Methods in Signal Transduction Series

The concept of signal transduction is now long established as a central tenet of biological sciences. Since the inception of the field close to fifty years ago, the number and variety of signal transduction pathways, cascades and networks have steadily increased and now constitute what is often regarded as a bewildering array of mechanisms by which cells sense and respond to extracellular and intracellular environmental stimuli. It is not an exaggeration to state that virtually every cell function is dependent on the detection, amplification and integration of these signals. Moreover, there is increasing appreciation that in a many disease states, aspects of signal transduction are critically perturbed.

Our knowledge of how information is conveyed and processed through these cellular molecular circuits and biochemical switches has increased enormously in scope and complexity since this series was initiated fifteen years ago. Such advances would not have been possible without the supplementation of older technologies, drawn chiefly from cell and molecular biology, biochemistry, physiology and pharmacology, with newer methods that make use of sophisticated genetic approaches as well as structural biology, imaging, bioinformatics and systems biology analysis.

The overall theme of this series continues to be the presentation of the wealth of up to date research methods applied to the many facets of signal transduction. Each volume is assembled by one or more editors who are pre-eminent in their specialty. In turn, the guiding principle for editors is to recruit chapter authors who will describe procedures and protocols with which they are intimately familiar in a reader-friendly format. The intent is to assure that each volume will be of maximum practical value to a broad audience, including students and researchers just entering an area, as well as seasoned investigators.

Open Access makes published academic research freely and permanently available online for anyone, anywhere.　 OA publications are downloaded 7 times more often, cited 50% more, and mentioned online 10 times more often.　 Upon publication, OA content is made available in digital format to read and download under a Creative Commons license. 　

Options are available to editors, authors and contributors to the series. See https://www.routledge.com/our-products/open-access-books/taylor-francis-oa-books for more information and frequently asked questions with respect to these options or contact Chuck Crumly, Senior Acquisitions Editor, at [email protected] for more details.