Cold Spring Harbor Protocols Highlights Gene Silencing, Cancer Cell Biology Methods

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Also Included In: Genetics;  Biology / Biochemistry
Article Date: 05 Aug 2008 - 3:00 PST

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Combining the specificity of small interfering RNA (siRNA) silencing with the versatility of lentiviral vectors gives researchers a powerful tool for the investigation of gene function both in vivo and in vitro. This month's issue of Cold Spring Harbor Protocols features a pair of protocols from Inder Verma and colleagues at the Salk Institute describing this method for achieving long-term down-regulation of specific target genes in a wide range of cell types. "Design and Cloning of an shRNA into a Lentiviral Vector" is freely accessible on the website for Cold Spring Harbor Protocols.

The second featured protocol for August, "In Vitro Assays for the Extracellular Matrix Protein-Regulated Extravasation Process," provides a method for studying the ways that cancerous cells pass through blood vessel walls, a critical step in metastasis. Written by Xiao-Fan Wang and colleagues from Duke University, this protocol includes two methods for assaying the role of extracellular matrix proteins in cancer cell extravasation. This article is freely accessible on the website for Cold Spring Harbor Protocols.

About Cold Spring Harbor Protocols

Cold Spring Harbor Protocols is a monthly peer-reviewed journal of methods used in a wide range of biology laboratories. It is structured to be highly interactive, with each protocol cross-linked to related methods, descriptive information panels, and illustrative material to maximize the total information available to investigators. Each protocol is clearly presented and designed for easy use at the bench-complete with reagents, equipment, and recipe lists. Life science researchers can access the entire collection via institutional site licenses, and can add their suggestions and comments to further refine the techniques.

Cold Spring Harbor Protocols

About Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press is an internationally renowned publisher of books, journals, and electronic media, located on Long Island, New York. Since 1933, it has furthered the advance and spread of scientific knowledge in all areas of genetics and molecular biology, including cancer biology, plant science, bioinformatics, and neurobiology. It is a division of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, an innovator in life science research and the education of scientists, students, and the public.

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory