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Steroid Receptor Methods: Protocols and Assays

2002; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 34; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1097/00005768-200202000-00031

1530-0315

Roy E. Weiss,

Steroid Chemistry and Biochemistry

Steroid Receptor Methods: Protocols and Assays Editor: Lieberman, Benjamin A. , Bibliographic Data: (ISBN: 0-896037-54-1, Humana Press Inc., 2001, $99.50.) Series Title: Methods in Molecular Biology, v. 176, 381 pages, hard cover. Subjects: Endocrinology/Metabolic Disease, Molecular Biology , Reviewed by: Roy E. Weiss, M.D., Ph.D. , (University of Chicago Medical Center) DESCRIPTION: This extremely well written and useful collection of laboratory methods for the study of steroid biology is one of a series in Methods in Molecular Biology devoted to steroid hormones and their receptors. PURPOSE: The book provides an up-to-date compilation of protocols and assays that are important for the study of steroids and their receptors. Steroid receptor biology is a markedly advancing field and, although research papers describing receptors and cofactors are appearing in each issue of the best scientific journals, it is difficult to find detailed protocols for researchers who are new to the field. This book provides a bench ‘laboratory manual‘ for studying problems of steroid hormones and their receptors. AUDIENCE: Although any graduate student in molecular biology and endocrinology will find this book useful, it will be invaluable to researchers already in the field to compare protocols and improve methods. FEATURES: The book is divided into sections of bioinformatics, purification protocols, steroid hormone binding assays, protein interaction assays, and cancer research and drug discovery. The bioinformatics section leads off the book with a wealth of information on web sites that are relevant for steroid hormones and their receptors. While there are probably over 40 different proteins involved in steroid hormone receptor interaction, the section on protein interactions is superb. It actually clarifies a good part of the literature as so many of the proteins have different names for the same molecule. Understanding the mechanisms of isolation of these proteins puts the literature into perspective. Furthermore, the protocols are in sufficient detail that our lab was able to adapt several of the techniques immediately. Perhaps inclusion of thyroid hormone receptor biology techniques in future editions would be helpful. ASSESSMENT: This book contains many techniques not covered in the print edition of Sambrook and Russell’s superb Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 3rd edition (Cold Spring Harbor, 2001). This book deserves to sit next to the encyclopedic work of Sambrook and Russell in any laboratory of molecular biology. SCORE: Weighted Numerical Score: 86 - ***