Bioregulators of Reproduction focuses on the biological regulators of reproductive processes. Discussions are grouped based on sex differentiation and determination, germ cell reproduction, gonadotropins, nonsteroidal gonadal hormones, in vitro fertilization, and post-fertilization. This text is organized into six sections and comprised of 31 chapters, beginning with a discussion on the most important regulatory mechanisms underlying reproduction. The reader is then methodically introduced to the role of the H-Y antigen in primary sex determination, H-Y antigenic determinants of human testis-organizing protein, and how H-Y antibodies confuse antigenic complexes with unaltered self or allo-MHC antigens. The cellular mechanisms of sexual differentiation of the brain, meiosis in female mammals, and interspecies comparisons in molecular reproductive biology are also considered. Other chapters explore the role of haplodins in the ovarian and extraovarian control of meiosis; the link between nucleoprotein transitions and chromatin changes during rat spermatogenesis; and gonadotropin secretion in primates. This book will be of interest to students and scientists in fields ranging from biology and neuroendocrinology to genetics, biochemistry, biophysics, pathology, and zoology.

Vertebrate Endocrinology represents more than just a treatment of the endocrine system-it integrates hormones with other chemical bioregulatory agents not classically included with the endocrine system. It provides a complete overview of the endocrine system of vertebrates by first emphasizing the mammalian system as the basis of most terminology and understanding of endocrine mechanisms and then applies that to non-mammals. The serious reader will gain both an understanding of the intricate relationships among all of the body systems and their regulation by hormones and other bioregulators, but also a sense of their development through evolutionary time as well as the roles of hormones at different stages of an animal's life cycle. - Includes new full color format includes over 450 full color, completely redrawn image - Features a companion web site hosting all images from the book as PPT slides and .jpeg files - Presents completedly updated and revitalized content with new chapters, such as Endocrine Disrupters and Behavioral Endocrinology - Offers new clinical correlation vignettes throughout

The 3rd edition, the first new one in ten years, includes coverage of molecular levels of detail arising from the last decade's explosion of information at this level of organismic organization. There are 5 new Associate Editors and about 2/3 of the chapters have new authors. Chapters prepared by return authors are extensively revised. Several new chapters have been added on the topic of pregnancy, reflecting the vigorous investigation of this topic during the last decade.The information covered includes both human and experimental animals; basic principels are sought, and information at the organismic and molecular levels are presented.*The leading comprehensive work on the physiology of reproduction*Edited and authored by the world's leading scientists in the field*Is a synthesis of the molecular, cellular, and organismic levels of organization*Bibliogrpahics of chapters are extensive and cover all the relevant literature

Biology of Fertilization, Volume 1: Model Systems and Oogenesis is the first in a three-volume series that gathers various lines of research about reproduction in general and fertilization in particular. Knowledge about cell biology, immunobiology, biochemistry, biophysics, and molecular genetics has progressed significantly beyond our understanding of some aspects of fertilization. Components of these constitute ""model systems."" The present volume includes reviews of such systems, some relatively simple model systems in lower organisms, sex-determining mechanisms, and oogenesis. The book contains 12 chapters organized into two sections. Section I includes studies on evolution, reproductive success, and immortality of the germ line; the structures and mechanisms involved in fertilization problems; and fertilization in Paramecium. Section II on oogenesis includes studies on gamete differentiation; sex-determining role of the H-Y antigen in mammals and non-mammals; the mechanism of starfish oocyte maturation; meiotic arrest in animal oocytes; and the mitotic and meiotic aspects of the mammalian germ cell life cycle.

The Molecular Biology of Fertilization focuses on the different aspects of fertilization in several models, including insects, clams, sea urchins, ascidians, cows, pigs, sheep, rats, hamsters, and humans. This book examines the experimental approaches using methods of molecular biology, cell biology, biochemistry, biophysics, immunology, and enzymology. Comprised of three parts encompassing 15 chapters, this book starts by discussing the ability of egg factors to affect sperm motility and initiate the acrosome reaction by modifying ion movements across the sperm plasma membrane. This text then provides an overview of the different aspects of egg architecture, ranging from extracellular remodeling to nuclei organization, which is involved in embryogenesis and fertilization. Finally, the last part deals with oncogenes, gene expression, and nuclear determination during embryogenesis and at fertilization. This book will be a great value to molecular biologists, cell biologists, reproductive biologists, developmental biologists, biophysicists, biochemists, geneticists, researchers, scientists, and students.

Reproductive technologies to assist in both human conception and animal breeding are increasingly in demand. These technologies, along with the advent of tissue engineering, have propelled the challenges of tissue collection, preservation, and banking to the research forefront. Using examples drawn from reproductive technologies, Reproductive Tissue Banking presents the scientific principles underlying tissue banking. These examples serve as models for the technology of banking other living tissues, including blood, bone marrow, cornea, and skin. In discussing research emerging from their laboratories and those of others, the authors meld fundamentals of biology, chemistry, and physics with the latest discoveries in the field to give the reader profound insight into research directions and ethical considerations crucial to the advancement of tissue banking.With its emphasis on human applications and concerns, this book provides a valuable supplement to short courses on tissue preservation and tissue engineering. Researchers in reproductive medicine, animal and veterinary science, and cryobiology will find this book, with its extensive bibliography, a very handy reference.* * Written by leading international researchers* Provides insightful discussions on reproductive tissue banking* Presents comprehensive citations to relevant literature, both current and historic* Discusses in vitro preservation of spermatozoa, oocytes, embryos, and gonadal tissues of mammals* Contains coverage of ethical considerations from a discussion of the splitting of embryos to an exploration of the protection of biodiversity