Overview

Abstract

The basic approaches to understanding how a drug, chemical exposure, or disease results in altered protein level or activity will be described in this part, with particular emphasis on transcription factors. In addition, molecular approaches to understanding the role of a given protein in signaling pathways will also be examined. Exposure to a xenobiotic can alter protein activity or lev-els through a variety of mechanisms. We will explore the various approaches available to determine how a treatment leads to altered protein function by a mechanism other than by changes in mRNA levels. This part examines the experimental approaches that can define the general mechanism(s) that lead to altered protein activity, as depicted in Figure 1-1.