Reviews of Checkpoint Controls, Their Involvement in the Development of Cancer, and Approaches to Their Investigation -- G1 and S-Phase Checkpoints, Chromosome Instability, and Cancer -- Analyzing the G2/M Checkpoint -- Analyzing the Spindle Checkpoint in Yeast and Frogs -- Cell Cycle Checkpoint Control Mechanisms That Can Be Disrupted in Cancer -- Analyzing Checkpoint Controls in Diverse Model Systems -- Establishment of a Cell-Free System to Study the Activation of Chk2 -- Analyzing Checkpoint Controls in Human Skin -- Generation and Analysis of Brca1 Conditional Knockout Mice -- Analysis of Cell Cycle Progression and Genomic Integrity in Early Lethal Knockouts -- Xenopus Cell-Free Extracts to Study the DNA Damage Response -- A Xenopus Cell-Free System for Functional Analysis of the Chfr Ubiquitin Ligase Involved in Control of Mitotic Entry -- Control of Mitotic Entry After DNA Damage in Drosophila -- Methods for Analyzing Checkpoint Responses in Caenorhabditis elegans -- Assaying the Spindle Checkpoint in the Budding Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae -- Purification and Analysis of Checkpoint Protein Complexes From Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Intracellular checkpoint controls constitute a network of signal transduction pathways that protect cells from external stresses and internal errors by means of cell cycle arrest, DNA repair, or apoptosis. Failure of this machinery can lead to embryonic death, genetic diseases, and cancer. In Checkpoint Controls and Cancer, Volume 1: Reviews and Model Systems, Axel H. Schönthal, PhD, marshals a prestigious panel of researchers working at the cutting edges of their fields to comprehensively review the complexities of checkpoint controls and the model systems available to study them. The authors introduce all of the important components of checkpoint controls, describe their intricate interactions, and highlight the relevance of these processes to the cancer problem. Additional chapters illustrate the advantages of using such diverse model systems as intact human skin, knockout mice, Xenopus, and yeast, and show how they can cross-fertilize and accelerate research both across disciplines and beyond the boundaries of a particular species. A second volume, Activation and Regulation Protocols, provides readily reproducible experimental protocols for studying the molecular components of checkpoint controls and their regulation. Comprehensive and up-to-date, the two volumes of Checkpoint Controls and Cancer offer novice and experienced researchers alike not only entré into the complexities of this vast field, but also to the full panoply of productive tools needed to deepen understanding of the systems, as well as to develop new and more effective cancer therapies.