This series of books, devoted to aspects of blood cell biochemistry, development, immu nology, and ultrastructure, has evolved and separated from the long-established Plenum series Subcellular Biochemistry. It is the intention of these volumes to draw together related areas of investigation and to provide, in the fullness of time, complete coverage of this rapidly advancing important biomedical discipline. Both fundamental and medically applied topics, dealing with normal and pathological cells, will be included. This, the first volume of the series, contains a diverse collection of chapters, all of which relate to erythroid cells. The range of material included is extremely broad and the authors have used contrasting technical approaches, both within their personal experimen tal studies and within their manuscripts. This has led to the production of a very interest ing compilation, which does, nevertheless, possess a strong overall thematic unity. As with all edited volumes, some topics of importance and interest are not included. This may be because of oversight on my part, as editor, or because the authors originally selected failed to submit their manuscript by the agreed-upon submission date. For these omissions I take full responsibility and trust that at least some of the topics omitted, for instance membrane cation transport systems, will be covered within a future volume of the series. This book commences with two chapters of a developmental nature.

The period between 1950 and 1980 were the golden unique insights into how pathological processes affect years of transmission electron microscopy and produced cell organization. a plethora of new information on the structure of cells This information is vital to current work in which that was coupled to and followed by biochemical and the emphasis is on integrating approaches from functional studies. TEM was king and each micrograph proteomics, molecular biology, genetics, genomics, of a new object produced new information that led to molecular imaging and physiology and pathology to novel insights on cell and tissue organization and their understand cell functions and derangements in disease. functions. The quality of data represented by the images In this current era, there is a growing tendency to of cell and tissues had been perfected to a very high level substitut e modern light microscopic techniques for by the great microscopists of that era including Palade, electron microscopy, because it is less technically Porter, Fawcett, Sjostrand, Rhodin and many others. At demanding and is more readily available to researchers- present, the images that we see in leading journals for This atlas reminds us that the information obtained by the most part do not reach the same technical level and electron microscopy is invaluable and has no substitute.

Epigenetic Gene Expression and Regulation reviews current knowledge on the heritable molecular mechanisms that regulate gene expression, contribute to disease susceptibility, and point to potential treatment in future therapies. The book shows how these heritable mechanisms allow individual cells to establish stable and unique patterns of gene expression that can be passed through cell divisions without DNA mutations, thereby establishing how different heritable patterns of gene regulation control cell differentiation and organogenesis, resulting in a distinct human organism with a variety of differing cellular functions and tissues. The work begins with basic biology, encompasses methods, cellular and tissue organization, topical issues in epigenetic evolution and environmental epigenesis, and lastly clinical disease discovery and treatment. Each highly illustrated chapter is organized to briefly summarize current research, provide appropriate pedagogical guidance, pertinent methods, relevant model organisms, and clinical examples. - Reviews current knowledge on the heritable molecular mechanisms that regulate gene expression, contribute to disease susceptibility, and point to potential treatment in future therapies - Helps readers understand how epigenetic marks are targeted, and to what extent transgenerational epigenetic changes are instilled and possibly passed onto offspring - Chapters are replete with clinical examples to empower the basic biology with translational significance - Offers more than 100 illustrations to distill key concepts and decipher complex science

The Textbook of Nephro-Endocrinology is the definitive translational reference in the field of nephro-endocrinology, investigating both the endocrine functions of the kidneys and how the kidney acts as a target for hormones from other organ systems. It offers researchers and clinicians expert, gold-standard analyses of nephro-endocrine research and translation into the treatment of diseases such as anemia, chronic kidney disease (CKD), rickets, osteoporosis, and, hypoparathyroidism. - Investigates both the endocrine functions of the kidneys and how the kidney acts as a target for hormones from other organ systems - Presents a uniquely comprehensive and cross-disciplinary look at all aspects of nephro-endocrine disorders in one reference work - Clear translational presentations by the top endocrinologists and nephrologists in each specific hormone or functional/systems field