Protein Moonlighting in Biology and Medicine (eBook)

Brian Henderson is Professor of Biochemistry at University College London. He started his research career as a cell biologist, migrating to become an immunologist then pharmacologist with six years experience in the pharmaceutical industry. In the early 1990s studies of bacteria-host interactions identified a bacterial molecular chaperone, chaperonin 60, as a potent signalling molecule able to induce osteoclast formation and bone remodelling. This was Henderson's introduction to protein moonlighting and he has spent the past twenty years exploring the roles of bacterial and human moonlighting proteins in human health and disease. Mario Fares is a Principal Investogator in the Evolutionary Genetics and Bioinformatics Laboratory at Trinity College. His research is focused on the understanding of the selective forces shaping the evolution of proteins, proteomes and genomes. Most of the concepts dealt with in his laboratory are related to the field of molecular evolution and the complexity of mutations relationships. Taking these interests and concepts to the level of comparative genomics and proteomics adds the dimension of systems biology to his research. Andrew Martin is a researcher in the Bloomsbury Center for Bioinformatics at University College, London. His research focuses on structural bioinformatics: developing tools to investigate and understand the relationship between protein sequence, structure and function. Within this general area, his main interests are protein modelling, structural analysis, structural immunology, effects of mutation on protein structure and disease, application of relational databases, automation and software development.

'The "Protein Moonlighting in Biology and Medicine" book presents a very well-designed, comprehensive account of the basic knowledge and practical aspects of moonlighting proteins that have been culminating over the last two decades. Written by a cell biologist teaming up with two protein evolution and bioinformatics experts, this title provides a very useful digestible read on the structure, function, evolution, and bioinformatics of moonlighting proteins. Readers are oriented to these topics by two relevant introductory chapters. The book also addresses the diverse involvement of moonlighting proteins in cell biology, health maintenance, and idiopathic and infectious diseases. A very useful feature in this book, which is not frequently considered in other multi-authored titles, is the authors' effort to present a coherent story by bridging chapters together incorporating an 'introduction' section at the beginning of each one. It is a very useful, contemporary book for students and researchers in biology, biomedicine and protein science.' Science Progress, 100:4 (2017)