Pathogenic bacteria for human and animals have developed sophisticated weapons, termed virulence factors, to ensure their replication and persistence into their hosts. The authors in this volume show a synthesis on how the various host cellular Rho GTPases activities are manipulated by bacteria to fulfil their virulence.

Pathogenic bacteria for human and animals have developed sophisticated weapons, termed virulence factors, to ensure their replication and persistence into their hosts. The authors in this volume show a synthesis on how the various host cellular Rho GTPases activities are manipulated by bacteria to fulfil their virulence.

The cytoskeleton is a highly dynamic intracellular platform constituted by a three-dimensional network of proteins responsible for key cellular roles as structure and shape, cell growth and development, and offering to the cell with "motility" that being the ability of the entire cell to move and for material to be moved within the cell in a regulated fashion (vesicle trafficking). The present edition of Cytoskeleton provides new insights into the structure-functional features, dynamics, and cytoskeleton's relationship to diseases. The authors' contribution in this book will be of substantial importance to a wide audience such as clinicians, researches, educators, and students interested in getting updated knowledge about molecular basis of cytoskeleton, such as regulation of cell vital processes by actin-binding proteins as cell morphogenesis, motility, their implications in cell signaling, as well as strategies for clinical trial and alternative therapies based in multitargeting molecules to tackle diseases, that is, cancer.

The Comprehensive Sourcebook of Bacterial Protein Toxins, Fourth Edition, contains chapters written by internationally known and well-respected specialists. This book contains chapters devoted to individual toxins, as well as chapters that consider the different applications of these toxins. Considerable progress has been made in understanding the structure, function, interaction and trafficking into cells, as well as mechanism of action of toxins. Bacterial toxins are involved in the pathogenesis of many bacteria, some of which are responsible for severe diseases in human and animals, but can also be used as tools in cell biology to dissect cellular processes or used as therapeutic agents. Novel recombinant toxins are already proposed in the treatment of some diseases, as well as new vaccines. Alternatively, certain toxins are also considered as biological weapons or bioterrorism threats. Given the multifaceted aspects of toxin research and the multidisciplinary approaches adopted, toxins are of great interest in many scientific areas from microbiology, virology, cell biology to biochemistry and protein structure. This new edition is written with a multidisciplinary audience in mind and contains 5 new chapters that reflect the latest research in this area. Other chapters have been combined, deleted and fully revised as necessary to deliver relevant and valuable content. - Descriptions of relevant toxins as well as representative toxins of the main bacterial toxin families to allow for a better comparison between them - Focused chapters on toxin applications and common properties or general features of toxins

Rho GTPases control many aspects of cell physiology. This includes polarity, endo/exocytosis, adhesion, motility, transcriptional activation, cell cycle progression or apoptosis. In view of such pleiotropic activities, Rho-controlled signaling has proven to be of medical relevance, especially in tumorigenesis, disease-associated bone remodeling and infectiology.This book is divided into three parts. Part 1 gives an evolutionary perspective of the Rho family, its atypical members, and an overview of how Rho activity is regulated. Part 2 addresses two important aspects of multicellularity controlled by Rho-dependent pathways, namely, cell-cell interactions and mechanotransduction. It also describes how post-translational modifications control Rho activity and how this is exploited by pathogenic bacteria. Part 3 explores several examples of the variety of pathophysiological processes controlled by Rho signaling, and gives a successful example of translational research, from the inhibition of Rho activation to the development of new molecules against osteoporosis.This updated review on the biology of Rho GTPases is an essential read for molecular and cell biologists. It is also an invaluable guide to post-graduate and medical students who wish to deepen their knowledge in cell biology.

Bacterial Pathogens and their Virulence Factors contains a detailed description of 32 major bacterial pathogens that affect human health and their associated virulence determinants. Chapter 1 gives an overview of the different types and classes of general virulence factors involved in host cell adherence and invasion, dissemination within the host, host cell damage, and evasion of host defense systems, as well as mechanisms by which these virulence factors are regulated. Chapters 2 through 33 give concise descriptions of the disease states associated with the 32 bacterial genera and their major pathogenic species, along with an in-depth description of the individual virulence factors that have been found to be functionally involved in pathogenicity. A detailed bibliography derived from primary literature and review articles accompanies each of these chapters, allowing the reader to delve more deeply into individual pathogens and their virulence determinants. Chapter 34 discusses the exciting possibilities and initial successes of using detailed information on a pathogen’s virulence toolkit to design new therapeutics aimed at specific virulence traits.