..Although listed as a rare cancer in a majority of countries, Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has a high incidence and appears as a serious public health problem in several highly populated areas of Southeast Asia and to a lesser extent in North Africa. Worldwide, its incidence rates at 85,000 new cases per year (Globocan 2008). Thus, in terms of incidence, among human virus-associated cancers, NPC ranks third behind liver and cervix carcinoma (750,000 and 530,000, respectively). In 2008, the mortality rate of NPC was still about 51,000 per year worldwide (Globocan).

..NPC is a multifactorial disease related to dietary, viral and genetic factors. Despite fascinating biological characteristics, NPC has long been aside from the mainstream of cancer research for both scientific and socio-economical reasons. It is noteworthy that biological investigations have long been hampered by the paucity of laboratory models and the lack of data on premalignant states. However, recently, in several high incidence countries, strong economic growth and rapid progress in health care has propelled NPC on the front stage of cancer research, worldwide. Simultaneously, in other places, the identification of Head and Neck cancers associated to human papilloma viruses has renewed interest for NPC as a proxy model of viral carcinogenesis.

..As explained in the title, this book intends to contribute to “translational medicine and biology”. By this, we mean a bi-directional process whose aim is to develop knowledge from basic science towards diagnostic and therapeutic applications and reciprocally to raise new questions for basic scientists. One general requirement for translational research is to establish a multidisciplinary knowledge base shared by the actors of various specialties. This is precisely the aim of the twelve chapters of this book. It will be useful for scientists, including PhD students, who want to become more familiar with the main concepts of NPC pathology, medical imaging and current therapeutics. Conversely, medical doctors who want to update their knowledge of NPC biology will benefit from chapters on viral and cellular oncogenesis.

..• Gives an overview of state‑of‑the‑art basic findings on the tripartite motif (TRIM, also known as RBCC) family members

..• Discusses physiological and pathological roles of the TRIM

..• Provides the foundation to contribute to foster novel discoveries in the rapidly evolving field of TRIM proteins biology

..• Focuses on key aspects of TRPs in health and disease

..• Provides a detailed discussion of repeat sequences as mutable sites providing genetic variability upon which natural selection can act

..• Provides insights into how expanded polyalanine in specific proteins leads to developmental abnormalities and neurocognitive dysfunction

..Tandem repeats of DNA sequences provide a unique and abundant source of genomic variability and recent evidence suggests they can modulate a range of biological processes in a wide variety of different species. These classes of repetitive DNA are variously referred to as simple sequence repeats, satellite DNA (microsatellites, minisatellites and satellites) or variable number tandem repeats. A key aspect of tandem repeats is that they represent highly polymorphic and uniquely mutable genomic components which can (depending on their sequence, length and location) affect the structure and function of DNA, RNA and protein. This book addresses the role of tandem repeat polymorphisms (TRPs) in genetic plasticity, evolution, development, biological processes, neural diversity, brain function, dysfunction and disease.

..Expansions in tandem repeats (‘dynamic mutations’) are known to cause many disorders, which mainly affect the nervous system, including Huntington’s disease (the most common polyglutamine disorder), spinocerebellar ataxias, Kennedy’s disease (spinobulbar muscular atrophy), dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy, Friedreich ataxia, polyalanine disorders, fragile X syndrome and related disorders. Whilst the plasticity of these tandem repeats occurs at the DNA level, evidence for both ‘gain of function’ and ‘loss of function’ pathogenic effects of repeat expansions (‘genetic stutters’) at RNA and protein levels is discussed using specific examples of these monogenic disorders. Furthermore, it has been proposed that TRPs could help solve the conundrum of ‘missing heritability’ produced by genome-wide association studies of various polygenic complex diseases which have only examined single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). There are hundreds of thousands of unique tandem repeats in the human genome and their polymorphic distributions have the potential to greatly influence functional diversity and disease susceptibility. Recent discoveries in this expanding field are critically reviewed and discussed in a range of different chapters from leading experts in their respective fields, with a focus on the role of TRPs and their various gene products in evolution, development, diverse molecular and cellular processes, brain function and disease.

..• A guide for diabetic patients to take care of their health
..• Comprehensive in scope
..• With numerous figures and tables

..• Written by outstanding investigators in their fields

..• Covers some of the more interesting aspects of research in blood‑tissue barriers

..• Focuses on topics that are physiologically applicable to all blood‑tissue barriers

..• Comprehensive in scope

..• Provides perspectives on the most promising approaches

..• Written by experts in the field

..• Covers many aspects of hetero-oligomerization

..• Gives comprehensive overview of the contributions of protein dimer and oligomer formation to nucleic acid binding

..• Provides an overview of repeat proteins

..• Discusses in depth the potential of innovative methods in the broad field of glioma immunology and immunotherapy

..• Useful for clinicians, clinical scientists and basic scientists

..• Reviews the basic and clinical background, and proceeds from basic science at the bench to the bedside to give a realistic evaluation of the immunology and immunotherapy of glioma

..• Written by internationally distinguished experts working in basic science and clinical neurooncology

..•  Comprehensive in scope

..•  With contributions by international experts

..•  Illustrates the functional properties of NAbs

..• Focuses on the guidance cues and molecular pathways regulating HSC trafficking
..throughout the lifetime of the organism

..• Summarizes some ongoing approaches of stem cell regenerative medicine

..• Introduces recent findings from published studies and clinical trials