Cutting-Edge Techniques To Study Gene Regulation Included In New Edition Of Laboratory Manual

Main Category: Genetics
Also Included In: Biology / Biochemistry
Article Date: 29 Dec 2008 - 0:00 PDT

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With the growing availability of genome sequence data for a variety of organisms, many scientists are now focusing on factors that govern the expression of individual genes - an important field of molecular biology known as transcriptional regulation. A new edition of a popular laboratory manual on transcriptional regulation has just been published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. The manual, Transcriptional Regulation in Eukaryotes: Concepts, Strategies, and Techniques (Second Edition), will help molecular biologists decipher the sophisticated signaling networks that turn genes on and off in more complex organisms, including humans.

"In the nine years since the first edition was published, the transcriptional regulation field has witnessed dramatic changes that arguably are as significant as the emergence of molecular cloning techniques in the 1970s," write the authors in the preface to the new edition.

The first edition of Transcriptional Regulation in Eukaryotes was published in 2000, shortly before the draft sequences of the human genome were announced. Since that time, substantial effort has been put forth to understand genome organization in the context of chromatin and the role of that chromatin in gene regulation.

The second edition has been completely rewritten to discuss recent advances in the field, especially those related to chromatin biochemistry, providing a comprehensive source of conceptual and practical information on how to study the regulation of a newly isolated gene and the biochemical characteristics of a new transcription factor. In addition to chromatin-based techniques such as chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), the new edition incorporates RNA interference (RNAi), mass spectrometry, and bioinformatic and experimental methods that exploit genome sequencing information to examine gene regulation on a more global scale. It includes both strategic information and step-by-step protocols that are appropriate for a wide range of experimental questions.

The new edition was written by three experienced investigators: Michael F. Carey (University of California, Los Angeles), Craig L. Peterson (University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester), and Stephen T. Smale (University of California, Los Angeles). Carey and Smale wrote the first edition. Peterson is a new author on the second edition; he provides expertise on chromatin, a major emphasis of the new edition.

Transcriptional Regulation in Eukaryotes is geared towards graduate students, postdocs, physician-scientists, and others entering the field, but is also valuable for established investigators who need to examine new aspects of specific regulatory systems. Furthermore, it will serve as a powerful textbook for advanced instruction in molecular biology.

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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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About the book: Transcriptional Regulation in Eukaryotes: Concepts, Strategies, and Techniques, Second Edition was written by Michael Carey, Craig L. Peterson, and Stephen T. Smale, and published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press (© 2009). It is available in paperback (ISBN 978-087969762-4) and hardcover (ISBN 978-087969777-8), and is 620 pp. in length (appendix, index). For a complete table of contents and additional information about the book, please see http://www.cshlpress.com/link/transreg2p.htm. Selected protocols from the book are also available from Cold Spring Harbor Protocols (http://cshprotocols.cshlp.org/).

About Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is a private, nonprofit institution in New York that conducts research in cancer and other life sciences and has a variety of educational programs. Its Press, originating in 1933, is the largest of the Laboratory's five education divisions and is a publisher of books, journals, and electronic media for scientists, students, and the general public. For more information, visit www.cshlpress.com.

Source: Ingrid Benirschke
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory