Cell to Cell Signals in Plants and Animals

Recognition in Parasitic and Symbiontic Systems.- Phytotoxins and Plant Pathogenesis.- Genetics.- - Toxins in relation to plant resistance; evolution of pathogens.- - Structure and mode of action.- - Applications.- Conclusions.- Recent Advances in Plant-Microbe Interactions.- Interactions between plants and microbes: Background information.- Signals in the interaction of Rhizobium and leguminous plants.- - Chemotaxis.- - Attachment.- - Activation of nodulation genes.- - Inhibition of nod gene activation.- - nod gene products.- - Infection thread formation.- - Release of bacteria from the infection thread.- - Bacteroid development.- - Effective nitrogen fixation.- - Induction of nodulins.- Plant Pathogens.- Plant defence mechanisms.- Hypersensitive reaction (HR).- Elicitors of plant responses.- Elicitor signal perception and transduction to plant gene response.- Concluding Remarks.- Signalling Between Plants and Viruses.- Virus host range and transmission.- - Host range.- - Transmission.- Infection, Replication and spread.- - Initiation of infection.- - Replication of the viral genome.- - Virus movement.- Pathogenesis and symptom formation.- - Control of plant growth.- - Formation of symptoms.- Resistance of virulence.- Exploiting mis-signalling in crop protection.- Recognition and Cell Signals in Mutualistic Symbioses.- Mutualistic symbiosis: Basic biology and conceptual framework.- Functional morphology of cell-cell interactions in mutualistic symbiosis.- - Absence of cytopathological symptoms.- - Presence of complex interfaces.- Stimuli, cues and signals in symbiotic cell to cell interactions.- Conclusions.- Cell to Cell Recognition and Differentiation.- Parallels in Cell to Cell Communication in Plants and Animals.- Cell interactions in plant tissues.- - Structure of plasmodesmata.- - Plasmodesmatal formation.- - Plasmodesmatal distribution and frequency.- - Plasmodesmata in development.- - Biophysical investigations on plasmodesmata.- - Molecular size exclusion limits.- - Regulation of plasmodesmatal permeability.- - Plasmodesmatal-virus interactions.- Cell interactions in animal tissues.- - Structure of gap junctions.- - Control of junctional communication.- - Gap junctions and cellular differentiation.- Conclusions.- Mechanism of Fertilization: Plants to Humans.- Introductory Remarks.- Surface Receptors and Sperm-egg interaction.- - Plants.- - Invertebrates.- - Mammals.- Mechanism of egg activation.- - Electrical Events.- - Soluble sperm factors vs receptors and G-proteins.- - When does sperm-egg fusion occur?.- - Polyspermy prevention.- Cytoplasmic segregation in the zygote.- - The role of intracellular Ca.- Signals for Cell Separation in Plants Physiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.- Detection and Coding of Chemical Signals: A Comparison Between Artificial and Biological Systems.- Olfactory receptor neuroses.- Chemosensitive sensor elements.- - Chemometric thermal sensors.- - Chemoelectronic sensors.- - Chemosensitive mass sensor.- - Other types of chemical sensors (including optical).- - Comparison between artificial and biological sensing elements.- Sensor signal processing I: Olfactory Bulb.- Processing of sensor signals II:.- - Pattern recognition and artificial networks.- - Classification by parametric techniques.- - Classification by non-parametric techniques.- - Artificial neural networks.- Molecular and Cellular Aspects of Erythropoietin and Erythropoiesis - From 1986 to.- Keywords.- Erythropoietic organization.- The biochemistry and molecular biology of erythropoietin.- Erythropoietin as atherapeutic agent.- Erythropoietin assay.- The erythropoietin receptor.- Competition for stem cell receptors and commitment to a cell lineage.- The site of action of erythropoietin.- The site of erythropoietin production.- - The renal source.- - The extrarenal source.- Oxygen sensing and erythropoietin production.- Questions for the future.- Cellular and Molecular Basis of Synaptic Transmission.- Evolution of nervous systems and of neuronal signalling.- - The most sophisticated form of chemical signalling.- - Diversity and consensus.- Structural basis of synaptic transmission.- - Variations of a theme.- - Still many unknowns.- Storage organelles for neurotransmitters and neurohormones.- - Life cycle: from where the vesicle comes and where it goes.- - Two or more types of vesicles and the consequences.- - Biochemical properties: diversity and homology.- - Primary structures and the search for a function.- The concept of cotransmission.- - The neuron speaks with many tongues.- - How can it all be understood?.- - Differential elimination of the chemical signal.- Presynaptic ion channels.- - Neuronal versus presynaptic channels.- - Multiplicity of types and functions.- - A superfamily, which one was the first?.- Mechanism of transmitter release.- - Long debated, the cellular source of transmitter release.- - Structural and physiological diversity of the releasing axon segment.- - The big challenge, the molecular cascade underlying exocytosis.- - Modulatory mechanisms become overwhelming.- Neurotransmitter receptors.- - It all falls into shape.- - Ligand gating, fast and successful.- - A family of channels meets a family of G protein.- - More receptors - more principal receptor types?.- - The hen or the egg?.- Cellular and Molecular Biology of Myelination.- Steps in glial cell differentiation and myelinogenesis.- Signal transduction and regulatory events in myelin-forming cells.- Demyelination, remyelination and glial cell transplantation.- Transfected cells as a tool in myelin research.- Phylogenetic aspects of myelination.- Components and structures of myelin.- Molecular biology of genes coding for myelin proteins.- Plasticity in Cell to Cell Communication.- Exploring Natures Roulette Wheel: Chaos in Biological Systems.- Biochemical systems and models.- Cellular systems and models.- Cellular networks.- Population dynamics.- Detecting and quantifying chaos.- Towards spatio-temporal irregularity and patterning.- Phytochrome Properties and Biological Action.- - Aims of this chapter.- - Photomorphogenesis.- - Phytochrome.- Phytochrome characterisation.- - Phytochrome genes.- - Properties of the Protein.- - Types of phytochrome.- - Phytochrome synthesis and destruction.- - Chromophore biosynthesis and holoprotein assembly.- Signal Transduction.- - Differences between Pr and Pfr.- - Phytochrome and membranes.- - Phytochrome as an enzyme.- Phytochrome and gene expression.- - Phytochrome autoregulation.- - Other photoregulated genes.- Genetic approaches to phytochrome action.- - Photoreceptor mutants.- - Transgenic plants.- Conclusions.- Modulation of Synaptic Transmission and Plasticity in Nervous Systems.- Gangliosides and Modulation of Neuronal Functions.- Results.- Fundamentals for research on the function of gangliosides.- Brain gangliosides.- - Pathways for de novo biosynthesis of gangliosides.- - Neuronal transport of gangliosides.- - Pathway of ganglioside degradation.- Cell specific distribution and differentiation-related expression of brain.- - Phytogenetic aspects.- - Ontogenetic aspects.- - Neurological abnormalities of brain gangliosides.- - Monoclonal antibodies against gangliosides.- Gangliosides and neuronal plasticity.- Biomedical potential of exogenous ganglioside application on neuronal function.- - Animal studies with exogenous ganglioside applications.- - Clinical aspects of ganglioside therapy.- - Future perspectives.- Regulatory Mechanisms of Neuron to Vessel Communication in the Brain.- Anatomical versus biochemical blood brain barrier.- Metabolic regulation of the BBB.- Neuronal metabolism and cerebral blood flow.- Neuron-vessel-glia communication: regulation of neuronal microenvironment.- Some aspects of brain capillary endothelium in pathology.- The Aging Brain.- Morphology of the aging brain.- Biochemistry of the aging brain.- Calcium homeostasis.- Neurotransmitter changes in the aging brain.- Neuroendocrine aspects of aging.- Brain metabolism and protein synthesis in aging.- Neuronal plasticity in the aging brain.- General considerations: from physiological to pathological aging.- Pathology of the aging brain.- - Alzheimer's disease.- - Parkinson's disease.- Molecular Action of Steroids and Growth Factors in Human Breast Tumour Cells.- Clinical background.- The role of E2 in the proliferation of human breast cancer cells.- The role of polypeptide growth factors in the proliferation of breast cancer cells.- - Estromedins.- - 52K and pS2 protein.- - Insulin-like growth factors.- - Transforming growth factor a and epidermal growth factor.- - Transforming growth factor ?.- - Platelet-derived growth factor.- - Fibroblast growth factor.- The role of oncogenes in the proliferation of breast cancer cells.- Mechanism of grows stimulation of hormone-dependent breast cancer cells by.- - The role of polypeptide growth factors.- - The role of nuclear proto-oncogenes.- The loss of hormone-dependence in breast cancer cells.- - The role of polypeptide growth factors.- - The role oncogenes.- Conclusions.- Plasticity, Recognition and Differentiation in Cellular Systems.- Theoretical Models for Cell to Cell Signalling.- From nerve cells to neutral networks.- Morphogenesis and development.- Cell to cell signals in immunology.- Hormonal signalling: The reproductive system.- Signal transduction based on intracellular calcium oscillations.- Intercellular communication in dictyostelium.- Signal propagation in the heart.- Conclusions and perspectives.- Plant Hormone Receptors.- Auxins.- - Membrane-bound auxin receptors.- - Soluble auxin receptors.- NPA receptors.- Fusicoccin.- Ethylene.- Gibberellins, cytokinins and abscisic acid.- Transduction systems.- Movements and Morphogenetic Changes in Response to Signal Reception in Higher Plants.- Recent advances in analysis of stimulated leaf movements.- - signal reception.- - signal transduction.- - signal transmission.- - response.- New development in other fields.- Conclusions.- The Neuronal Nicotinic Receptor Family.- Muscle and neuronal nicotinic receptors.- Molecular structure of neuronal nicotinic receptors:.- - nAChRs.- - B-nAChRs.- - Insect nicotinic receptor.- - aBgtxRs.- Distribution of nicotinic receptors in the nervous system.- Subcellular localization.- In vitro and in vivo regulation of neuronal nicotinic receptors.- Function of neuronal nicotinic receptors.- Role of nicotinic receptors in aging and pathology.- Conclusions.- Glial-Neuronal Communication in Development and Regeneration.- Glial Cells: Precursors, subtypes and invertebrate glia.- Receptors, antigens, recognitions and adhesion molecules expressed by glial/ neuronal cells during ontogenesis.- Influence on glial/neuronal cells by hormones and gangliosides-trophic factors and informational substances.- Glial-neuronal interactions.- Myelination-Remyelination.- Repair mechanisms during neuronal regeneration.- Amino Acid Availability and Brain Function in Health and Disease.- A stimulating concept: attractive simplicity.- The turning point: unexpected complexity.- A fading concept: approaching reality.