ANTISENSE KNOCKOUTS - MOLECULAR SCALPELS FOR THE DISSECTION OF SIGNAL-TRANSDUCTION

The complexity of signal transduction is becoming increasingly apparen t following the cloning of multiple families of receptors, G proteins, and effecters. Therefore, new tools are needed to assess the importan ce of particular subtypes in receptor-mediated signal transduction. On e such tool is the use of antisense approaches to specifically 'knocko ut' particular G protein subtypes and then assess the functional conse quences for receptor-signalling pathways. In this article by Paul Albe rt and Stephen Morris, various antisense approaches (including transfe ction of full-length cDNA) are discussed and compared for their specif icity and efficiency. The antisense approach is argued to be applicabl e to a wide variety of signal-transduction systems, including G-protei n-coupled receptor signalling, for analysis of the downstream events t hat dictate biological responsiveness.