Bench Marks » Cell Biology

New Book on Protein Homeostasis

Bench Marks — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:23:23 +0000

Cellular health depends on the proper expression, folding, and degradation of thousands of proteins. Protein Homeostasis, recently released by CSHL Press, covers the mechanisms by which cells ensure efficient functioning of the proteome, and the diseases that result when these processes go awry.

“Protein Homeostasis addresses the remarkable story of the life of proteins,” write the editors, Richard Morimoto, Dennis Selkoe, and Jeffrey Kelly. The contributors examine the physical biochemistry of protein folding; the cellular compartments involved in protein quality control; the various chaperones, translocation machineries, proteasomes, and autophagic activities; and the role of proteostasis in aging and disease.

Protein Homeostasis is invaluable for molecular and cellular biologists, as well as medical scientists wishing to understand the pathological consequences of and potential therapies for protein homeostasis deficiencies in common human diseases. For details on the book, click here.

New Book on the Extracellular Matrix

Bench Marks — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:58:10 +0000

The extracellular matrix (ECM) plays a role in the function of virtually all cells, regulating cellular morphology, adhesion, cell migration, cell proliferation, and apoptosis. Extracellular Matrix Biology, a new book from CSHL Press, covers ECM composition and function, as well as its roles in development, physiology, and pathology.

“We have endeavored to illustrate the manifold aspects of ECM biology,” write the editors Richard Hynes and Kenneth Yamada. Contributors discuss the various ECM proteins and proteoglycans, ECM receptors such as integrins, and the signaling pathways that mediate the effects of the ECM on cells. They also describe ECM functions in specific biological contexts, including angiogenesis, hemostasis, and thrombosis.

“We hope that this collection of reviews by experts in the field will serve to promote research leading to discoveries and applications based on improved understanding of the ECM,” write Hynes and Yamada. Extracellular Matrix Biology is an indispensable reference for cell biologists and all those interested in exploring the myriad functions of the ECM. For more details on the book, click here.

New Book Offers “Detailed Expert Snapshot” of Calcium Signaling

Bench Marks — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 15:59:20 +0000

Calcium signaling plays a critical role in diverse processes such as development, muscle function, and neurobiology. CSHL Press recently released Calcium Signaling, a new book that reviews the biology of calcium signaling—from the channels, pumps, buffers, sensors, and receptors that transport and modulate calcium signals to the physiological processes that are regulated.

“This volume provides a detailed expert snapshot of the calcium signaling field as it stands right now and gives some insight into the history of the discoveries,” write the editors, Martin Bootman, Michael Berridge, James Putney, and Llewelyn Roderick. “Reading through the chapters provides insight into both the generic nature of calcium signaling and also its unique tissue- and function-specific characteristics.”

Calcium Signaling is an indispensable reference for biochemists, cell and developmental biologists, and physiologists seeking a comprehensive treatment of calcium biology. For more information on the book, click here.

A Limelight on Lipids

Bench Marks — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 18:51:19 +0000

Since the pioneering work of Gorter and Grendel (1925), it has been well-known that a lipid bilayer forms the core of a cell’s membrane. But for many decades, the focus of membrane research was on proteins.

Our latest book, The Biology of Lipids (edited by Kai Simons), gives lipids their due. Contributors explore the synthesis, metabolism, and distribution of lipid species in the cell; the composition of lipid rafts and their roles in protein trafficking and signaling; and the biophysical behavior of lipids and membranes. They also discuss models and techniques to study lipid dynamics and to characterize cellular lipidomes.

“The protein-only focus will soon be gone,” writes Simons. “Membrane researchers are now starting to include lipids in their repertoire. [W]e have to study both the lipids and the proteins together to come to grips with this fascinating fluid.”

New Volume on the Nucleus

Bench Marks — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 20:41:53 +0000

Biology’s central organelle, the nucleus, was the focus of the 75th annual Cold Spring Harbor Symposium on Quantitative Biology. We’ve just released a new volume based on the presentations by the investigators who gathered at this meeting, held last June. The book, entitled Nuclear Organization and Function, reviews the latest advances in research into nuclear structure, the organization of the genome within the nucleus, and spatiotemporal coordination of nuclear processes. The topics examined include nuclear domains, chromatin organization, transcription and RNA processing, DNA replication, nuclear reprogramming, and epigenetics. Cancer, premature aging syndromes, and other diseases that may be associated with altered nuclear organization are also covered.

Nuclear Organization and Function is available in paperback and hardcover. Libraries that purchase the hardcover edition of the book are entitled to institutional online access to it at http://symposium.cshlp.org.

Book on Cell Death is a “Thrilling Read”

Bench Marks — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 16:00:18 +0000

Doug Green’s recent book Means to an End is given a positive review in the current issue of CHOICE. In the review, Sally Sommers Smith (Boston University) says that this “elegant, accessible book” provides a comprehensive and current account of processes by which cells in the body die. The book includes “welcome running commentary on the evolution of apoptosis,” and “clearly shows how study of cell death mechanisms can aid understanding of both embryonic development and human diseases such as cancer.”

Sommers Smith says that this “improbably thrilling read” reveals “not only the hard work associated with cell biology but also the joy of its eureka moments.” She says that the book is “highly recommended” for “upper-division undergraduates through professionals.”

Metabolism Moves to the Mainstream

Bench Marks — Mon, 16 May 2011 15:00:27 +0000

Credit: www.abcam.com

One of the most basic characteristics of all living things is their ability to metabolize biomolecules. But for the past several decades, research on metabolism has been overshadowed by advances in other areas such as molecular biology.

“Molecular biologists needed no distracting thoughts about the metabolic state of a cell to discover microRNAs [or] the reprogramming of somatic cells into pluripotent stem cells,” writes Steven L. McKnight (UT Southwestern) in a recent Science article.

However, the field of metabolism is currently undergoing a revival, thanks to recent work on topics such as cancer, circadian rhythms, and longevity. It has become increasingly evident that the physiological state of a cell depends not only on signaling pathways, transcription factors, and other regulatory players, but also on its intermediary metabolism.

“The more sticky problems that required attention to the dynamics of metabolism and that were pushed aside for decades now loom as interesting and important challenges,” writes McKnight. “The resurrection of research involving metabolism is clearly upon us.”

So, what do we know about intermediary metabolism? What is the current state of the field?

Yeast Intermediary Metabolism, a new book by Dan Fraenkel (Harvard Medical School), provides a comprehensive and straightforward treatment of metabolism in the model eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Topics include central metabolic pathways; catabolism; fermentation and respiration; the biosynthesis of small molecules, including cofactors; transport and compartments; storage molecules; inorganic ions; stress and metabolic toxicity; and the global analysis of metabolism.

The book also addresses the history of the field, describes the thinking that led to key experiments, and identifies areas where our knowledge remains thin.

Yeast Intermediary Metabolism will be useful for not only yeast specialists but all investigators of eukaryotic biology seeking a reference on metabolism.

Means To An End reviewed in Cell

Bench Marks — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 17:38:31 +0000

Eric Baehrecke, Professor of Cancer Biology at University of Massachusetts Medical School, has given Means To An End a fantastic review in Cell. In his review, Baehrecke states that the book “gracefully covers a wide variety of subjects and distills our knowledge of cell death into an accessible text that is enjoyable to read and appropriate for a broad audience.”

Eric goes on to praise Green for covering “more territory than many specialized books by elimination of detail”, concluding that Means To An End is “a must read” and that “students, clinicians, and experts in the field” will all benefit from reading it.

For more information on Means to an End, see the book’s companion site.

Microproteomics

Bench Marks — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:45:53 +0000

Unlike the genome, which is essentially identical in every somatic cell of an organism, the proteome varies across cells, and there is no self-replicating amplification mechanism for proteins like the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for DNA. Because of this, methods that extract, separate, detect, and identify proteins from extremely small samples are needed. In the current issue of Cold Spring Harbor Protocols, Duke University’s Erich Jarvis and colleagues provide such a method, Microproteomics: Quantitative Proteomic Profiling of Small Numbers of Laser-Captured Cells. The protocol uses laser-capture microdissection to isolate pure cell populations from tissue sections and nanoscale liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry to simultaneously identify and quantify hundreds of proteins from samples as small as 1000 cells. It is one of this month’s featured articles and is freely accessible here.

Imaging Breast Cancer Models

David Crotty — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 17:11:51 +0000

Tumors contain many components in addition to the cancer cells, including blood vessels, fibroblasts and immune cells. Understanding the dynamic interactions of these populations in the tumor microenvironment is an important key for understanding cancer progression. While genetic studies and tumor biopsies have generated insights, direct time lapse imaging adds much to our understanding of the importance of these stromal components. In the February issue of Cold Spring Harbor Protocols, Andrew Ewald, Zena Werb and Mikala Egeblad provide Dynamic, Long-Term In Vivo Imaging of Tumor-Stroma Interactions in Mouse Models of Breast Cancer Using Spinning-Disk Confocal Microscopy. In addition to this overview of the technique, related protocols for Preparation of Mice for Long-Term Intravital Imaging of the Mammary Gland and Monitoring of Vital Signs for Long-Term Survival of Mice Under Anesthesia are also available.