Cell Cycle Control: Mechanisms and Protocols(296 Methods in Molecular Biology)

The fundamental question of how cells grow and divide has perplexed biologists since the development of the cell theory in the mid-19th century, when it was recognized by Virchow and others that “all cells come from cells.” In recent years, considerable effort has been applied to the identification of the basic molecules and mechanisms that regulate the cell cycle in a number of different organisms. Such studies have led to the elucidation of the central paradigms that underpin eukaryotic cell cycle control, for which Lee Hartwell, Tim Hunt, and Paul Nurse were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology in 2001 in recognition of their seminal contributions to this field. The importance of understanding the fundamental mechanisms that modulate cell division has been reiterated by relatively recent discoveries of links between cell cycle control and DNA repair, growth, cellular metabolism, development, and cell death. This new phase of integrated cell cycle research provides further challenges and opportunities to the biological and medical worlds in applying these basic concepts to understanding the etiology of cancer and other proliferative diseases.

Table of Contents:
Overviews Of Cell Cycle Control In Different Organisms.- Cell Cycle Molecules and Mechanisms of the Budding and Fission Yeasts.- The Plant Cell Cycle.- The C. elegans Cell Cycle.- Developmental Control of Growth and Cell Cycle Progression in Drosophila.- The Xenopus Cell Cycle.- The Mammalian Cell Cycle.- Cell Cycle Study Methods And Techniques.- Synchronization of Cell Populations in G1/S and G2/M Phases of the Cell Cycle.- Mapping Origins of DNA Replication in Eukaryotes.- In Situ Assay for Analyzing the Chromatin Binding of Proteins in Fission Yeast.- Application of Magnetic Beads to Purify Cells Transiently Transfected With Plasmids Encoding Short Hairpin RNAs.- The Cell Cycle and Virus Infection.- Methods for Preparation of Proteins and Protein Complexes That Regulate the Eukaryotic Cell Cycle for Structural Studies.- Overviews Of Cell Cycle Control In Different Organisms.- E2F Transcription Factors and pRb Pocket Proteins in Cell Cycle Progression.- Forkhead (FOX) Transcription Factors and the Cell Cycle.- Measurement of Geminin Activity in Xenopus Egg Extracts.- CDK-Activating Kinases.- Cyclins, Cyclin-Dependent Kinases, and Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitors.- Measurement of Wee Kinase Activity.- CDC25 Dual-Specificity Protein Phosphatases.- Assaying Cell Cycle Checkpoints.- Polo-Like Kinase-1.- The Ipl1/Aurora Kinase Family.- Purification of the Ndc80 Kinetochore Subcomplex From Xenopus Eggs.