"Cell Death" provides a comprehensive collection of methods for the study of cell death. Using a diverse range of technical approaches and model systems, the chapters in this volume cover topics from the cellular and organismal to the molecular and anatomical. In the tradition of this long-standing series, this volume's user-friendly recipes and more 100 tables and figures make the study of cell death accessible across life science disciplines. Because of breakthroughs such as the "switching" mechanism of the p53 tumour suppressor gene, as well as many technical innovations, the number of investigators of cell death has rapidly expanded over the last few years. Students of apoptosis and other types of cell death hypothesise that virtually all cells are genetically programmed to self-destruct. In turn, they also have learned that massive cell death does not always represent pathology, but rather a normal and necessary "weeding out" in the development and life of an organism. The clinical implications are immense, as the understanding and ability to regulate this process may offer the potential to treat cancer and a wide variety of other disorders. KEY FEATURES: A cross-disciplinary look at cell death using a broad range of technical approaches and model systems; The protocols and insights presented are the products of years of study by experts in their fields; The chapters cover a topical spectrum from the cellular to the organismal and the molecular to the anatomical; The methods are illustrated with user-friendly recipes and more than 100 tables, halftones, and diagrams; The techniques described facilitate both understanding and regulation of cell death, promising to have immense value in the clinical treatment of cancer; Illustrated with colour plates.

Table of Contents:
Preface, L.M. Schwartz and B.A. Osborne; Anatomical Methods in Cell Death, J.F.R. Kerr, G.C. Gobe, C.M. Winterford, and B.V. Harmon; Identification of Dying Cells-In Situ Staining, S.A. Ben-Sasson and Y. Gavrieli; Assays of DNA Fragmentation, Endonucleases, and Intracellular pH and Ca2+ Associated with Apoptosis, Quantitation of Apoptotic Events in Pure and Heterogeneous Populations of Cells using the Flow Cytometer, A. Eastman; P.J. Fraker, L.E. King, D. Lill-Elghanian, and W.G. Telford; Cell Cycle Analysis of Apoptosis Using Flow Cytometry, S. W. Sherwood and R. T Schimke; Transient Transfection Assays to Examine the Requirement of Putative Cell Death Genes, B.A. Osborne, S. Smith, Z.-G. Liu, K. McLaughlin, and L.M. Schwartz; Cloning Cell Death Genes, L.M. Schzwartz, C.E. Milligan, W. Bielke, and S.J. Robinson; Use of the Yeast Two-Hybrid System for Identifying the Cascade of Protein Interactions Resulting in Apoptotic Cell Death, L.T. Bemis, F.J. Beske, and R. Strange; The End of the (Cell) Line: Methods for the Study of Apoptosis In Vitro, A.J. McGahon, S.J. Martin, R.P. Bissonnette, A. Mahboubi, Y. Shi, R.J.. Mogil, and D.R. Green; Calcium, Free Radicals, and Excitotoxic Neuronal Death in Primary Cell Culture, M. P. Mattson, S. W. Barger, J. G. Begley, and R.I. Mark; Use of Cultured Neurons and Neuronal Cell Lines to Study Morphological, Biochemical, and Molecular Changes Occurring in Cell Death, J.C. Mills, S. Wang, M. Ericinska, and R.N. Pittman; Methods for Studying Cell Death and Viability of Primary Neuronal Cultures, J.E. Johnson; Neuron Death in Vertebrate Development: In Vivo Methods, P.G.H. Clarke and R. W. Oppenheim; Methods for the Study of Cell Death in the Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, M. Driscoll; Programmed Cell Death during Mammary Gland Involution, R. Strange, R.R. Frits, L.T. Bemis, and F.J. Geske; Methods for the Study of Apoptosis in the Ventral Prostate Gland, R. Buttyan; Genetic Approaches for Studying Programmed Cell Death during Development of the Laboratory Mouse, E.C. Coucouvanis, G.R. Martin, and J.H. Nadeau.