The dynamics of nuclear structures described in this book furnish the basis for a comprehensive understanding of how the higher-order organization and function of the nucleus is established and how it correlates with the expression of a variety of vital activities such as cell proliferation and differentiation. The resulting volume creates an invaluable source of reference for researchers in the field.

At the age of 6, I discovered a jar of brightly colored shells under my grandmother's kitchen sink. When I inquired where they had come from, she did not answer. Instead, she told me in broken English, "Ask your mother. " My mother's response to the same question was, "Oh, I made them in camp. " "Was it fun?" I asked enthusiastically. "Not really," she replied. Her answer puzzled me. The shells were beautiful, and camp, as far as I knew, was a fun place where children roasted marshmallows and sang songs around the fire. Yet my mother's reaction did not seem happy. I was perplexed by this brief exchange, but I also sensed I should not ask more questions. As time went by, "camp" remained a vague, cryptic reference to some time in the past, the past of my parents, their friends, my grand parents, and my relatives. We never directly discussed it. It was not until high school that I began to understand the significance of the word, that camp referred to a World War II American concentration camp, not a summer camp. Much later I learned that the silence surrounding discus sions about this traumatic period of my parents' lives was a phenomenon characteristic not only of my family but also of most other Japanese American families after the war.

Elaborate and complex interactions among the molecules that make up all living or- ganisms are the basis by which those organisms carry out their existence. All metabo- lism or vital activities of living organisms are attributed to the interactions of numbers of biomolecules, including protein-protein interactions. Cell growth and differentia- tion, development and generation or regeneration of tissue, and the occurrence of or protection against various diseases are triggered, conducted, and maintained by the complex sequential interactions among molecules both inside and outside the cells. Each protein has its own function, but it cannot function by itself. For example, enzymes catalyze reactions only through transient interaction with their substrates. In some cases, proteins carry out their functions only after they form a multi subunit com- plex. GenerallY, proteins, nucleotides, lipids, sugars, and other small molecules func- tion through the interaction of mUltiple molecules either simultaneously or succes- sively. In the case of signal transduction, for example, a ligand first binds to the cell sur- face receptors, the ligand-receptor complex is internalized, signals are transferred one by one through the intracellular signal molecules, and finally the signal reaches the target molecules. In these processes, the signal is mediated mainly by phosphorylation, and this phosphorylation is transduced from upstream to downstream by transient in- teractions of the donors with the acceptors. Phosphorylation and de-phosphorylation themselves are also characterized as transient interactions between phosphates and tar- get proteins.

The dynamics of nuclear structures described in this book furnish the basis for a comprehensive understanding of how the higher-order organization and function of the nucleus is established and how it correlates with the expression of a variety of vital activities such as cell proliferation and differentiation. The resulting volume creates an invaluable source of reference for researchers in the field.

At the age of 6, I discovered a jar of brightly colored shells under my grandmother's kitchen sink. When I inquired where they had come from, she did not answer. Instead, she told me in broken English, "Ask your mother. " My mother's response to the same question was, "Oh, I made them in camp. " "Was it fun?" I asked enthusiastically. "Not really," she replied. Her answer puzzled me. The shells were beautiful, and camp, as far as I knew, was a fun place where children roasted marshmallows and sang songs around the fire. Yet my mother's reaction did not seem happy. I was perplexed by this brief exchange, but I also sensed I should not ask more questions. As time went by, "camp" remained a vague, cryptic reference to some time in the past, the past of my parents, their friends, my grand parents, and my relatives. We never directly discussed it. It was not until high school that I began to understand the significance of the word, that camp referred to a World War II American concentration camp, not a summer camp. Much later I learned that the silence surrounding discus sions about this traumatic period of my parents' lives was a phenomenon characteristic not only of my family but also of most other Japanese American families after the war."