Tumor Immunology

Series edited by Nina Bhardwaj

As discussed in this Review Series, it is now well accepted that components of both the innate and adaptive immune system can recognize and destroy nascent tumors. Therefore much effort is being put into the design of immunological approaches to treating cancer. However, the development of such approaches is hampered by the fact that tumors co-opt immune suppressive mechanisms to combat the host antitumor response.

Published May 2007

Fibrotic diseases

Series edited by Thomas Wynn

After a tissue is damaged or injured a highly orchestrated tissue repair process is initiated, resulting in restoration of the tissue to its pre-injury state. If any step in this process becomes deregulated or if the tissue is repeatedly exposed to the damaging or injurious stimulus, the tissue repair process continues unchecked, resulting in tissue scarring or fibrosis. Fibrosis can affect any organ or tissue in the body and fibroproliferative disorders, such as liver cirrhosis, pulmonary fibrosis, and systemic sclerosis, are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Despite this, therapies are relatively ineffective; in part, because they do not directly target the mechanism(s) of fibrosis. The articles in this Review series describe some of the major fibrotic diseases and highlight mechanisms that are important for the development of fibrosis in these diseases, with the goal of identifying potential therapeutic targets for their treatment.

Published March 2007

Gastrointestinal homeostasis & disease

Series edited by Daniel J. Drucker

The gastrointestinal tract consists of a diverse set of organs that are often thought to simply function to receive, digest, absorb, and eliminate ingested substances. However, the gastrointestinal tract is a highly sophisticated organ system that coordinates these functions, and the many other automated functions that it performs, with the largest collection of endocrine and immune cells in the body, as well as the second largest collection of neural cell bodies. Disorders of the gastrointestinal tract are therefore diverse and can result from the altered homeostasis of any of these gastrointestinal tract components. The articles in this series discuss different aspects by which the endocrine, neural, and/or immune components of the gastrointestinal tract regulate gastrointestinal function in homeostasis and disease.

Published January 2007

Diabetes

Series edited by Domenico Accili

With the prediction that over 300 million people will develop type 2 diabetes in the next 25 years, it is important to understand the pathogenesis of this condition and develop new approaches to prevention and treatment. This series aims to provide insight into the new and rapidly changing areas of research at the heart of T2D pathogenesis.

Published July 2006

Skin & Bone

Series edited by F. Patrick Ross and Angela M. Christiano

Skin and bone represent two diverse tissues, yet in early development undifferentiated mesenchymal cells can give rise to both skin and bone, suggesting common themes at play in the differentiation and function of these tissues. The articles in this review series go beyond skin deep – examining epidermal barrier formation and defense, autoimmune skin diseases, viral infections of the epithelium, and the fascinating relationship between the skin and central nervous system that underlies the “itch” sensation. In addition, an examination of what lies beneath the skin – bone – highlights new and important aspects of osteoblast and osteoclast biology, including the role of Wnt signaling, the stem cell niche, and the immune system in bone biology.

Published May 2006

Nuclear Receptors

Series edited by Stacie Bloom

This series focuses on the biologic roles of members of the nuclear receptor superfamily of ligand-dependent transcription factors involved in the regulation of lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, immunity, inflammation, and wound repair. The study of these receptors, including estrogen receptors, PPARs, and liver X receptors, has provided great insight into the pathogenesis of diseases including obesity, diabetes, and atherosclerosis, and has the potential to accelerate the development of new, safer treatment strategies.

Published March 2006

New ideas about megakaryocytes and platelets

Series edited by Lawrence F. Brass

This series highlights the current ideas about the production of megakaryocytes from undifferentiated hematopoietic precursors, the steps by which megakaryocytes produce platelets, and the molecular mechanisms within platelets that make hemostasis possible. This complex system that keeps us from bleeding to death at the same time exposes us to increased risk of thrombosis and vascular disease.

Published December 2005

Pharmacological manipulation of cell death

Series edited by Ivor J. Benjamin and Guido Kroemer

This series of reviews on pharmacological manipulation of cell death explores the creation of new therapies for correcting excessive or deficient cell death in human disease. Signal transduction pathways controlling cell death and the molecular core machinery responsible for cellular self-destruction have been elucidated with unprecedented celerity during the last decade, leading to the design of novel strategies for blocking pathological cell loss or for killing unwanted cells. Thus, an increasing number of compounds targeting a diverse range of apoptosis-related molecules are being explored at the preclinical and clinical levels. Beyond the agents that are already FDA approved, a range of molecules targeting apoptosis-regulatory transcription factors, regulators of mitochondrial membrane permeabilization, and inhibitors or activators of cell-death–related proteases are under close scrutiny for drug development.

Published October 2005

Channelopathies

Series edited by Laurie Goodman

Ion channels are pore-forming proteins that provide pathways for the controlled movement of ions into or out of cells. The processes of ionic movement across cell membranes is critical for essential and physiological processes ranging from control of the strength and duration of the heartbeat to the regulation of insulin secretion in pancreatic beta cells. Diseases caused by mutations in genes that encode ion channel subunits or regulatory proteins are referred to as channelopathies. As might be expected based on the diverse roles of ion channels, channelopathies range from inherited cardiac arrhythmias, to muscle disorders, to forms of diabetes. This series of reviews examines the roles of ion channels in health and disease.

Published August 2005

Complex genetic disorders

Series edited by Richard Mayeux

The remarkable achievements in human genetics over the years have been due to technological advances in gene mapping and in statistical methods that relate genetic variants to disease. Nearly every Mendelian genetic disorder has now been mapped to a specific gene or set of genes, but these discoveries have been limited to high-risk, variant alleles that segregate in rare families. With a working draft of the human genome now in hand, the availability of high-throughput genotyping, a plethora of genetic markers, and the development of new analytical methods, scientists are now turning their attention to common, complex disorders such as diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and Alzheimer disease. In this series, the JCI provides readers with reviews dedicated to complex genetic disorders, offering a view of genetic medicine in the 21st century.

Published June 2005