Extracellular Nucleic Acids

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xi

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2. Extracellular DNA as Matrix Component in Microbial Biofilms

   • Wen-Chi Chiang, Tim Tolker-Nielsen

   Pages 1-14

3. Gene Transfer Agents and Defective Bacteriophages as Sources of Extracellular Prokaryotic DNA

   • Andrew S. Lang, J. Thomas Beatty

   Pages 15-24

4. Roles of Extracellular DNA in Bacterial Ecosystem

   • Katsuji Tani, Masao Nasu

   Pages 25-37

5. Stable Extracellular DNA: A Novel Substrate for Genetic Engineering that Mimics Horizontal Gene Transfer in Nature

   • Shinya Kaneko, Mitsuhiro Itaya

   Pages 39-53

6. Extracellular Nucleic Acids of the Marine Phototrophic Bacterium Rhodovulum sulfidophilum and Related Bacteria: Physiology and Biotechnology

   • Yo Kikuchi

   Pages 55-67

7. Systemic RNAi in C. elegans from the Viewpoint of RNA as Extracellular Signals

   • Lisa Timmons

   Pages 69-92

8. Circulating Nucleic Acids in Health and Disease

   • E. Y. Rykova, P. P. Laktionov, V. V. Vlassov

   Pages 93-128

9. Circulating MicroRNAs in Cancer

   • Patrick S. Mitchell, Muneesh Tewari

   Pages 129-145

10. Biology and Diagnostic Applications of Cell-Free Fetal Nucleic Acids in Maternal Plasma

    • Jason C. H. Tsang, Y. M. Dennis Lo

    Pages 147-166

11. The Biology of Circulating Nucleic Acids in Plasma and Serum (CNAPS)

    • P. B. Gahan, M. Stroun

    Pages 167-189

12. Modulation and Regulation of Gene Expression by CpG Oligonucleotides

    • Dennis Klinman, Sven Klaschik

    Pages 191-208

13. Immune Recognition of Nucleic Acids and Their Metabolites

    • Shohei Koyama, Shizuo Akira, Ken J. Ishii

    Pages 209-227

14. Back Matter

    Pages 229-232

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Extracellular nucleic acids have recently emerged as important players in the fields of biology and the medical sciences. In the last several years, extracellular nucleic acids have been shown to be involved in not only microbial evolution as genetic elements but also to have structural roles in bacterial communities, such as biofilms. Circulating DNA and RNA have been found in human blood and expected to be useful as non-invasive markers for the diagnosis of several diseases. In addition, extracellular nucleic acids have attracted attention as active modulators of the immune system of higher organisms, including humans. This book covers nearly all of the newly developing fields related to extracellular nucleic acids, including those of basic biology, ecology and the medical sciences, and provides readers with the latest knowledge on them.

• DNA
• Immune System
• Nucleotide
• RNA
• evolution
• gene expression
• gene transfer
• genes
• genetic engineering
• physiology
• regulation

• , Dept. of Environmental and Life Sciences, Toyohashi University of Technology, Toyohashi-city, Japan

  Yo Kikuchi

• Fundamental Medicine, Institute of Chemical Biology and, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation

  Elena Y. Rykova

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