Recombinant DNA and Cell Proliferation focuses on the use of recombinant DNA technology in investigating the regulation of cell proliferation. Topics include gene transfer for assessing the role of defined DNA sequences in triggering DNA replication, nucleic acid hybridization probes for analyzing the regulation of specific genes during the cell cycle, and cloned DNAs for studying genes expressed with proliferation and differentiation. This book is organized into three sections encompassing 13 chapters and begins with a discussion on the expression of specific genes during the cell cycle. This text also deals with topics such as the use of cloned SV40 DNA fragments to examine signals for cell proliferation, expression of dihydrofolate reductase and thymidylate synthase genes in mammalian cells, and gene expression during the cell cycle of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The following chapters explore the expression of histone genes during the cell cycle in human cells; organization and expression of eukaryotic ribosomal protein genes; and expression of the alpha-fetoprotein gene during development, regeneration, and carcinogenesis. This book also introduces the reader to the role of the cell division cycle in induced differentiation, gene regulation in muscle cells, regulation of nonmuscle actin gene expression during early development, and sequences at ends of cellular DNA molecules in relation to telomere replication and function. An overview of the biochemical aspects of cell proliferation and the genes and gene products that are necessary and specific for cell proliferation concludes the book. This book will be of value both to advanced students and to research scientists.
