Public Health Microbiology: Methods and Protocols is focused on microorganisms that can present a hazard to human health in the course of everyday life. There are chapters dealing with organisms that are directly pathogenic to humans, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi; on organisms that produce toxins during growth in their natural habitats; on the use of bacteriocins produced by such organisms as lactobacilli and bifidobacteria; as well as several chapters on hazard analysis, the use of disinfectants, microbiological analysis of cosmetics, and microbiological tests for sanitation...

Since the discovery of p53 as a tumor suppressor, numerous methods have evolved to reveal the unique structural features and biochemical functions of this protein. Several unique properties of p53 posed a challenge to understa- ing its normal function in the initial phase of its research. The low levels of p53 in normal cells, its stabilization under situations of genotoxic stress, induction of growth arrest, and apoptosis with stabilization of the protein, obstructed the visibility of its normal, unmutated function. The property of p53 that can sense a promoter and transactivate or inhibit...

Studies of membrane transporters have had great impact on our und- standing human diseases and the design of effective drugs. About 30% of current clinically marketed drugs are targeting membrane transporters or channels. Membrane Transporters: Methods and Protocols provides various practical methodologies for the ongoing research on membrane transporters. To provide readers the most up-to-date information, several emerging fields and methodologies are embraced in this book, including pharmacogenomics, bioin-formatics, and microarray technology. Pharmacogenomics studies of membrane...

Chemokines and their receptors play a central role in the pathogenesis of numerous, perhaps all, acute and chronic inflammatory diseases. About 50 distinct chemokines produced by a variety cell types and tissues either c- stitutively or in response to inflammatory stimuli are involved in a plethora of biological processes. These small secreted proteins exert their exquisitely variegated functions upon binding to a family of seven-transmembrane spanning G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) composed of almost 20 distinct entities. The biological activities of chemokines range from the control of...

12 The average human body has in the order of 10 circulating platelets. They are crucial for hemostasis, and yet excessive platelet activation is a major cause of m- bidity and mortality in western societies. It is therefore not surprising that platelets have become one of the most extensively investigated biological cell types. We are, however, far from understanding precisely how platelets become activated under physiological and pathophysiological conditions. In addition, there are large gaps in our knowledge of platelet production from their giant precursor cell, the megakar- cyte....

The efficiency of delivering DNA into mammalian cells has increased t- mendously since DEAE dextran was first shown to be capable of enhancing transfer of RNA into mammalian cells in culture. Not only have other chemical methods been developed and refined, but also very efficient physical and viral delivery methods have been established. The technique of introducing DNA into cells has developed from transfecting tissue culture cells to delivering DNA to specific cell types and organs in vivo. Moreover, two important areas of biology assessment of gene function and gene therapy require succe-...

The exquisite binding specificity of antibodies has made them valuable tools from the laboratory to the clinic. Since the description of the murine hybridoma technology by Kohler and Milstein in 1975, a phenomenal number of mo- clonal antibodies have been generated against a diverse array of targets. Some of these have become indispensable reagents in biomedical research, while others were developed for novel therapeutic applications. The attractiveness of an- bodies in this regard is obvious high target specificity, adaptability to a wide range of disease states, and the potential ability to...

Highly experienced researchers describe in step-by-step detail methods that have proven most useful in delivering genes to mammalian cells. Volume 1: Nonviral Gene Transfer Techniques focuses on gene delivery by a variety of chemical and physical methods, including ultrasound, biolistics, peptides, PNA clamps, liposomes, microinjection, electroporation, particle bombardment, dendrimers, and hydrodynamics. An accompanying volume, Volume 2: Viral Gene Transfer Techniques, details procedures for delivering genes to cells in vitro and in vivo, including the use of lentiviral vectors.

Cells respond to environmental cues through a complex and dynamic network of signaling pathways that normally maintain a critical balance between cellular proliferation, differentiation, senescence, and death. One current research challenge is to identify those aberrations in signal transd- tion that directly contribute to a loss of this division-limited equilibrium and the progression to malignant transformation. The study of cell-signaling m- ecules in this context is a central component of cancer research. From the knowledge of such targets, investigators have been able to productively...

Protein engineering is a fascinating mixture of molecular biology, protein structure analysis, computation, and biochemistry, with the goal of developing useful or valuable proteins. Protein Engineering Protocols will consider the two general, but not mutually exclusive, strategies for protein engineering. The first is known as rational design, in which the scientist uses detailed knowledge of the structure and function of the protein to make desired changes. The s- ond strategy is known as directed evolution. In this case, random mutagenesis is applied to a protein, and selection or...