From Book News, Inc.
Thirty-three chapters provide coverage of the hemopoietic growth factors, 18 interleukin molecules, and the interferon family of molecules. Each treatment discusses in detail the immunology, molecular biology, and receptors of the molecules. Additional chapters treat stem cell factor; gene therapy; the chemokines; Flt3 ligand; and the therapeutic potential, assay systems, and phylogeny of the molecules. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Book Description
The fourth edition of The Cytokine Handbook provides an encyclopedic coverage of the molecules that induce and regulate immune responses. Now expanded to two volumes, co-EDITOR: Michael T Lotze, and written by over 120 international experts, the scope of the book has been broadened to include a major emphasis on the clinical applications of cytokines. The early chapters discuss individual cytokines, chemokines and receptors. Additional chapters discuss the clinical implications and applications of cytokines, including cytokine gene transfer, antisense therapy and assay systems. This book is essential for researchers and clinicians interested in cytokines, including anyone working in cancer biology, transplantation, infectious diseases, autoimmunity or bioinformatics.

Synopsis
Several thousand of the 38,000 genes in the human genome, including the cytokines and chemokines, regulate and co-ordinate cell-cell interaction in health and disease. Cytokines play a key role in biology through highly specific receptors. Chronic inflammatory disorders, including cancers, atherosclerosis, autoimmune diseases such as arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, chronic viral infection including HIV/AIDS, chronic hepatitis, herpes infections, tuberculosis and the central problems of preventing graft rejection all engage and involve cytokine/cytokine receptor interactions. Understanding these interactions, using the cytokines as therapeutics or interrupting them have become a mainstream of modern medicine. How these molecules synergize and antagonize each other and signal to regulate gene expression in cells has become a central issue of prime biologic importance and also has been thoroughly covered in this book.

Book Info
Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA. Reference for immunologists and molecular biologists on the immunology and molecular biology of cytokines and their receptors, including: therapeutic potential, assay system, and phylogeny. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From the Back Cover
The fourth edition of The Cytokine Handbook provides an encyclopedic coverage of the molecules that induce and regulate immune responses.

Now expanded to two volumes, co-EDITOR: Michael T Lotze, and written by over 120 international experts, the scope of the book has been broadened to include a major emphasis on the clinical applications of cytokines. The early chapters discuss individual cytokines, chemokines and receptors, including the IL-1 family, the extended IL-10 family (including IL-19, IL-20, and IL-22), the IL-12 family (including IL-23 and IL-27), the EGF Family, MIF, and HMGB1. These are grouped by cytokine families, many of which have recently been revealed by the availability of new sequence data arising from the human genome project. Additional chapters discuss the clinical implications and applications of cytokines, including cytokine gene transfer, antisense therapy and assay systems.

This book is essential for researchers and clinicians interested in cytokines, including anyone working in cancer biology, transplantation, infectious diseases, autoimmunity or bioinformatics.

Reviews of previous editions:

"The Cytokine Handbook has bought together a number of internationally recognized scientists to detail and synthesize a wealth of information on cytokine biology in a much needed and most readable and highly referenced book." IMMUNOLOGY TODAY

"…an excellent guide to the novice to find a way into the cytokine maze, or for the experienced researcher to become updated." MICROBIOLOGY TODAY

"The Cytokine Handbook provides a comprehensive introduction to these cell-modulating proteins, with contents that are of interest not only to the uninitiated but also to those already hooked." NATURE

KEY FEATURES: * Covers all main cytokines and chemokines * Written by experts * Up-to-date- includes detailed referencing accessing current, modern literature and reflects the newest findings from the human genome * The new edition has been thoroughly revised and extended (now 2 volumes) as compared to the last edition, including new co-editor (MTL), new authors, new hot topics and new chapters * Includes major emphasis on clinical applications * Extensively illustrated with tables and figures

Volume 1
Preface
Foreward
Section I Basic Cytokine Biology
1 Cytokines Overview
2 Cytokine Genetics
3 The Phylogeny of Cytokines
4 Cytokine Signalling
Section II The Cytokines and Chemokines
Subsection A. The Hematopoietin Family Members
5 Growth Hormone and its Receptors
6 Prolactin
7 Erythropoietin
8 Interleukin 2
9 Interleukin 3
10 Interleukin 4
11 Interleukin 5
12 Interleukin 6
13 Interleukin 7
14 Interleukin 9
15 Interleukin 11
16 Interleukin 12 Family: IL-12
17 Interleukin 13
18 Interleukin 15 and Interleukin 21
19 Interleukin 16
20 Interleukin 17
21 Granulocyte-Macrophage
22 Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor and its Receptor
23 M-CSF Subsection B. The Interferon Family Members
24 Type I Interferons
25 Interferon-g
26 Interleukin 10
27 Interleukins 19, 20, 22, 24 and 26
Volume II.
Subsection C. The beta trefoil cytokines
28 Interleukin 1 a and b
29 Interleukin 1 Receptor Antagonist
30 Novel Interleukin-1 Homologues
31 Interleukin 18
32 The Fibroblast Growth Factors
33 The Hepatocyte Growth Factor The HGF Receptor, MET
34 Toll-like Receptors: The Origins of Inflammation
35 Lymphotoxins
36 Tumor Necrosis Factor
37 TRAIL/apo2L
38 RANK-L : Receptor Activator of NF-kB Ligan
39 CD95L/FasL its receptor CD95 (APO-1/Fas)
40 HMGB-1/Amphoterin
41 EGF Family Ligand
42 FLT3 Ligand
43 Stem Cell Factor
44 Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor
45 Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF)46 Interleukin-8 and other CXC Chemokines
47 C-C Chemokines
48 Fractalkine-A Cell Surface Chemokines
49 Transforming Growth Factor b
50 Inhibin/Activin Family
51 Bone Morphogenic Proteins
Section III. Clinical Application of Cytokines and Cytokine Inhibition
52 Autoimmunity and Cytokines: Pathogenesis and Therapy
53 Cytokines and Cancer Caligiuri
54 Interferon alpha: biology, pharmacology, and therapy for chronic viral hepatitis
55 Haemopoietic Cytokines
56 Antiangiogenesis
57 Transplantation
58 Cytokines and Asthma
59 Cytokine Gene Transfer
60 Antisense Therapy
61 Assays for Cytokines