Note: Cover -- Half title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- 1 The Universe and the Principle of Relativity -- The Sky at Night -- Early Cosmologies -- The Copernican Revolution -- Galileo: Father of Modern Science -- The Earth from a Billion Miles -- Newton's Laws of Motion -- Nineteenth-Century Certainties -- Quantum Mechanics -- Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity -- Einstein's General Theory of Relativity -- Can We 'Feel' the Consequences of Relativity? -- Hubble's Deep Field Views -- Conclusions -- 2 Biological Scales and Levels -- The Sense of Scale -- Scales and Levels -- Atoms and Ions -- Molecules -- Molecules as Systems -- Networks -- Organelles -- Cells -- Tissues -- Organs -- Whole-Body Systems -- The Organism as a Whole -- Beyond Organisms -- Conclusions -- 3 Biological Networks -- Networks are not Diagrams! -- How Do Complex Structures Form? -- Biological Oscillators and Attractors -- Circadian Rhythm -- Cardiac Rhythm -- Gene Expression Patterns -- Synchronisation of Oscillators: Brainwaves -- Chance at the Heart of the Cell -- Conclusions -- 4 Nature and Origin of Cells -- The Medical Histology Class -- Cells as Carriages -- The Simplest Cells: Bacteria and Archaea -- Bacteria -- Archaea -- Eukaryotes: The Largest Organisms but the Smallest Domain -- The Cell Cycle -- Meiosis -- RNA and Other Early Worlds? -- How Cells Form Tissues -- The Nearly Cells: Viruses -- Tree, Networks or Rings of Life? -- The Death of Cells -- Conclusions -- 5 Blind Chance and Natural Selection -- Charles Darwin and his Predecessors -- Darwin on Lamarckism -- The Rise of Neo-Darwinism Leading to the Modern Synthesis -- Evolution and Genetics -- The Modern Synthesis -- Schrödinger and What is Life? -- Neo-Darwinism and the Central Dogma -- The Language of Neo-Darwinism -- The Language of Neo-Darwinism as a Whole. , Conclusions -- 6 Biological Relativity -- A Personal Journey -- Ultimate Reductionism: Mathematics? -- Introduction to Spinoza -- Spinoza's Way Out of the Cartesian Paradigm -- The Essence of Biological Relativity -- Conceptual and Empirical Interpretations -- Open and Closed Systems -- Why Spinoza's Constraint is not Sufficient -- Forms of Causation -- Conclusions -- 7 Dancing Nucleotides: Natural Genetic Engineering -- Pipes and Templates -- Summary of the Problem -- The Weismann Barrier is Relative, not Absolute -- Genetic Variation is not Random -- Misinterpretations of the Central Dogma -- Mobile Genetic Elements -- Natural Genetic Engineering: Genome Reorganisation -- Significance of Symbiogenesis and Co-operation -- Conclusions -- 8 Epigenetics and a Relativistic Theory of Evolution -- Epigenetics Viewed from Physiological High Ground -- Epigenetic and Other Lamarckian Inheritance -- Niche Construction and the Active Role of Organisms -- The Origin of Species? -- Are Genes Followers Rather than Leaders? -- Isn't a Lot of DNA 'Selfish', 'Parasitic'? -- The Speed of Evolution -- Respecting the Principle of Biological Relativity -- A Biological Relativistic View of Evolution -- Conclusions -- 9 The Relativity of Epistemology: The Meaning of It All -- Why? Questions and Goals -- The Third Way -- Science and Humanity -- Science and Common Sense -- Is Naive Theism the Only Alternative? -- Contextual Logic -- Selfish Genes and Altruism -- Relativity of Epistemology -- Ultimate Purpose? -- 10 Postscript -- Glossary -- Index.

Note: Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Preface by Professor Denis Noble CBE FRS -- Contributors -- Introduction by Benedict Rattigan -- Editors' Note by Afiq Hatta, -- About the Contributors -- Chapter 1 Planetary Systems: From Symmetry to Chaos -- Chapter 2 Entropy and Symmetry in the Universe -- Chapter 3 Darkness, Light, and How Symmetry Might Relate Them -- Chapter 4 Self-Similar Self-Similarity -- Chapter 5 The Language of Symmetry in Music -- Chapter 6 The Interdependence of Order and Disorder: How Complexity Arises in the Living and the Inanimate Universe -- Chapter 7 A Philosopher's Perspective on the Harnessing of Stochasticity -- Chapter 8 Postscript: A Dialogue between Denis Noble and Benedict Rattigan -- Appendix: A Response to Professor Noble's Paper: Ordered Disorder to Drive Physiology -- References -- Index.

Note: Front Cover -- Exosomes: A Clinical Compendium -- Copyright -- Contents -- Contributors -- Editor biography -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Special acknowledgment -- Chapter 1 Exosome basic mechanisms -- 1 Exosomes biogenesis and release -- 2 Endosomal sorting complex request for transport (ESCRT) and its role in exosome biogenesis -- 3 ESCRT-independent mechanism of exosomes biogenesis -- 4 MVBs transport to the membrane and exosomes release -- 5 Basal composition and cargo -- 6 Mechanisms of action -- 6.1 Exosome mechanism of action -- References -- Further reading -- Chapter 2 Methods for exosome isolation and characterization -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Methods for exosome isolation -- 2.1 Differential centrifugation -- 2.2 Filtration and ultracentrifugation -- 2.3 Density gradient centrifugation -- 2.4 Precipitation -- 2.5 Immunoaffinity capture-based isolation -- 2.6 Summary of methods for exosome isolation -- 2.6.1 Recovery rate -- 2.6.2 Purity -- 2.6.3 Time and labor cost -- 3 Methods for exosome characterization -- 3.1 Ultrastructural analysis -- 3.1.1 TEM -- 3.1.2 Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) -- 3.1.3 Cryogenic electron microscopy (Cryo-EM) -- 3.1.4 Atomic force microscopy (AFM) -- 3.2 NTA -- 3.3 AF4 -- 3.4 RPS -- 3.5 Flow cytometry -- 3.6 ExoView characterization platform -- 3.7 In vivo exosome tracking -- 4 Exosome cargo -- 4.1 Exosomal proteins -- 4.1.1 Proteomics -- 4.1.2 Exosomal proteins: apical versus basolateral -- 4.1.3 Exosome as biomarkers -- 4.1.4 Exosomal proteins: Surface-bound versus encapsulated -- 4.2 Exosomal microRNA (miRNA -- miR) -- 5 Summary -- References -- Chapter 3 Exosomes, microvesicles, and their friends in solid tumors -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Cellular uptake of (cancer) cell-derived EVs -- 2.1 Positioning role of early and late endosomes in nuclear transfer of extracellular information. , 2.2 VOR protein complex -- 3 EVs and cancer microenvironment -- 3.1 Role of EVs in metastasis -- 3.2 Cancer cell-derived EVs and inhibition of the anti-cancer immune response -- 3.3 EVs, angiogenesis, endothelial cells, and platelets -- 3.4 EVs and cancer drug resistance -- 4 Environmental clues and carcinogenicity of anticancer drugs-Impact on EVs -- 4.1 Air pollutants -- 4.2 Carcinogenic potential of anticancer drugs and treatments -- 5 Clinical applications of EVs -- 5.1 Liquid biopsy: Cancer cell-derived EV-associated proteins and nucleic acids as biomarkers -- 5.1.1 Proteins -- 5.1.2 Nucleic acids -- 5.2 EV-based anti-cancer strategies -- 5.2.1 Inhibition of EV production and release -- 5.2.2 Inhibition of EV uptake -- 5.2.3 Blocking the pro-angiogenetic effect of cancer cell-derived EVs -- 5.2.4 Harnessing the EV-mediated immune response for cancer therapeutic purposes -- 5.2.5 Delivery of anti-cancer drugs by engineered EVs -- 5.2.6 Delivery of anti-cancer proteins and RNAs by bio-engineered EVs -- 6 EV-based clinical cancer therapy studies -- 7 Conclusion and perspective -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Chapter 4 Hematologic malignancies: The exosome contribution in tumor progression -- 1 Introduction: Hematologic malignancies and the tumor microenvironment -- 2 Physiological regulation and pathological alterations of hematopoiesis by extracellular vesicles -- 3 Endothelial remodeling by extracellular vesicles -- 4 Extracellular vesicles reprogram the bone marrow stromal cells -- 5 Extracellular vesicles alter bone homeostasis -- 6 Extracellular vesicles regulate immune cell functions -- 6.1 Exosomes and NK cells -- 6.2 Exosomes and CD8 + cytotoxic lymphocytes -- 6.3 Exosomes and MDSC -- 6.4 Exosomes and Treg -- 6.5 Exosomes and monocytes -- 6.6 Exosomes and B cells -- 7 Extracellular vesicles mediate drug resistance. , 8 Clinical relevance of exosome for disease diagnosis and drug therapy monitoring -- 9 Conclusions -- Acknowledgment -- Conflict of interests -- References -- Chapter 5 Physiological and pathological functions of prostasomes: From basic research to clinical application -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Prostasomes derived from normal prostatic epithelial cells -- 3 Physiological contribution of prostasomes -- 3.1 Sperm motility and prostasomes -- 3.2 Immunosuppressive activity of prostasomes -- 3.3 Antioxidant capacity of prostasomes -- 3.4 Antibacterial activity of prostasomes -- 3.5 Capacitation and acrosome reaction and prostasomes -- 4 Prostasomes derived from prostate cancer -- 5 Pathological contribution of prostasomes in prostate cancer -- 6 Clinical application of prostasomes for prostate cancer treatment -- 6.1 Strategy for prostate cancer treatment targeting prostasomes -- 6.2 Prostasome-associated prostate cancer biomarker -- 7 Conclusion -- Acknowledgments -- Conflict of interest -- References -- Chapter 6 The function and therapeutic use of exosomes in bacterial infections -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Extracellular vesicles -- 3 Exosomes -- 3.1 Exosomes biogenesis -- 4 Extracellular vesicles, pathogens and infectious diseases -- 5 Composition and function of exosomes and EVs during mycobacterial infections -- 5.1 M.tb infection and characterization of exosome and EV cargo -- 5.2 Modulating of the adaptive immune response by EVs during a mycobacterial infection -- 6 Composition and function of exosomes and EVs during other bacterial infections -- 7 EVs as vaccines against bacterial infections -- 8 EVs as a drug delivery system -- 9 Exosomes as a source of diagnostic biomarkers for infectious diseases -- 10 Summary -- References -- Chapter 7 Emerging therapeutic roles of exosomes in HIV-1 infection -- 1 Introduction. , 2 Exosomes and HIV-1: The chicken or egg? -- 3 Exosomes as double-edged sword in HIV-1 -- 4 Exosomes and autophagy -- 5 Exosomes as biomarkers for HIV-1 -- 6 Therapeutic potential of targeting exosomes -- 6.1 Targeting viral proteins -- 6.2 Targeting viral RNAs -- 7 Lessons from the past -- 7.1 Understanding exosomal pathway in revising therapeutic strategy against viruses -- 7.2 Advancement of technologies in exosome detection and characterization -- 7.2.1 General methods -- 7.2.2 Flow cytometry -- 7.2.3 Resistive pulse sensing (RPS) -- 7.2.4 Nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) -- 7.2.5 Immunoassays -- 7.2.6 Other methods -- 7.3 Key challenges of clinical application of exosomes -- 7.4 Enhancement of exosomal therapeutic efficacy -- 7.5 Future perspectives -- 8 Concluding remarks -- References -- Chapter 8 Extracellular vesicles in parasitic disease -- 1 Extracellular vesicles and parasite -- 2 Leishmania -- 3 Trypanosoma cruzi -- 4 Trypanosoma brucei -- 5 Plasmodium -- 6 Toxoplasma gondii -- 7 Giardia duodenalis -- 8 Concluding remarks -- References -- Chapter 9 Exosomes as intercellular communication messengers for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Exosomes biogenesis and release -- 2.1 Cardiomyocytes-derived exosomes -- 2.2 Endothelial cell-derived exosomes -- 2.3 Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells derived exosomes -- 2.4 Platelet-derived exosomes -- 2.5 Leukocyte-derived exosomes -- 2.6 Erythrocytes-derived exosomes -- 2.7 Vascular smooth muscle cells derived exosomes -- 2.8 Brain cells derived exosomes -- 3 Exosomes characterization and methods of study and analysis -- 3.1 Exosomes size -- 3.2 Exosomes separation -- 3.3 Exosomes analysis -- 4 Exosomes and coronary artery disease -- 4.1 Exosomes as biomarkers in coronary artery disease -- 4.2 Exosomes in the recovery after coronary artery disease. , 5 Exosomes in myocardial ischemia and infarction -- 5.1 Exosomes as biomarkers in myocardial ischemia/infarction -- 5.1.1 Exosomes as biomarkers in myocardial ischemia/infarction -- 5.2 Exosomes in the recovery after myocardial ischemia/infarction -- 5.2.1 Exosomes involved in the endogenous recovery mechanisms after myocardial ischemia/infarction -- 5.2.2 Exosomes used in the therapeutic approaches after myocardial ischemia/infarction -- 6 Exosomes in heart failure -- 6.1 Exosomes as biomarkers in heart failure -- 6.1.1 Proteins from exosomes in heart failure -- 6.1.2 miRNAs from exosomes in heart failure -- 6.2 Exosomes in the recovery after heart failure -- 7 Exosome in cardiac hypertrophy -- 7.1 Exosomes as biomarkers in cardiac hypertrophy -- 7.2 Exosomes in the recovery after cardiac hypertrophy -- 8 Exosome in cardiac arrhythmia -- 8.1 Exosomes as biomarkers in arrhythmia -- 8.2 Exosomes in the recovery after arrhythmia -- 9 Exosome in cerebrovascular diseases -- 9.1 Exosomes as biomarkers in cerebrovascular diseases -- 9.2 Exosomes as cargo in the brain -- 9.3 Exosomes in the treatment of cerebrovascular diseases -- 10 Concluding observations -- Acknowledgements -- Competing financial interests -- References -- Chapter 10 Exosomes in cutaneous biology and dermatologic disease -- 1 Keratinocytes, the major cells of the upper skin, secrete exosomes that modulate pigment production by melanocytes -- 2 Keratinocyte and immune system exosomes modulate fibroblast expression of proteins that modify the extracellular matrix -- 3 Keratinocyte exosomes modulate the immune system -- 4 The dermis fibroblasts, specifically the dermal papilla cells, secrete exosomes that stimulate hair follicle growth pha ... -- 5 Disorders of fibrosis have dysregulated expression of fibroblasts exosomes. , 6 Mast cell exosomes, containing phospholipase activity, stimulate Langerhans cell presentation of lipid antigens to T ce.

Note: Intro -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1. The CD of Life: the Genome -- Introducing the Silmans -- DNA-mania -- Problems with genetic determinism -- Origin of the appeal of genetic determinism -- Life is not a protein soup -- Mapping the alternative metaphors -- 2. The Organ of 30,000 Pipes -- The Chinese Emperor and the poor farmer -- The genome and combinatorial explosion -- An organ of 30 000 pipes -- 3. The Score: is it Written Down? -- Is the genome the 'book of life'? -- The French bistro omelette -- The ambiguity of language -- The Silmans return -- 4. The Conductor: Downward Causation -- How is the genome played? -- Is the genome a program? -- Control of gene expression -- Downward causation takes many forms -- Other forms of downward causation -- Where is the program of life? -- 5. The Rhythm Section: the Heartbeat and other Rhythms -- Beginnings of biological computation -- Reconstructing heart rhythm: the first attempt -- The integrative level of heart rhythm -- Systems biology is not 'vitalism' in disguise -- Nor is it reductionism in disguise -- Other natural rhythms -- 6. The Orchestra: Organs and Systems of the Body -- Novartis Foundation debates -- Problems with bottom-up -- Problems with top-down -- Middle-out! -- The organs of the body -- The virtual heart -- 7. Modes and Keys: Cellular Harmony -- The Silmans find some tropical islands -- The Silmans' mistake -- Genetic basis of cell difierentiation -- Modes and keys -- Multicellular harmony -- A historical note on 'Lamarckism' -- 8. The Composer: Evolution -- The Chinese writing system -- Modularity in genes -- Gene-protein networks -- Fail-safe redundancy -- Faustian pacts with the devil -- The logic of life -- The grand composer -- 9. The Opera Theatre: the Brain -- How do we see the world? -- At Aziz' restaurant -- Action and will: a physiologist and a philosopher experiment. , Explanatory shift between levels -- The self is not a neural object -- The deep-frozen brain -- The resurrected self? -- 10. Curtain Call: the Artist Disappears -- Jupitereans -- Role of culture in our view of the self and the brain -- The self as metaphor -- The artist disappears -- Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- V -- W -- Z.