Advances in Pregnancy-Related Protein Research Functional and Clinical Applications

Advances in Pregnancy-Related Protein Research describes the most significant advances in pregnancy-related protein research that have occurred over the last 25 years. The fetal, pregnancy, placental, and endometrial proteins discussed are classified by their origin and biological activity. The structure and function of newly discovered pregnancy protein families are examined in detail. Physiological values of various pregnancy and placental proteins are presented, and the pathophysiological significance of diagnostic and therapeutic data is addressed. Advances in Pregnancy-Related Protein Research will be a useful reference for obstetricians, oncologists, immunologists, reproduction specialists, oncodevelopmental biologists, gynecologists, and other researchers interested in the subject.

Gábor N. Than, M.D., Ph.D., D.Sci., is Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Pecs Medical University. He was born in Pecs in 1941 and graduated from Pecs Medical University in 1965. Since then, he has been a member of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Pecs Medical University. He was appointed Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1977, and Associate Professor in 1986. Dr. Than is a Fellow of the Hungarian Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and of the European Association of Gynecologists and Obstetricians. He is a member of the Coordination Committee of the Hungarian Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and also a member of the Committee for Human Reproduction System of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Dr. Than has published over 110 research papers and book collaborations, and has been a recipient of numerous grants since 1978 (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungarian Scientific Policy Committee, Scientific Health Council to the Hungarian Ministry of Health, and Hungarian National Research Foundation). He received his Ph.D. (Pregnancy-Associated Alpha-2 Glycoprotein) in 1977 and earned his D.Sci. (Pregnancy, Placental and Endometrial Proteins) in 1990. Dr. Than's professional interests include radical operations of gynecological cancer, treatment of trophoblastic diseases, pregnancy and tumor immunology, hormone-dependent neoplasia, and especially pregnancy-related proteins. Hans Bohn, Dr.rer.nat., born in 1928 in Munich, Germany, studied Chemistry at the University of Wurzburg where he obtained his doctor's degree in 1956. The title of his thesis was: "On the Chemical Investigation of Some Venoms from Spiders, Snakes and Scorpions". After having worked for several years as a chemist in a factory producing synthetic fibers, he worked in the U. S. for more than two years in the Protein Research laboratory of Professor Klaus Hofmann in Pittsburgh to synthesize peptides. In 1966, he returned to Germany to join the Behringwerke in Marburg. He stayed there until his retirement in 1989, working mainly with the isolation and characterization of proteins from the human afterbirth. This endeavor resulted in the detection of a large number of new proteins related to pregnancy and was accompanied by a fruitful collaboration with researchers all over the world with the aim to investigate the possible diagnostic significance of measurement of these proteins and to elucidate the possible biological function of these proteins. Dénes G. Szabo, M.D., Ph.D., is associate professor in the Institute of Biochemistry of University Medical School Pecs in Hungary. Dr. Szabo was born in 1940, and received his medical degree in 1965 from University Medical School Pecs. Since then, he has worked at the Institute of Biochemistry. In 1968, he received accreditation as a laboratory diagnostician. He initially dealt with the chemical synthesis and biochemical testing of biologically active molecules, on which subject he has published ten papers. Since 1973, he has been working in the area of pregnancy-related proteins, primarily dealing with the isolation of the proteins and their animal analogs, and with the development of quantitative assay methods. He earned his Ph.D. in 1986, with the dissertation entitled "Methods for the Measurement of Pregnancy Proteins and Animal Experimental Models". Since 1978, he has continuously received grants from the National Foundation for Scientific Research and from the Ministry of Welfare. He has published 74 papers in this field. He has regularly attended international scientific conferences and has served two terms on the Board of Directors for the Hungarian Biochemical Society and for the Scientific Committee of University Medical School Pecs. Dr. Szabo is also closely involved in biochemical teaching. He is the director of in-lab instruction at the university, and has edited and written many books on the teaching of biochemistry.

Chapter 1 Pregnancy-Related Proteins Detected by their Biological Activities, Chapter 2 Pregnancy-Related Proteins Detected by Immunochemical or Physicochemical Methods, Chapter 3 Isolation and Characterization of Pregnancy-Related Proteins, Chapter 4 Occurrence in the Placenta and in Other Human Tissues, Chapter 5 Pregnancy-Related Protein Concentrations during Normal Pregnancy, Chapter 6 Pregnancy-Related Protein Concentrations and Hormone Levels during Pathological Pregnancies, Chapter 7 Pregnancy, Placental, and Endometrial Proteins in Trophoblastic Diseases, Chapter 8 Pregnancy-Related Proteins in Non-Trophoblastic Tumors, Index

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