Receptor Signal Transduction Protocols

Gaining an understanding of the mechanisms by which cells process and respond to extracellular cues has become a major goal in many areas of bi- ogy and has attracted the attentions of almost every traditional discipline within the biological sciences. At the heart of these divergent endeavors are common methods that can aid biochemists, physiologists, and pharmacologists in ta- ling the specific questions addressed by their research. In Receptor Signal Transduction Protocols, a diverse array of meth- ologies employed to interrogate ligand--receptor and receptor-effector int- actions are described by authors who have devised and successfully applied them. The authors blend excellent descriptions and applications of fairly well established methodologies with new technologies at the cutting-edge of signal transduction research and as such I hope the present volume will complement and extend a previous excellent volume in this series edited by David Kendall and Stephen Hill (Methods Molecular Biology, vol. 41, Signal Transd- tion Protocols).

R. A. J. Challiss assembles in Receptor Signal Transduction Protocols an outstanding collection of state-of-the-art methods from leading experts for interrogating ligand-receptor and receptor-effector interactions. These powerful methods emphasize the regulation of G-protein-coupled receptors and focus on receptor characterization, methods for investigating how receptors couple to G-proteins, and approaches to studying how receptor expression and function is regulated. Designed to be easily reproducible, the protocols offered include chimeric receptor construction, antibody generation, transient and stable transfection methods, in situ hybridization, as well as immunocytochemistry, functional assays of G-protein function, antisense methods for defining receptor-effector coupling pathways, and many more.

Receptor Signal Transduction Protocols blends authoritative descriptions and applications of well-established methodologies with many novel techniques at the cutting edge of signal transduction research. The coverage cuts across disciplines and allows those already well-versed in one area to expand their repertoire of potent methods and broaden their research horizons. Every researcher interested in signal transduction today will find this richly practical guide indispensable.