This book builds a novel bridge from molecular research to clinical therapy. This approach reveals the functional features of neurons and glia in the particular context of vulnerability and self-protection, intracellular properties and extracellular matrix. Arising from this platform, this volume unfolds the molecular and systemic processes underlying migration disorders, axonal injury, repair and regeneration.
The growing incidence of neurological diseases in an aging population provokes
an unprecedented challenge for the modern world. Facing the socio-economic
consequences, the last years of the 20th century were declared as the “decade of the
brain”, and this pretension was reflected by huge investments of both
pharmaceutical industry and national research organisations. In consequence, the
recent past provided extensive and fascinating insights into the molecular cosmos
and the systemic processes of the nervous system. In striking contradistinction to
these worldwide efforts and accumulation of information, the progress in novel
curative therapies and diagnostic tools is very limited. One reason for this failure is
the marginal interconnection between basic research and clinical neurology. On the
basis of the European COST program, Brain Damage and Repair intends to fill this
gap and to build a bridge between bench and bedside. The concept of Brain Damage
and Repair leads the reader from the basic molecular features of brain structures to
the patho-physiological response due to neuronal damage and chronic degenerative
alterations. The comprehensive delineation of complex structural processes sets a
counterpoint to the detailism of modern information overflow. The contents proceed
from cells and organelles to the clinical diseases and therapeutic principles, and are
completed by chapters on imaging techniques, viral gene transfer and review of
actual neuropharmacological strategies. The final chapter takes up the essential
aspect of legal international handling of stem cell transfer and patents of
DNA/proteins.
Brain Damage and Repair wants to attract the interest of both the basic
neuroscientists and the clinical neurologists. The editors hope that the intended
advance from molecular research to clinical therapy will improve our understanding
and the cure of neurological diseases resulting in a better quality of life.
