Type I chaperonins are key players in maintaining the proteome of bacteria and organelles of bacterial origin. They are well known for their crucial role in mediating protein folding. For almost three decades, the molecular mechanism of chaperonin function has been the subject of intensive research. Still, surprising new mechanistic discoveries are constantly reported. It seems that we are far from having a full understanding of the chaperonin mode of action. Chaperonins are not simply protein folding machines. They also perform diverse extramitochondrial tasks, mainly related to inflammatory and signal transduction processes. This eBook constitutes ten articles highlighting the latest developments related to the divers functions of Type I chaperonins. As its title, mechanism and beyond, the collection starts with mechanistic view, continues with extracellular functions and ends with biotechnological applications of Type I chaperonins.

This book focuses on a topical and timely aspect of prokaryotic biology - the biology of prokaryotic multiple chaperonins. Chaperonins are a class of molecular chaperones, the proteins that assist folding of other proteins in the cell. The book begins with an introductory chapter on the structural and functional aspects of chaperonins, followed by an outline on different mechanisms of their regulation. Subsequently, the book provides a comprehensive overview on how the multiple-chaperonins have embraced biological requirements in different classes of microbes, discussing their functional diversity, evolutionary paths and the latest advances in the field. It brings together leading experts from across the globe in offering a detailed account of the structural, biochemical, functional and phylogenetic characteristics of microbial chaperonins for students, researchers and teachers working in the area of microbiology/ biophysics/ parasitology – more specifically, in protein folding pathways.

Co-chaperones are important mediators of the outcome of chaperone assisted protein homeostasis, which is the dynamic integration of the processes of protein folding, degradation and translocation to ensure that cellular function is finely tuned in space and time. This third edition of the book The Networking of Chaperones by Co-chaperones describes how the function of the major molecular chaperones is regulated by co-chaperones, a diverse cohort of non-client proteins. Since the second edition was released, not only has knowledge deepened on how co-chaperones act as nodes to network and functionalise chaperones, but an understanding of their broader biological function has started to emerge. The third edition provides new and updated chapters highlighting recent developments and emerging themes on co-chaperones, such as their extracellular functions, their role in human disease and their status as putative drug targets. The book is a useful resource for both newcomers and established researchers in the field of cell stress and chaperones, as well as those interested in cross-cutting disciplines such as cellular networks and systems biology.

Moonlighting Proteins: Novel Virulence Factors in Bacterial Infections is a complete examination of the ways in which proteins with more than one unique biological action are able to serve as virulence factors in different bacteria. The book explores the pathogenicity of bacterial moonlighting proteins, demonstrating the plasticity of protein evolution as it relates to protein function and to bacterial communication. Highlighting the latest discoveries in the field, it details the approximately 70 known bacterial proteins with a moonlighting function related to a virulence phenomenon. Chapters describe the ways in which each moonlighting protein can function as such for a variety of bacterial pathogens and how individual bacteria can use more than one moonlighting protein as a virulence factor. The cutting-edge research contained here offers important insights into many topics, from bacterial colonization, virulence, and antibiotic resistance, to protein structure and the therapeutic potential of moonlighting proteins. Moonlighting Proteins: Novel Virulence Factors in Bacterial Infections will be of interest to researchers and graduate students in microbiology (specifically bacteriology), immunology, cell and molecular biology, biochemistry, pathology, and protein science.

"Yet another cell and molecular biology book? At the very least, you would think that if I was going to write a textbook, I should write one in an area that really needs one instead of a subject that already has multiple excellent and definitive books. So, why write this book, then? First, it's a course that I have enjoyed teaching for many years, so I am very familiar with what a student really needs to take away from this class within the time constraints of a semester. Second, because it is a course that many students take, there is a greater opportunity to make an impact on more students' pocketbooks than if I were to start off writing a book for a highly specialized upper- level course. And finally, it was fun to research and write, and can be revised easily for inclusion as part of our next textbook, High School Biology."--Open Textbook Library.

This book offers a comprehensive overview of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, an inherited condition that leads to lung disease in adults and liver disease in adults and children and is associated with chronic obstructive lung disease in adults. While it is a rare condition, the mechanisms underlying the clinical manifestations of this deficiency have been largely clarified. Treatment, however, is available only for the lung disease that arises from the condition, thus necessitating continued research into new and alternative therapeutic solutions. The book discusses the biology of alpha-1 antitrypsin, protein misfolding and polymerization, and diagnosis and treatment of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency and its associated diseases. It concludes with a discussion of rare disorders linked to alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency and the role of healthcare organizations in the treatment of these diseases. Written for pulmonary clinicians and scientists, Alpha-1 Antitrypsin: Role in Health and Disease is a valuable resource that sheds light on this rare disease.

This book will contain a series of solicited chapters that concern with the molecular machines required by viruses to perform various essential functions of virus life cycle. The first three chapters (Introduction, Molecular Machines and Virus Architecture) introduce the reader to the best known molecular machines and to the structure of viruses. The remainder of the book will examine in detail various stages of the viral life cycle. Beginning with the viral entry into a host cell, the book takes the reader through replication of the genome, synthesis and assembly of viral structural components, genome packaging and maturation into an infectious virion. Each chapter will describe the components of the respective machine in molecular or atomic detail, genetic and biochemical analyses, and mechanism. Topics are carefully selected so that the reader is exposed to systems where there is a substantial infusion of new knowledge in recent years, which greatly elevated the fundamental mechanistic understanding of the respective molecular machine. The authors will be encouraged to simplify the detailed knowledge to basic concepts, include provocative new ideas, as well as design colorful graphics, thus making the cutting-edge information accessible to broad audience.