The study of insect immunity has traditionally focused on innate immune responses, under the longstanding assumption that insects are incapable of generating an anticipatory immune response. Research in our lab has focused on a specific, adaptive response in Periplaneta americana, the American cockroach. This response was shown to be specific and exhibit immunological memory in survivorship studies. Protein factors in cell-free immune hemolymph demonstrated the ability to precipitate antigen and confer immunity on nav̐e roaches. One reduced protein (102 kDa) was implicated in the immune response due to its enhancement in immune hemolymph and association with antigen binding. The goals of the research presented in this dissertation were to characterize the 102 kDa protein, identify and characterize other proteins involved in antigen binding, and to illuminate the relationship between reduced antigen binding proteins and native bands capable of antigen binding. In order to identify the 102 kDa protein, a combination of preparative electrophoresis and MALDI mass spectrometry was employed. A positive match was achieved between the 102 kDa protein and a 40-45 kDa region of vitellogenin from the American cockroach. Affinity chromatography using immunizing antigen was used to determine other proteins involved in antigen binding, including reduced proteins at 115 kDa and 95 kDa. Isolation and MALDI mass spectrometry analysis of these proteins yielded a positive match for the 115 kDa protein with vitellogenin-2 from the American cockroach, but no significant match for the 95 kDa protein. Schiff's staining and enzymatic deglycosylation of the antigen binding proteins, 115, 102, and 95 kDa, indicated that all three were glycosylated. Analysis of native protein bands indicated the presence of the immune associated proteins in native bands 2 and 4 (the native bands capable of binding antigen). The above research strongly indicates a role for a vitellogenin-like protein in the adaptive immune response to soluble protein antigen in the American cockroach, and links the native antigen-binding bands with reduced proteins at 115, 102, and 95 kDa.

Mitochondria are sometimes called the powerhouses of eukaryotic cells, because mitochondria are the site of ATP synthesis in the cell. ATP is the universal energy currency, it provides the power that runs all other life processes. Humans need oxygen to survive because of ATP synthesis in mitochondria. The sugars from our diet are converted to carbon dioxide in mitochondria in a process that requires oxygen. Just like a fire needs oxygen to burn, our mitochondria need oxygen to make ATP. From textbooks and popular literature one can easily get the impression that all mitochondria require oxygen. But that is not the case. There are many groups of organismsm known that make ATP in mitochondria without the help of oxygen. They have preserved biochemical relicts from the early evolution of eukaryotic cells, which took place during times in Earth history when there was hardly any oxygen avaiable, certainly not enough to breathe. How the anaerobic forms of mitochondria work, in which organisms they occur, and how the eukaryotic anaerobes that possess them fit into the larger picture of rising atmospheric oxygen during Earth history are the topic of this book.

The second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century witnessed important changes in ecology, climate and human behaviour that favoured the development of urban pests. Most alarmingly, urban planners now face the dramatic expansion of urban sprawl, in which city suburbs are growing into the natural habitats of ticks, rodents and other pests. Also, many city managers now erroneously assume that pest-borne diseases are relics of the past. All these changes make timely a new analysis of the direct and indirect effects of present-day urban pests on health. Such an analysis should lead to the development of strategies to manage them and reduce the risk of exposure. To this end, WHO invited international experts in various fields - pests, pest-related diseases and pest management - to provide evidence on which to base policies. These experts identified the public health risk posed by various pests and appropriate measures to prevent and control them. This book presents their conclusions and formulates policy options for all levels of decision-making to manage pests and pest-related diseases in the future. [Ed.]

Written by the founder of the field, this is a comprehensive and accessible introduction to structural DNA nanotechnology.

During the past decades, with the introduction of the recombinant DNA, hybridoma and transgenic technologies there has been an exponential evolution in understanding the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of a large number of human diseases. The technologies are evident with the development of cytokines and monoclonal antibodies as therapeutic agents and the techniques used in gene therapy. Immunopharmacology is that area of biomedical sciences where immunology, pharmacology and pathology overlap. It concerns the pharmacological approach to the immune response in physiological as well as pathological events. This goals and objectives of this textbook are to emphasize the developments in immunology and pharmacology as they relate to the modulation of immune response. The information includes the pharmacology of cytokines, monoclonal antibodies, mechanism of action of immune-suppressive agents and their relevance in tissue transplantation, therapeutic strategies for the treatment of AIDS and the techniques employed in gene therapy. The book is intended for health care professional students and graduate students in pharmacology and immunology.