MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF SEPSIS - MOLECULAR-BIOLOGY OF THE CELL

Complex and interrelated biological processes are at work in the expre ssion of the host response to sepsis. To a large degree, these process es reflect drastic changes in the molecular workings of cells of the b ody. The protean nature of sepsis reflects this molecular adaptation. Studies are continuing to accrue that describe aspects of this process in tissue culture, animal models, and man. However, without an unders tanding of the basic mechanisms of molecular biology, the understandin g of this important and expanding literature is limited. This review d escribes the basic molecular processes involved in replication of deox yribonucleic acid (DNA) and transcription of DNA to ribonucleic acid ( RNA) in the nucleus, translation of messenger RNA into proteins and th e posttranslational modifications of these proteins in the cytoplasm. It uses the process of endotoxin-induced cellular activation as its mo del and highlights important aspects of DNA promoter and enhancer proc esses in this activation. Specific examples of known promoter genes an d genomic translation are described. This review serves as a ''primer' ' for the subsequent three review articles in this series that will fo llow it in preceding issues.