The mysterious disease of cancer, including breast cancer, has plagued mankind since the dawn of recorded history. Regarding the elusive cause of the disease, the "Father of Medicine," Hippocrates of Athens (460-377 BC), wrote that, "For instability is characteristic of the humours and so they may be easily altered by nature and by chance." The enigma has persisted until today. In 1971, then President Richard Nixon signed the National Cancer Act and declared a "War on Cancer." He believed the counsel of scientists and physicians that if sufficient resources were committed to the fight, cancer could be virtually eliminated within 5 years. The prophesy failed. Although mortality from a few cancers, most notably leukemias, has been significantly reduced, carcinomas, cancers of the epithelium, which account for 80% of cancer deaths, remain unchanged. While tremendous advances have taken place in our understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms operant in cancer, it has proven exceedingly difficult to prevent the occurrence or to halt the progress of the disease. The very best therapy remains early detection while the primary tumor is small and localized to a single site, followed by removal of the offending growth by surgery and/or radiation. The great challenge of finding a cure confronts us yet, and it is effective intervention at the molecular level that offers our best hope. We still must find the "magic bullet.
In this lecture, we will briefly review the principles of physics, central metabolism, and cell biology that make health possible. This exercise is appropriate for those of us who have set before ourselves the problem of understanding and preserving life processes, because it is through the medium of a cell that energy creates life. We are aware that life processes require a complex set of biochemical reactions. But that is not enough. Not only are complex reactions necessary, but superimposed on this essential requirement is the necessity to build and maintain a dynamic cellular structure. Chemical energy builds cells. In this lecture, we will see how cells extract energy from the entropic dissolution of the universe, how the extracted energy is used to build cell structure, and how cell structure determines cell function. Table of Contents: Origin and Energy of Life / How Cells Make a Living / Order From Chaos: Entropy and The River of Time / Capturing Entropy / Cell Architecture / Why Cells are Compartmentalized. The Function of Organelles / Cell Function / The Secretory Pathway / The Golgi Apparatus / Mitochondria / The Cytoskeleton: How Organelles are Organized / Vesicle Transport / Mitosis / Energy and Metabolism / References
The cell is no longer considered to be a bag full of enzymes dissolved in a liquid cytoplasm. It is now known that the cytoplasm is an exquisitely ordered structure of properly placed organelles and enzyme complexes that are suspended from an intricate network of structural protein polymers termed the cytoskeleton. All movement of organelles and vesicles within the cell is regulated by this cytoskeleton, and it is clear that the cytoskeleton is responsible for all of the cell's external movement as well. In this lecture, we will consider how the cytoskeleton elicits cell migration.The three main elements of the cytoskeleton are microtubules, intermediate filaments, and actin filaments. Microtubules are essential for (a) intracellular transport within the cytoplasm and transport between the nucleus and cytoplasm, (b) the structure and movement of all cilia and flagella, and (c) the structure of the mitotic spindle and movement of chromosomes on the spindle during cell division. Intermediate filaments give structural integrity to virtually all cells and tissues by providing an intracellular network of flexible cables that strengthen internal cell structure and stabilize cell-to-cell adhesion. It is this intercellular binding property that stably joins epithelial cells together to provide the protective functions of skin and the integrity of the intestinal mucosa.Actin is a highly conserved protein ubiquitous to all eukaryotic cells. Actin is absolutely required for (a) cell migration, (b) the contraction of muscle (both striated and smooth), (c) the structure and function of many cell protrusions (e.g., microvilli, filopodia, lamellopodia, blood platelet projections), (d) division of the cytoplasm (cytokinesis) during telophase of cell mitosis, and (e) movement and placement of organelles within the cell. Actin filaments are also called thin filaments because of their very slender (70 Ã…) diameter.
A Primer on Ugaritic is an introduction to the language of the ancient city of Ugarit, a city that flourished in the second millennium BCE on the Lebanese coast, placed in the context of the culture, literature, and religion of this ancient Semitic culture. The Ugaritic language and literature was a precursor to Canaanite and serves as one of our most important resources for understanding the Old Testament and the Hebrew language. Special emphasis is placed on contextualization of the Ugaritic language and comparison to ancient Hebrew as well as Akkadian. The book begins with a general introduction to ancient Ugarit, and the introduction to the various genres of Ugaritic literature is placed in the context of this introduction. The language is introduced by genre, beginning with prose and letters, proceeding to administrative, and finally introducing the classic examples of Ugaritic epic. A summary of the grammar, a glossary, and a bibliography round out the volume.
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