Since the publication of the first edition of Chemistry of Protein Conjugation and Cross-Linking in 1991, new cross-linking reagents, notably multifunctional cross-linkers, have been developed and synthesized. The completion of the human genome project has opened a new area for studying nucleic acid and protein interactions using nucleic acid cross-linking reagents, and advances have also been made in the area of biosensors and microarray biochips for the detection and analysis of genes, proteins, and carbohydrates. In addition, developments in physical techniques with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution have facilitated the analysis of cross-linked products.

Updated to reflect the advances of the 21st century, this book offers:

• An overview of the chemical principles underlying the processes of cross-linking and conjugation
• A thorough list of cross-linking reagents published in the literature since the first edition, covering monofunctional, homobifunctional, heterobifunctional, multifunctional, and zero-length cross-linkers
• Reviews of the use of these reagents in studying protein tertiary structures, geometric arrangements of subunits within complex proteins and nucleic acids, near-neighbor analysis, protein-to-protein or ligand-receptor interactions, and conformational changes of biomolecules
• Discusses the application of immunoconjugation for immunoassays, immunotoxins for targeted therapy, microarray technology for analysis of various biomolecules, and solid state chemistry for immobilizations

About the Author:

Shan S. Wong, Ph.D., recently retired from the National Institutes of Health, where he served as a scientific review administrator and a program officer. In the latter capacity, he oversaw scientific programs in the area of alternative and complementary medicine. Previously, he served as director of clinical chemistry at Hermann Hospital and Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital in Houston, Texas, and as a faculty member at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Before joining the University of Texas, Dr. Wong was a full professor of chemistry at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. In addition to teaching at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, he also taught chemistry courses at Denison University, Granville, Ohio, and Ohio State University, Columbus.

Dr. Wong has published extensively in various scientific journals in the area of enzymology and clinical chemistry. He has received numerous honors and awards and has been active in various professional societies.

David M. Jameson, Ph.D., joined the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii in 1989, where he is presently a full professor. Before moving to Hawaii he was on the faculty of the Pharmacology Department at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas.

Dr. Jameson received his BS in chemistry from Ohio State University in 1971 and his PhD in biochemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1978. His thesis advisor was Gregorio Weber, who laid the foundations of modern fluorescence spectroscopy. Dr. Jameson carried out postdoctoral research at the Université Paris-Sud at Orsay, France before returning to the University of Illinois for a postdoctoral period in Gregorio Weber's laboratory. In 1983, he joined the Pharmacology Department at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas as an assistant professor. In 1989, he moved to the University of Hawaii.

Dr. Jameson's primary research focus has always been the development and application of fluorescence approaches for the study of biomolecular interactions, in particular protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions. He has published extensively in this area (some 130 publications to date) and has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the American Heart Association, and the National Institutes of Health. He has also received the Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association and the 2004 Gregorio Weber Award for Excellence in Fluorescence Theory and Application. He lectures at numerous fluorescence workshops around the world and is co-organizer of the International Weber Symposium on Innovative Fluorescence Methodologies in Biochemistry and Medicine held every three years in Hawaii.