Cover -- Contents -- Contributors -- The antibody paradigm: present and future development as a scaffold for biopharmaceutical drugs -- Abstract -- Introduction -- Innate and adaptive immunity -- The polypeptide structure of human IgG -- Overview of the quaternary structure of human IgG -- Quaternary structure of Fab -- Functional and genetic (core) hinge structures -- Quaternary structure of IgG-Fc: the protein moiety -- The IgG-Fc oligosaccharide moiety -- IgG-Fc protein/oligosaccharide interactions -- Cellular IgG-Fc receptors -- i) IgG-Fc receptors (FcγR) mediating antigen clearance -- FcRn -- i) Transcytosis -- ii) Catabolism -- Complement activation -- Classical pathway: C1q/C1 binding and activation -- Lectin patghway activation: mannan-binding lectin -- The mannose receptor -- IgG-Fab glycosylation -- IgG binding proteins produced by pathogens. -- Antibody production in non-mammalian systems -- Plants -- Insect cells -- Yeast -- Prokaryotes -- Concluding remarks -- References -- Transgenic plants and associated bacteria for phytoremediation of chlorinated compounds -- Abstract -- Introduction -- Phytoremediation: cleaning up pollution with plants -- Chlorinated compounds: sources, toxicity, biodegradation -- Chlorinated solvents -- Polychlorinated phenols -- Chlorinated pesticides -- Phytoremediation of chlorinated compounds -- Phytoremediation of chlorinated solvents -- Phytoremediation of Polychlorinated phenols -- Phytoremediation of chlorinated pesticides -- Transgenic plants for phytoremediation of chlorinated compounds -- Transgenic plants expressing Phase I enzymes of the green liver model -- Transgenic plants expressing Phase II enzymes of the green liver model -- Transgenic plants expressing secretory enzymes -- Transgenic plant-associated bacteria for phytoremediation -- Transgenic rhizosphere bacteria -- Endophytic bacteria.

Conclusions -- Acknowledgements -- References -- Defense and death responses to pore forming toxins -- Abstract -- Introduction -- Defense mechanisms evolved by eukaryotic cells to bacterial infections -- Innate immune response -- Adaptive immune response -- Intracellular effects induced by PFT -- Mechanisms of cell death induced by PTF -- Apoptotic death induced by PFT at sublytic concentrations -- Oncosis death induced by PFT -- Pyroptosis induced cell death by PFT -- PFT inactivate the host cell survival AKT pathway promoting cell death by apoptosis -- Defense mechanisms evolved by eukaryotic cells to PFT -- ACTIVATION OF MAPK P38 PATHWAY -- ACTIVATION OF LIPID BIOSYNTHESIS -- ELIMINATION OF PFT BY ENDOCYTIC MECHANISMS -- PROTECTIVE ROLE OF AUTOPHAGY -- Concluding remarks -- Acknowledgements -- References -- Biomedical application of plasmid DNA in gene therapy: A new challenge for chromatography -- Abstract -- Introduction -- The relevance of pDNA on emerging gene therapies -- Relation of pDNA topology with its biological function -- Plasmid DNA biosynthesis -- Overview of production flowsheet strategies -- Primary isolation -- Chromatographic perspectives enhancing pDNA purification -- Size-exclusion chromatography -- Anion-exchange chromatography -- Hydrophobic interaction chromatography -- Affinity chromatography -- Conclusions and future trends -- References -- Three-Dimensional Cell Cultures in Toxicology -- Abstract -- Introduction -- Methods for 3D cell culture -- 3D hydrogel-based cultures -- Cellular spheroids -- Organotypic cultures -- 3D cultures on porous substratges and microcarriers -- 3D cell cultures in toxicology -- Further spheroid-based assays -- Conclusions and prospects -- Novel extracellular matrices -- Light-sheet based fluorescence microscopy -- Acknowledgements -- References.

Biosynthesis and Engineering of Carotenoids and Apocarotenoids in Plants: State of the Art and Future Prospects -- Abstract -- Introduction -- The carotenoid pathway in plants -- Carotenoid biosynthesis -- Carotenoid-specific cleavage dioxygenases produce apocarotenoid volaties and ABA precursors -- Selected plant species produce specialty carotenoids and apocarotenoids -- Achiote (Bixa orellena L. -- Saffron crocus (Crocus sativus L.) -- Pheasant's eye (Adonis spp.) -- Peppers (Capsicum spp.) -- Engineering carotenoids and apocarotenoids in plants -- Non-solanaceous plants -- Solanaceae crops -- Conclusions and perspectives -- Acknowledgements -- References -- Supply of Nutrients to Cells in Engineered Tissues -- Abstract -- Introduction -- Mass transport -- Cell Nutrition in vitro -- Differences in nutrient concentrations in vitro and in vivo -- Strateiges to improve nutrient supplies in vitro -- Nutrient transport in implanted engineered tissues -- Strategies to enhance vascularization after implantation -- Concluding remarks -- Acknowledgements -- References -- Synthesizing Neurophysiology, Genetics, Behaviour and Learning to Produce Whole-Insect Programmable Sensors to Detect Volatile Chemicals -- Abstract -- Introduction -- Current whole-insect programmable sensors -- Future developments -- Features of insect olfactory system -- Biology of learning and memory -- Molecular biology of olfactory system -- Computer modeling of olfactory systems -- Genetic breeding -- References -- Microbial Transglutaminase Production: Understanding the Mechanism -- Abstract -- Introduction -- Transglutaminase production by Streptomyces spp. and genetically modified strains -- (1) Tgase productiopn by wild strain -- (2) Tgase production by genetically modified strains -- Biological mechanism of transglutaminase synthesis from Streptomyces.

Fermentation strategies based on biological mechanism of transglutaminase synthesis -- Trends in microbial production of transglutaminase -- Construction of genetic engineering strains: co-expression of pro-transglutaminase, transglutaminase-activating protease and transglutaminase-activating protease inhibitor -- Pro-region help Tgase folding -- Molecular mechamism of transglutaminase involved in streptomyces differentiation -- Conclusion -- Acknowledgments -- References -- 2A to the Fore - Research, Technology and Applications -- Abstract -- Introduction -- 2A Ontology -- Identification of the 2A domain -- Processing by the 2A protein -- Occurrence of 2A elements in viral and cellular mRNAs -- A co-translational model of 2A-mediated cleavage -- Targeted expression of recombitant proteins -- 2A in yeast biotechnology -- 2A in plant biotechnology -- Stable expression in plants -- Transietn expression in plants -- 2A in Animal Biotechnology -- Improving the efficacy of DNA vaccines -- Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies -- 2A-based vectors in gene therapy -- Organisation of the T-cell receptor (TCR)/CD3 complex -- TARGETED EXPRESSION IN TRANSGENIC ANIMALS -- So many innovations, so little space -- Acknowledgements -- References -- Advances in mRNA Silencing and Transgene Expression: a Gateway to Functional Genomics in Schistosomes -- Abstract -- Introduction -- RNA interference technology (gene silencing) -- RNAi in schistosomes -- Transgenesis of schistosomes -- Concluding remarks and outlook -- Acknowledgements -- References -- Metabolic Network-Based Interpretation of Gene Expression Data Elucidates Human Cellular Metabolism -- Abstract -- Introduction -- Overview of constraint-based modeling (CBM) -- CBM Analysis of Expression Data -- Constraining the flux through absent enzymes to zero (Akesson et al (Akesson, 2004)):.

Minimizing the usage of potentially absent genes - THE Becker & Palsson METHOD -- Integrated analysis of both highly and low expressed - Shlomi and coworkers -- Discussion -- References -- Stem cell biology and cell transplantation therapy in the retina -- Abstract -- Introduction -- Visual system -- Retinal development -- Anatomy and physiology of the adult retina -- Visual processing -- Retinal degenerative diseases -- Retinitis pigmentosa and allied hereditary disorders -- Age-related macular degeneration -- Potential donor cells for retinal cell transplantation -- Retinal tissue -- Developing retinal cells -- Neural stem cells in the brain -- Neural stem cells in the developing retina -- Progenitors in the ciliary margin and iris -- Müller glia in the adult retina -- ES cells -- iPS cells -- Generation of RPE and photoreceptors from pluripotent stem cells -- In vitro ES cell differentiation system -- Directed differentiation of ES cells and iPS cells into retinal cells -- Retinal cell transplantation -- Photoreceptor transplantation -- RPE TRANSPLANTATION -- Concluding remarks -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Functional Metagenomics: Recent Advances and Future Challenges -- Abstract -- Introduction -- Brief history of metagenomics -- Current state of metagenomics (and how it can be improved) -- Approaches to functional metagenomics -- METAGenomics of low complexity communities -- Enrichment-based metagenomics -- Bromodeoxyuridine labeling as a means for functional metagenomics -- Targeting functional types via stable isotope probing -- Metatranscriptomics -- Metaproteomics -- The future of metagenomics -- Acknowledgements -- References -- The impact of Structural Proteomics on Biotechnology -- Abstract -- Introduction -- Protein structure analysis -- Protein production -- Crystallization -- X-ray diffraction data collection.

Structure determination methods.