The Annexins is focused on a specific family of calcium and membrane-binding proteins, annexins, ubiquitously spread within living organisms, including animals, plants and fungi. The volume covers important areas of annexinology. The characterization of structural-functional relationship within the annexin family of proteins, together with emerging transgenic animal models, provides an up-to-date overview of potential physiological roles of annexins. Growing evidence of participation of annexins in human diseases, called annexinopathies, related to disturbances in signal transduction, vesicular traffic, ion homeostasis and energy metabolism within the cell. The book will attract a broad scientific audience, not only scientists interested in annexins, but also others involved in multidisciplinary studies, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students. It can be used in courses relating to special topics such as calcium homeostasis, calcium-binding proteins, membrane structure and transport properties, various signal transduction pathways, and membrane trafficking.

Calcium Transport Elements in Plants discusses the role of calcium in plant development and stress signaling, the mechanism of Ca2+ homeostasis across plant membranes, and the evolution of Ca2+/cation antiporter (CaCA) superfamily proteins. Additional sections cover genome-wide analysis of Annexins and their roles in plants, the roles of calmodulin in abiotic stress responses, calcium transport in relation to plant nutrition/biofortification, and much more. Written by leading experts in the field, this title is an essential resource for students and researchers that need all of the information on calcium transport elements in one place. Calcium transport elements are involved in various structural, physiological and biochemical processes or signal transduction pathways in response to various abiotic and biotic stimuli. Development of high throughput sequencing technology has favored the identification and characterization of numerous gene families in plants in recent years, including the calcium transport elements. - Provides a complete compilation of detailed information on Ca2+ efflux and influx transporters in plants - Discusses the mode of action of calcium transport elements and their classification - Explores the indispensable role of Ca2+ in numerous developmental and stress related pathways

Discovered over 40 years ago, the annexin proteins were found to be a structurally conserved subgroup of Ca2+-binding proteins. While the initial research on annexins focused on their signature feature of Ca2+-dependent binding to membranes, over the years, the biennial “Annexin” conference series has highlighted additional diversity in the functions attributed to the annexin family of proteins. The roles of these proteins now extend from basic science to biomedical research, and are being translated into clinical settings. Research on annexins involves a global network of researchers and the 10th biennial Annexin conference brought together over 80 researchers from ten European countries, USA, Brazil, Singapore, Japan, and Australia for 3 days in September 2019. In this conference, the discussions focused on two distinct themes — the role of annexins in cellular organization and health and disease. The articles published in this Special Issue cover these two main themes discussed at the conference, offering a glimpse into some of the notable findings in the field of annexin biology

The evidence of cancer in humans, animals and plant species suggests that it is as old as multicellular life on Earth. Why is it so difficult to understand and fight? Because cancer begins from the organism's own mutated single cell focused on its own survival. It would be naive to expect that cancer could be ever entirely eliminated, but there is still hope for finding effective treatments. The book is to give a view of selected aspects of cancer like its spread in nature, novel anticancer drugs based on Chinese herbs or birch bark, novel promising targets of annexins and kinases and progress in immunotherapy. It is our hope that you will find in this book interesting, inspiring and stimulating information concerning cancer research.

Plants cannot move away from their environments. As a result, all plants that have survived to date have evolved sophisticated signaling mechanisms that allow them to perceive, respond, and adapt to constantly changing environmental conditions. Among the many cellular processes that respond to environmental changes, elevation of calcium levels is by far the most universal messenger that matches primary signals to cellular responses. Yet it remains unclear how calcium, a simple cation, translates so many different signals into distinct responses - how is the “specificity” of signal-response coupling encoded within the calcium changes? This book will attempt to answer this question by describing the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the coding and decoding of calcium signals in plant cells.

Animal Lectins: Form, Function and Clinical Applications presents up-to-date knowledge of animal lectins. Detailed descriptions on biological activities, tissue and/or subcellular distribution, molecular structure, gene organization, possible functions, clinical applications, lectin-ligand interactions and their intervention for therapeutic purposes are provided. The recently discovered C-type lectins as well as further novel super-families of this group of molecules are described in detail. Furthermore, the clinical significance of animal lectins in inflammatory diseases, defects of immune defense and autoimmunity are described and their application as drugs and therapeutic targets is discussed. With the increasing interest in lectins in biomedical research and their therapeutic applications, this book on animal lectins and associated proteins is a must have for researchers in the area.

Encompassing all aspects of calcium signalling, from methods of measuring calcium in cells to the molecular mechanisms for decoding its information, this comprehensive book balances historical aspects and state of the art developments.