Genetic Suppressor Elements in the Characterization and Identification of Tumor Suppressor Genes

The subject of the present chapter is the genetic suppressor element (GSE) methodology, a functional genomics platform for identifying and characterizing genes involved in different cellular phenotypes, and the applications of this methodology to the study of tumor suppressor genes (TSG). In this overview, we will first describe the principles and basic elements of GSE selection and then concentrate on the methods and examples for using this methodology to identify and analyze TSGs. For detailed “cookbook” protocols of methods used in GSE selection, we refer the reader to previously published methodologic works (1 ,2 ).