New Book By Wayne State Prof Explores Health At Nano Scale
DETROIT (WWJ) -- A Wayne State University School of Medicine professor has published a book that covers new advances in nano cell biology, nano medicine and imaging modalities.
"NanoCellBiology: Multimodal Imaging in Biology & Medicine," (Pan Stanford Publishing) was written and co-edited by Bhanu Jena, the George E. Palade University Professor and Distinguished Professor of the Wayne State University School of Medicine's Department of Physiology. Jena's co-editor is Douglas Taatjes, Ph.D., professor of pathology at the University of Vermont College of Medicine.
The 400-page book discusses novel approaches and applications that have unraveled a new understanding of the cell and its impact on biology, medicine and health care. The book, according to the publisher, is intended to familiarize readers with major developments in the field of nanotechnology, novel imaging methods and new discoveries related to understanding the cell.
The book also provides a comprehensive understanding of the discovery of a new cellular structure identified as the porosome. Discovered by Jena 15 years ago, the porosome is the universal secretory machinery in cells. Secretion is a fundamental cellular process that occurs in all living organisms. Cell secretion is responsible for numerous activities, including neurotransmission and the release of hormones and digestive enzymes. Secretory defects are responsible for a number of debilitating conditions, including growth defects, diabetes and neurological disorders.
Jena's work has focused primarily on the molecular machinery and mechanism underlying cell secretion. His discovery of the porosome has revolutionized understanding of the secretory process in cells. He and his team have further determined the structure and dynamics of the porosome, its isolation and composition, and its functional reconstitution in lipid membrane. His studies demonstrate for the first time that, following a secretory stimulus, membrane-bound secretory vesicles transiently dock and fuse at the base of porosomes present at the cell plasma membrane to release intravesicular contents as opposed to the commonly held belief that during cell secretion, secretory vesicles completely merge and collapse at the cell plasma membrane. His discoveries explain the presence of partially empty secretory vesicles in cells following secretion.
More at www.research.wayne.edu.
