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Alexander I. Agoulnik
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas, U.S.A.

About this book

Relaxin and Related Peptides discusses the established paradigms, the contradictions, and the most recent findings and future directions in the field of relaxin research. The array of diverse topics are highlighted, ranging from evolution of relaxin family peptides and receptors to their cell signaling, from the role of relaxin in reproduction to the newly discovered functions in cancer progression and in the nervous system. This book includes chapters written by well-known experts in the relaxin field who are actively involved in shaping this rapidly evolving science. The four major ongoing areas of research described in this book will likely attract investigators for years to come, since many basic scientific questions remain unanswered at this time. The availability of structural databases, new experimental techniques, and high quality hormone preparations, antibodies and other reagents enable rigorous investigation. Relaxin and Related Peptides offers a fresh perspective along with different points of view, opinions and disagreements.

Table of contents

Foreword
O. David Sherwood

1. The Evolution of the Relaxin Peptide Family and Their Receptors
Tracey N. Wilkinson and Ross A.D. Bathgate

2. Relaxin, the Relaxin-Like Factor and Their Receptors
Christian Schwabe and Erika E. Büllesbach

3. Diverse Signalling Mechanisms Used by Relaxin in Natural Cells and Tissues:
The Evolution of a "Neohormone"
Richard Ivell, Kee Heng and Ravinder Anand-Ivell

4. Relaxin Physiology in the Female Reproductive Tract during Pregnancy
Laura J. Parry and Lenka A. Vodstrcil

5. Relaxin and Related Peptides in Male Reproduction
Alexander I. Agoulnik

6. The Vascular Actions of Relaxin
Arundhathi Jeyabalan, Sanjeev G. Shroff, Jaqueline Novak and Kirk P. Conrad

7. The Effects of Relaxin on Extracellular Matrix Remodeling in Health
and Fibrotic Disease
Chrishan S. Samuel, Edna D. Lekgabe and Ishanee Mookerjee

8. Relaxin-Like Ligand-Receptor Systems Are Autocrine/Paracrine Effectors
in Tumor Cells and Modulate Cancer Progression and Tissue Invasiveness
Thomas Klonisch, Joanna Bialek, Yvonne Radestock, Cuong Hoang-Vu
and Sabine Hombach-Klonisch

9. Relaxin-Family Peptide and Receptor Systems in Brain: Insights
from Recent Anatomical and Functional Studies
Sherie Ma and Andrew L. Gundlach