Adhesion in Biological Systems summarizes the knowledge of adhesion in the presence of moisture, a condition required in almost all biological systems. Organized into four parts with a total of 17 chapters, this book begins with the principles of adhesion in biological systems. Then, it describes the various biological adhesives, as well as the adhesives for soft and hard tissues. Scientists in a number of fields, including physics, chemistry, zoology, botany, engineering, medicine, and pharmacy, will benefit from this book.

J. Herbert Waite Like many graduate students before and after me I was There are so many species about which nothing is known, mesmerized by a proposition expressed years earlier by and the curse of not knowing is apathy. Krogh (1929) – namely that “for many problems there is Bioadhesion is the adaptation featured in this book, an animal on which it can be most conveniently studied”. and biology has many adhesive practitioners. Indeed, This opinion became known as the August Krogh Prin- every living organism is adhesively assembled in the ciple and remains much discussed to this day, particu- most exquisite way. Clearly, speci? c adhesion needs to larly among comparative physiologists (Krebs, 1975). be distinguished from the opportunistic variety. I think The words “problems” and “animal” are key because of speci? c adhesion as the adhesion between cells in the they highlight the two fundamental and complementary same tissue, whereas opportunistic adhesion might be the foci of biological research: (1) expertise about an animal adhesion between pathogenic microbes and the urinary (zoo-centric), which is mostly observational and (2) a tract, or between a slug and the garden path. If oppor- mechanistic analysis of some problem in the animal’s life nistic bioadhesion is our theme, then there are still many history or physiology (problem-centric), which is usually practitioners but the subset is somewhat more select than a hypothesis-driven investigation. before.

This book describes, in clear, understandable language, the three main disciplines of adhesion technology:

Intimate molecular contact at joint interfaces is essential for the extremely localized surface forces to result in adhesion exceeding the cohesive strength of the joined materials. Liquids, however viscous, are perhaps a more important class of adhesives in biology than in any other field. Attention is focused on the spreading of well-defined liquids over rigid or coherent phases of potential biological interest. The contact angle (T) of liquids on solids provides an inverse measure of liquid spreading. Rectilinear plots of cos T vs liquid surface tension (L) define the critical surface tension of wetting (Lc) for each solid. Direct, simple correlations exist between Lc and solid surface composition. Wetting and adhesion can be completely changed by adsorbed films, even monolayers; adsorbed water, for example, can markedly decrease Lc. Wettability properties and Lc concept are pertinent to current adhesional and biomedical problems. Coupling agents have a potential role in bioadhesion. (Author).

By employing a combination of approaches from several disciplines the authors elucidate the principles of a variety of biomechanical systems that rely on frictional surfaces or adhesive secretions to attach parts of the body to one another or to attach organisms to a substrate. This account provides an excellent starting point for engineers and physicists working with biological systems and for biologists studying friction and adhesion. It will also serve as a valuable introduction for graduate students entering this interdisciplinary field of research.

Adhesive Interactions in Normal and Transformed Cells describes the basic mechanisms of the ability of tissue cells to attach to each other and to the extracellular matrix. These adhesive interactions are pivotal regulators of main cellular functions, such as proliferation, survival and migration. The adhesive interactions are involved in embryonic development, regeneration, and also in inflammation and degeneration processes, which are at the basis of many diseases. Serious alterations in cell adhesion caused by the oncogenic transformation play a key role in cancer invasion and metastasis. This volume provides comprehensive information about structural, mechanistic and signaling aspects of adhesive interactions in both normal and cancer cells in comparison. Integration of such aspects of the adhesive process as structure, relation to cell systems of receptors and cytoskeleton, function, signaling pathways, and the alterations in tumor cells constitutes the strongest point of this work. The results of the long-time author’s research are included in the book. The author was one of pioneers, who used scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to study the cell surface morphology of normal cultured cells and the cells underwent the oncogenic transformation, processes of their attachment to and spreading on the surfaces of a solid substratum, and also surprising ability of the cells to respond to various geometric configurations of the substrata surfaces. Adhesive Interactions in Normal and Transformed Cells has both biological and medical aspects and, therefore, it can be interesting not only for cell biologists, developmental biologists and cancer researchers, but also for physicians. It is intended for researchers, postdocs, undergraduate and graduate students.

Aimed at those working to enter this rapidly developing field, this volume on biological physics is written in a pedagogical style by leading scientists giving explanations that take their starting point where any physicist can follow and end at the frontier of research in biological physics. These lectures describe the state-of-the-art physics of biomolecules and cells. In biological systems ranging from single biomolecules to entire cells and larger biological systems, it focuses on aspects that require concepts and methods from physics for their analysis and understanding, such as the mechanics of motor proteins; how the genetic code is physically read and managed; the machinery of protein--DNA interactions; force spectroscopy of biomolecules' velopes, cytoskeletons, and cytoplasms; polymerization forces; listeria propulsion; cell motility; lab-on-a-chip nanotechnology for single-molecule analysis of biomolecules; bioinformatics; and coding and computational strategies of the brain.

This book mainly focuses on key aspects of biomembranes that have emerged over the past 15 years. It covers static and dynamic descriptions, as well as modeling for membrane organization and shape at the local and global (at the cell level) scale. It also discusses several new developments in non-equilibrium aspects that have not yet been covered elsewhere. Biological membranes are the seat of interactions between cells and the rest of the world, and internally, they are at the core of complex dynamic reorganizations and chemical reactions. Despite the long tradition of membrane research in biophysics, the physics of cell membranes as well as of biomimetic or synthetic membranes is a rapidly developing field. Though successful books have already been published on this topic over the past decades, none include the most recent advances. Additionally, in this domain, the traditional distinction between biological and physical approaches tends to blur. This book gathers the most recent advances in this area, and will benefit biologists and physicists alike.

Sugar chains (glycans) are often attached to proteins and lipids and have multiple roles in the organization and function of all organisms. "Essentials of Glycobiology" describes their biogenesis and function and offers a useful gateway to the understanding of glycans.