Intermediate Filament Proteins, the latest volume in the Methods in Enzymology series covers all the intermediate filaments in vertebrates and invertebrates, providing a unique understanding of the multiple different tissue-specific intermediate filaments. This volume also covers the latest methods that are currently being used to study intermediate filament protein function and dynamics. It will be an important companion for any experimentalist interesting in studying this protein family in their cell or organism model system.
Intermediate filaments are a large family of proteins that are the cytoskeletal elements involved in a number of skin, liver, neuromuscular, cardiac, eye and hair diseases. Intermediate filament genes are regulated in a tissue-and cell type-specific manner and their polymerized protein products protects the cells and tissue they are part of against a variety of mechanical and nonmechanical stresses. This book provides a comprehensive resource of methodology essentials, describing a variety of essential tools and assays for studying intermediate filaments. The book provides user-friendly advice and protocols covering all aspects of intermediate filaments including protein isolation and structure, protein and gene regulation, relationship to disease and apoptosis, and associated proteins. Both mammalian and non-mammalian systems and animal models are covered, making this book a must-have for any investigator wishing to study IF genes or their protein products. * Covers intermediate filaments from crystallography, protein chemistry, cell and molecular biology, microrheology, gene regulation, to animal models and human disease * Practical and user-friendly with detailed "how-to-protocols and "tricks of the trade" * Includes detailed tables of useful reagents, vendors and web links
This book provides the readers with an up-to-date review of the design, structure and function of a representative selection of fibrous proteins in both health and disease. The importance of the α-helical coiled coil, a conformational motif based on the heptad repeat in the amino acid sequence of all α-fibrous proteins (and parts of some globular proteins) is underlined by three Chapters devoted to its design, structure, function and topology. Specific proteins covered in the text and which depend on the coiled coil for their structure and function, include the intermediate filament proteins, tropomyosin, myosin, paramyosin, fibrin and members of the spectrin superfamily. Also described are fibrous proteins based on the β-pleated sheet and collagen conformations. Recombinant structural proteins, especially of silk and collagen, are discussed in the context of developing new biomaterials with varied applications. Established researchers and postgraduate students in the fields of protein chemistry, biochemistry and structural biophysics will find Fibrous Proteins: Structures and Mechanisms to be an invaluable collection of topical reviews that describe the basic advances made in the field of fibrous proteins over the past decade. This book, written by recognized authorities in the field, provides a clear account of the current status of fibrous protein research and, in addition, establishes the basis for deciding the most appropriate directions for future activity, including the applications of protein engineering and the commercial exploitation of new biomaterials.
Nuclear Architecture and Dynamics provides a definitive resource for (bio)physicists and molecular and cellular biologists whose research involves an understanding of the organization of the genome and the mechanisms of its proper reading, maintenance, and replication by the cell. This book brings together the biochemical and physical characteristics of genome organization, providing a relevant framework in which to interpret the control of gene expression and cell differentiation. It includes work from a group of international experts, including biologists, physicists, mathematicians, and bioinformaticians who have come together for a comprehensive presentation of the current developments in the nuclear dynamics and architecture field. The book provides the uninitiated with an entry point to a highly dynamic, but complex issue, and the expert with an opportunity to have a fresh look at the viewpoints advocated by researchers from different disciplines. - Highlights the link between the (bio)chemistry and the (bio)physics of chromatin - Deciphers the complex interplay between numerous biochemical factors at task in the nucleus and the physical state of chromatin - Provides a collective view of the field by a large, diverse group of authors with both physics and biology backgrounds
"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.
Covers the structure and role of intermediate filament (IF) proteins in a variety of cell types. The text examines the expression of IF proteins, the hierarchical assembly of those proteins into molecules, oligomers, protofilaments, protofilbrils and intact IF.
The secretions of the exocrine pancreas provide for digestion of a meal into components that are then available for processing and absorption by the intestinal epithelium. Without the exocrine pancreas, malabsorption and malnutrition result. This chapter describes the cellular participants responsible for the secretion of digestive enzymes and fluid that in combination provide a pancreatic secretion that accomplishes the digestive functions of the gland. Key cellular participants, the acinar cell and the duct cell, are responsible for digestive enzyme and fluid secretion, respectively, of the exocrine pancreas. This chapter describes the neurohumoral pathways that mediate the pancreatic response to a meal as well as details of the cellular mechanisms that are necessary for the organ responses, including protein synthesis and transport and ion transports, and the regulation of these responses by intracellular signaling systems. Examples of pancreatic diseases resulting from dysfunction in cellular mechanisms provide emphasis of the importance of the normal physiologic mechanisms.
This book highlights the pathophysiological complexities of the mechanisms and factors that are likely to be involved in a range of neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease, other Dementia, Parkinson Diseases and Multiple Sclerosis. The spectrum of diverse factors involved in neurodegeneration, such as protein aggregation, oxidative stress, caspases and secretase, regulators, cholesterol, zinc, microglia, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, etc, have been discussed in the context of disease progression. In addition, novel approaches to therapeutic interventions have also been presented. It is hoped that students, scientists and clinicians shall find this very informative book immensely useful and thought-provoking.
This book describes the structures and functions of active protein filaments, found in bacteria and archaea, and now known to perform crucial roles in cell division and intra-cellular motility, as well as being essential for controlling cell shape and growth. These roles are possible because the cytoskeletal and cytomotive filaments provide long range order from small subunits. Studies of these filaments are therefore of central importance to understanding prokaryotic cell biology. The wide variation in subunit and polymer structure and its relationship with the range of functions also provide important insights into cell evolution, including the emergence of eukaryotic cells. Individual chapters, written by leading researchers, review the great advances made in the past 20-25 years, and still ongoing, to discover the architectures, dynamics and roles of filaments found in relevant model organisms. Others describe one of the families of dynamic filaments found in many species. The most common types of filament are deeply related to eukaryotic cytoskeletal proteins, notably actin and tubulin that polymerise and depolymerise under the control of nucleotide hydrolysis. Related systems are found to perform a variety of roles, depending on the organisms. Surprisingly, prokaryotes all lack the molecular motors associated with eukaryotic F-actin and microtubules. Archaea, but not bacteria, also have active filaments related to the eukaryotic ESCRT system. Non-dynamic fibres, including intermediate filament-like structures, are known to occur in some bacteria.. Details of known filament structures are discussed and related to what has been established about their molecular mechanisms, including current controversies. The final chapter covers the use of some of these dynamic filaments in Systems Biology research. The level of information in all chapters is suitable both for active researchers and for advanced students in courses involving bacterial or archaeal physiology, molecular microbiology, structural cell biology, molecular motility or evolution. Chapter 3 of this book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license.
