properties, best described for treating inflammatory airway diseases, protect the lung and the host and improve clinical status. This book summarizes our current knowledge regarding proposed mechanisms for these properties, established clinical results, and what the future may hold with emphasis on novel clinical applications and the fascinating development of non-antimicrobial macrolides with preserved and enhanced immunomodulatory properties.

Imaging Inflammation provides updates on cutting-edge imaging methods being applied to problems in inflammation research. From state-of-the-art research tools to diagnostic tests, and from single-cell to whole-body imaging, this volume offers a comprehensive overview of how imaging experts across a range of disciplines are expanding our understanding of inflammation and immunity.

This edited collection of 12 chapters by research workers from a wide range of disciplines resolves the confusion that currently surrounds the "e;hygiene hypothesis"e; by considering the human need for exposure to microorganisms from an evolutionary point of view.  The book explains why we evolved a requirement for exposure to microbiota from our mothers, from other people, and from the natural environment. It also explains the physiological roles of these exposures, what goes wrong when the exposures are distorted and how human lifestyles and activities, including degradation of the natural environment, are leading to this distortion.  Particular attention is given to the range of pathologies associated with inappropriate microbial exposures and inappropriate colonization, including immunoregulatory problems such as allergies and autoimmunity, metabolic problems such as obesity and diabetes, and problems of central nervous system function and neurodegeneration.  This book is of profound relevance to most medical disciplines, but also to those concerned with preserving the natural environment and with developing healthier urbanisation.

This book provides comprehensive information, both for clinicians and scientists, on the basic mechanisms, clinical features, and therapeutic approaches to epilepsy as an inflammatory disease. Inflammation has been for many years considered as an etiologic player (and a therapeutic target) for a specific group of epilepsies.

TLR4 is one of the most important innate immunity receptors, its function mainly consisting in the activation of inflammatory pathways in response to stimulation by Pathogen-Associated Molecular Patterns (PAMPs) and Damage Associated Molecular Pattern molecules (DAMPs).This volume critically reviews the different types of TLR4 activators and inhibitors, discusses the role of molecular aggregates in agonism/antagonism as well as the pivotal role of the CD14 receptor in the modulation of TLR4 signal and the molecular details and actors of the intracellular cascade.The book presents the role of TLR4 in several pathologies, such as sepsis and septic shock caused by receptor activation by gram-negative bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), in neurodegenerative and neurological diseases such as Parkinson and Alzheimer¿s diseases, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). It reviews the role of TLR4 in neural stem cell-mediated neurogenesis andneuroinflammation and in Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells and Cerebral Organoids and discusses the emerging role of micro-RNA (miRNA) regulation by TLR4.

TLR4 is one of the most important innate immunity receptors, its function mainly consisting in the activation of inflammatory pathways in response to stimulation by Pathogen-Associated Molecular Patterns (PAMPs) and Damage Associated Molecular Pattern molecules (DAMPs).This volume critically reviews the different types of TLR4 activators and inhibitors, discusses the role of molecular aggregates in agonism/antagonism as well as the pivotal role of the CD14 receptor in the modulation of TLR4 signal and the molecular details and actors of the intracellular cascade.The book presents the role of TLR4 in several pathologies, such as sepsis and septic shock caused by receptor activation by gram-negative bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), in neurodegenerative and neurological diseases such as Parkinson and Alzheimer¿s diseases, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). It reviews the role of TLR4 in neural stem cell-mediated neurogenesis andneuroinflammation and in Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells and Cerebral Organoids and discusses the emerging role of micro-RNA (miRNA) regulation by TLR4.

This book focuses on the salient features of the biology of Bone Morphogenetic Proteins and the advances in our understanding of their structure and function and of downstream signaling, as well as their governance in systems biology from bone and dentin to kidney, cancer, diabetes, iron homeostasis and angiogenesis, including rare musculoskeletal disorders. BMPs, also referred to as growth and differentiation factors, are members of the TGF-beta superfamily and are highly conserved from fruit flies to mammals and are responsible for the formation of practically every organ during embryo development and involved in adult tissue injury and repair. BMPs establish their extracellular gradient by interacting with their respective antagonists and regulate their function through SMAD-dependent down-stream signaling effector genes.This volume is aimed at scientists and professionals dealing with metabolic disorders, nutrition, systems biology diseases, rare musculoskeletal conditions, and disorders related to iron metabolism, including anemia of chronic disease, hereditary hemochromatosis and beta thalassemia.

The role of the cytokine macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in the immune response and in the immunopathogenesis of different inflammatory, autoimmune, and infectious disorders is now well-established.

This PIR volume presents a comprehensive collection of reviews that focus on the role of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) during steady-state and inflamed conditions. Within the central nervous system (CNS) the constantly changing bloodstream is strictly separated from the CNS parenchyma by the BBB.

Oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids by lipoxygenases leads to a variety of fatty acid metabolites which play important roles in physiology but also in pathophysiology.

Further chapters discuss the role of antimicrobial peptides in disease, by providing an overview of mechanisms in bacterial resistance to antimicrobial peptides and a discussion of their role in inflammatory bowel disease, cystic fibrosis lung disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

This book takes an interdisciplinary approach in discussing the evidence for and against the so-called 'hygiene hypothesis'. It does so in the context of Darwinian medicine, which deploys our knowledge of evolution in an effort to cast light on human diseases.

Cardiomyopathy is one of the most frequent causes of heart failure. It is often associated with inadequate heart pumping or other heart function abnormalities. This volume, written by a leading expert, focuses on inflammatory CM, belonging to the Dilated Cardiomyopathies (DCMi).