Elucidation of Signal Transduction Pathways by Retroviral Infection of Cells with Modified Oncogenes

This chapter will focus on understanding how various wild type (WT), dominant negative (DN), constitutively active (CA), and conditionally active (COND) oncogenes, as well as antisense (AS) genes contained in retroviral vectors may be used to elucidate signal transduction pathways. We will describe methods to introduce these genes into cells and subsequent analysis of inheritance, expression, and biological effects of the genes introduced. Furthermore, we will discuss various strong points about each of these different types of constructs, how they can be used to elucidate signal transduction, apoptotic, and drug resistance pathways as well as various pitfalls commonly encountered with their usage.