Biochemistry of Signal Transduction and Regulation

Inntracellular signal transduction, regulation of cellular activities, tumour formation, apoptosis - how do they work? These questions have become a central topic in biology and biological chemistry. The importance of this field is mirrored in the 1999 Nobel prize for physiology that went to G. Blobel for his findings in protein transport regulation. Since 1990 there has been great progress in the understanding of the molecular basis of signal transduction, and many facts are now basic knowledge for every medicinal chemist, biochemist and biologist. Starting from the principles of gene regulation and regulation of enzyme activity, the topics of this book cover function, structure and integral construction of signalling pathways plus a detailed description of the various types of carriers such as second messengers, protein kinases and transmembrane receptors. Central cellular processes like cell cycle regulation, oncogenesis and apoptosis are discussed in the light of the properties of the signalling molecules involved. The author relates the observed biological phenomena to the underlying biochemical processes.