The field of microfluidics has in the last decade permeated many disciplines, from physics to biology and chemistry, and from bioengineering to medical research. One of the most important applications of lab-on-a-chip devices in medicine and related disciplines is disease diagnostics, which involves steps from biological sample/analyte loading to storage, detection, and analysis. The chapters collected in this book detail recent advances in these processes using microfluidic devices and sy...

Stem cell technology is moving forward at a tremendous rate. Recent discoveries have surprised even the most expert researchers. While every piece of new data broadens the current knowledge and contributes to this moving forward, the new data also serve as paradigm shifters of fundamental knowledge of cell biology. While the question ‘What is a Stem Cell’ may now seem to basic to even discuss, there are still some discrepancies, however, between groups in terms of their functional roles. T...

There have been tremendous strides in cellular transplantation in recent years, leading to accepted practice for the treatment of certain diseases, and use for many others in trial phases. The long history of cellular transplantation, or the transfer of cells from one organism or region of the body to another, has been revolutionized by advances in stem cell research, as well as developments in gene therapy. Cellular Transplants: From Lab to Clinic provides a thorough foundation of the bas...

Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) has gained tremendous popularity in recent years as a treatment option for specialties including Orthopedics, Dentistry, Sports Medicine, Otorhinolaryngology, Neurosurgery, Ophthalmology, Urology, Vascular, Cardiothoracic and Maxillofacial Surgery, and Veterinarian Medicine. Nowadays, PRP and Stem Cell Science have added an exciting dimension to tissue repair.This book begins by giving the reader a broad overview of current progress as well as a discussio...

New discoveries in the field of stem cell research have frequently appeared in the news and in scientific literature. Research in this area promises to lead to new therapies for cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and a wide variety of other diseases. This two-volume reference integrates this exciting area of biology, combining the prerequisites for a general understanding of adult and embryonic stem cells, the tools, methods, and experimental protocols needed to study and characterize stem c...

This book addresses important biomaterials which are commonly used to fabricate scaffolds and it describes two major protocols employed in scaffold fabrication. Tissue engineering or regenerative medicine aims at restoring ex-novo tissues and organs whose functionality has been compromised as a consequence of diseases or traumatic events. The innovative concept underlying tissue engineering is the use of autologous cells, obtained from a biopsy of the patient. Cells are seeded on a porous ...

This book focuses on a topical and timely aspect of prokaryotic biology - the biology of prokaryotic multiple chaperonins. Chaperonins are a class of molecular chaperones, the proteins that assist folding of other proteins in the cell. The book begins with an introductory chapter on the structural and functional aspects of chaperonins, followed by an outline on different mechanisms of their regulation. Subsequently, the book provides a comprehensive overview on how the multiple-chaperonins...

Recent developments in stem cell biology have opened new directions in cell therapy. This book provides the state-of-the-art developments in using biomaterials as artificial niches for engineering stem cells, both for the purpose of better understanding their biology under 3D biomimetic conditions as well as for developing new strategies for efficient long term maintenance and directed differentiation of stem cells into various therapeutic lineages. Animal and human stem cells of both embr...

Systems Metabolic Engineering: The Creation of Microbial Cell Factories by Rational Metabolic Design and Evolution, by Chikara Furusawa, Takaaki Horinouchi, Takashi Hirasawa, Hiroshi ShimizuImpacts of Quorum Sensing on Microbial Metabolism and Human Health, by Yang-Chun Yong, Jian-Jiang ZhongCHO Glycosylation Mutants as Potential Host Cells to Produce Therapeutic Proteins with Enhanced Efficacy, by Peiqing Zhang, Kah Fai Chan, Ryan Haryadi, Muriel Bardor, Zhiwei Song Cell-F...

This comprehensive volume explores functions, pathologies, and applications of stem cells in relation to the niches in which they develop. Ten chapters cover the subject in depth, from a historical perspective through signaling, hormonal control, quiescence, biomimetics, epigenetics, engineering strategies for emulating, tumorigenesis and more. The chapter authors represent a broad range of international expertise and perspectives.This installment of the popular Stem Cell Biology a...

This book marries stem cell biology, tissue engineering, and regenerative biology into a single, interdisciplinary volume. The chapters also explore embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, cardiovascular regeneration, skeletal development, inflammation, polymeric biomaterials, neural injury, cartilage regeneration, regeneration in ambystoma, models for regeneration using salamander and zebrafish, and more. The volume also discusses recent advances and their potential in devel...

In the last 3 decades, stem cells have greatly impacted the scientific and lay communities, providing huge advances in the treatment of devastating human diseases, including myocardial infarction, diabetes, muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis, cirrhosis, and osteoporosis. Alongside debates of induced pluripotent stem cells and embryonic stem cells has been the discovery of adult stem cells in many different tissues. While these organ resident or progenitor stem cells offer prospects to con...