DESCRIPTION:
Research on renal disease is progressing at a rapid pace, bringing with it a major change in the research techniques used: There has been a shift from urine and blood analysis or histological examinations by light microscopy to immunohistochemical assays at the protein level, and studies are now being performed at the molecular and gene levels. Keeping up with this development in the field of new molecular biology techniques is not always easy. Intended as a research manual, it provides a concise outline of the objectives, principles and procedures of the tests currently available. Each step is described, guiding the researcher through the different states of an assay. A special feature of this publication is the list of pitfalls which researchers, in particular those just starting out in this field, might face. As the research pursued at present covers a wide range of topics, specialists in each field were asked to contribute to the corresponding sections.