Cytokines are soluble proteins secreted by a wide variety of cells in the body, playing crucial roles in many physiological responses and are involved in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Recently, there is great progress in discoveries that some novel cytokines, including secreted frizzled-related proteins (SFRPs), adiponectin, and C1q/TNF-Related Proteins (CTRPs), can perform a protective effect in cardiometabolic diseases, heart failure and coronary heart disease. However, the mechanisms underlying the molecular and pathophysiological actions of these cytokines in CVDs are still vague. Novel mechanisms of cell death including pyroptosis, autophagy, ferroptosis, cuproptosis, and PANoptosis have been considered novel therapeutic targets for CVDs. Some cytokines have been shown to regulate the cell death pathway in the incidence and development of CVDs. Further investigations are needed to understand the link between these novel cytokines and novel cell death models and pathways in CVDs.

This book incorporates developments in our understanding of cell death mechanisms and highlights recent advances in programmed cell death regulation processes. It provides the reader with the network of pathways targeted by herbal anticancer drugs and discusses the role of endoplasmic reticulum stress in cell death mechanisms in addition to highlighting the mechanisms of autophagy and its role in diseases. This book provides valuable material for researchers and for teaching postgraduate students. Emphasis on recent advances and their clinical applications offers insights to researchers that will likely lead to the development of novel therapeutic approaches.

Apoptosis or programmed cell death is increasingly considered to be a major factor in the development and progression of cardiovascular disease. In patients with heart failure the activation of apoptosis may result in the loss of irreplaceable cardiac myocytes promoting the clinical course of the syndrome. Moreover, in the coronary arteries inflammation and apoptosis may weaken critical structures of the vessel wall leading to plaque rupture and, subsequently, to myocardial infarction. Given these deleterious consequences, it seems almost paradoxical that programmed cell death is an active process that, if initiated under physiological circumstances, is essential for both coordinated tissue growth or destruction of malignant cells. Apoptosis in Cardiac Biology, written by a team of internationally renowned researchers, gives a timely synopsis of basic mechanisms, cellular and structural targets and, finally, clinical implications of programmed cell death in the heart. The expert authors of this volume give concise overviews on general and cell-specific aspects of programmed cell death in cardiac myocytes and fibroblasts, as well as in vascular smooth muscle and endothelial cells. Furthermore, novel therapeutic options arising from the outstanding pathophysiological significance of cardiac apoptosis are presented. This comprehensive review of Apoptosis in Cardiac Biology will be of interest to both clinicians and basic researchers who are active in the fields of cardiology and atherosclerosis.

One of the most intriguing and compelling issues to impact contemporary biology to date is the concept that cell death is genetically regulated. Observations by Kerr and Wyllie, made more than 30 years ago on the basis of distinct morphological criteria, markedly distinguished apoptosis from classical cell death by necrosis. Apoptosis is a highly regulated, evolutionary conserved, genetic program of cell death essential for normal development and tissue homeostasis. The discovery of apoptosis as a regulated event and potentially amenable to therapeutic interventions has generated considerable excitement because it meant that disease entities resulting from either too much, or too little, apoptosis could be potentially cured with new therapies that target apoptosis. While there is little doubt that necrosis induced by massive cellular trauma is likely an unregulated event, several lines of investigation have challenged the dogma that necrotic cell death is merely unregulated. Emerging data has shifted the paradigm in our thinking about necrosis as a regulated event. Autophagy is another cellular process that has received considerable attention over the past two decades and its remarkable involvement in the processes of cell survival, death and tumorigenesis. Macro autophagy is a catabolic process that involves the selective and targeted removal of oxidized proteins, macromolecular structures and organelles through an elaborate cellular process involving a lysosome mediated pathway. Other forms of autophagy involving adapter proteins, commonly referred to as chaperone mediated autophagy, involves the selective removal of cellular cargo by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. The book will serve as a reference guide for basic and clinical scientists who are interested in understanding how these critical cellular processes impact the pathogenesis of human disease.

Ten papers from the European Workshop on Animal Cell Engineering Costa Brava, Spain (no date noted) kick off a series designed to facilitate the integration of developments in molecular biology into bioprocesses . Scientists and engineers doing basic research and from the biopharmaceutical industry discuss gene expression, protein synthesis and modification, cell proliferation, immortalization, and apoptosis. Their titles include understanding the translation regulatory mechanisms to improve the efficiency and the specificity of protein production by the cell factory, using the endoprotease furin in the high-yield expression of recombinant proteins requiring proteolytic maturation, inhibiting apoptosis in mammalian cell culture, factors involved in the cell cycle arrest of adult rat cardiomycytes, and the immortalization of hepatocytes through the targeted deregulation of the cell cycle. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Pathophysiology of Cardiovascular Disease has been divided into four sections that focus on heart dysfunction and its associated characteristics (hypertrophy, cardiomyopathy and failure); vascular dysfunction and disease; ischemic heart disease; and novel therapeutic interventions. This volume is a compendium of different approaches to understanding cardiovascular disease and identifying the proteins, pathways and processes that impact it.

The impact of Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is thought to play a crucial role in the development and progression of disease. Whilst Apoptosis remains extensively studied in the context of immunology, the focus of research has greatly expanded to investigate the key role it is now believed to play in hematopoiesis, angiogenesis, inflammation

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in developed countries, but is quickly becoming an epidemic in such well-populated countries as China, India, and other developing nations. Cardiovascular research is the key to the prevention, diagnosis, and management of cardiovascular disease. Vigorous and cross-disciplinary approaches are required for successful card- vascular research. As the boundries between different scientific disciplines, particularly in the life sciences, are weakening and disappearing, a successful investigator needs to be competent in many different areas, including genetics, cell biology, biochemistry, physiology, and structural biology. The newly developed field of molecular medicine is a cross-disciplinary science that seeks to comprehend disease causes and mechanisms at the molecular level, and to apply this basic research to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases and disorders. This volume in the Methods in Molecular Medicine series, C- diovascular Disease, provides comprehensive coverage of both basic and the most advanced approaches to the study and characterization of cardiovascular disease. These methods will advance knowledge of the mechanisms, diagnoses, and treatments of cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular Disease is a timely volume in which the theory and pr- ciples of each method are described in the Introduction section, followed by a detailed description of the materials and equipment needed, and step-by-step protocols for successful execution of the method. A notes section provides advice for potential problems, any modifications, and alternative methods.