Academic Press TRAIL (Volume 67) (Vitamins and Hormones, Volume 67)

The discovery of TRAIL (TNF Related Apoptosis Inducing Ligand), also referred to as Apo-2, is in an era of intense research because TRAIL induces many cancer cells to undergo programmed cell death (apoptosis), while having no effect on normal cells. This important protein deserves extensive review at a formative time in the devlopement of our knowledge concerning its mechanism of action and the ways in which it can be used as a cancer chemotherapeutic agent. Consequently, this voume reviews the current status of research on TRAIL. Selected Contents: * Crystal Structure of RANK Ligand involved in bone metabolism * Promoter of TRAIL-R2 Gene * Monoclonal Antibodies against TRAIL * Modulation of TRAIL signaling complex * TRAIL in the airways * FLIP Protein and TRAIL-Induced Apoptosis * TRAIL and Ceramide * TRAIL and Viral Infection * TRAIL and Malignant Glioma Review This volume on TRAIL range from structure, biology, and biochemistry to the foundations for the use of TRAIL as a chemotherapeutic agent. About the Author Dr. Gerald Litwack obtained M.S. and PhD degrees from the University of Wisconsin Department of Biochemistry and remained there for a brief time as a Lecturer on Enzymes. Then he entered the Biochemical Institute of the Sorbonne as a Fellow of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. He next moved to Rutgers University as an Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and later as Associate Professor of biochemistry at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Medicine. After four years he moved to the Temple University School of Medicine as Professor of Biochemistry and Deputy Director of the Fels Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Biology, soon after, becoming the Laura H. Carnell Professor. Subsequently he was appointed chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at the Jefferson Medical College as well as Vice Dean for Research and Deputy Director of the Jefferson Cancer Institute and Director of the Institute for Apoptosis. Following the move of his family, he became a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Biological Chemistry of the Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and then became the Founding Chair of the Department of Basic Sciences at the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, becoming Professor of Molecular and Cellular Medicine and Associate Director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the Texas A&M Health Science Center as his final position. During his career he was a visiting scientist at the University of California, San Francisco and Berkeley, Courtauld Institute of Biochemistry, London and the Wistar Institute. He was appointed Emeritus Professor and/or Chair at Rutgers University, Thomas Jefferson University and the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. He has published more than 300 scientific papers, authored three textbooks and edited more than sixty-five books. Currently he lives with his family and continues his authorship and editorial work in Los Angeles.