Alfredo Martinez

In Situ Amplification and Detection of Nucleic Acids

The invention of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the 1980s opened an unexpected door for many molecular biology applications (Mullis and Faloona 1987, Saiki et al. 1985). The possibility of amplifying millions of times the molecule of interest was very well received by researchers performing cloning, sequencing, mutational analysis, and differential display. To fully understand the effect of the PCR technique on modern science, just try to imagine a molecular laboratory without a working thermocycler (or ask a colleague if your laboratory is not involved with this lore).

Adrenomedullin: An Esoteric Juggernaut of Human Cancers

ABSTRACT Recent discoveries have linked adrenomedullin (AM) with fetal development, wound repair, and cancer, underlying its importance in cellular proliferative events. In this chapter we examine the role of AM in human carcinogenesis, focusing on its ability to modulate cell growth, induce angiogenesis, suppress apoptosis, control cell migration/invasion, and regulate immune response mechanisms. We identify regulatory pathways that affect AM mRNA/protein expression and function as it relates to malignant disease and propose alternative therapeutic strategies for the clinical management of human cancers targeting this peptide.