Editorial

Abstract

"Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler’’ - Albert Einstein. Nucleosides and nucleotides are primordial biological molecules derived from glycosylamines (comprising nucleobases and variably phosphorylated pentose sugars) that serve all biological processes. These molecules are responsible for the transmission of genetic information and provide currency units for biological energy transfer and generate crucial intermediates for intracellular signaling processes. In keeping with Occam’s razor and the parsimony of Nature, these ubiquitous compounds are also released from cells to provide what we consider to be integral elements of extracellular signaling. Within such Bpurinergic systems’’, specificity and regulation can be dictated by the source of the extracellular nucleotides, expression and/or desensitization of specific receptors for these molecular transmitters and derivatives that are generated by specific catalytic factors or ecto-enzymes.