Protein Modificomics: From Modifications to Clinical Perspectives comprehensively deals with all of the most recent aspects of post-translational modification (PTM) of proteins, including discussions on diseases involving PTMs, such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's, X-linked spinal muscular atrophy-2, aneurysmal bone cyst, angelman syndrome and OFC10. The book also discusses the role PTMs play in plant physiology and the production of medicinally important primary and secondary metabolites. The understanding of PTMs in plants helps us enhance the production of these metabolites without greatly altering the genome, providing robust eukaryotic systems for the production and isolation of desired products without considerable downstream and isolation processes.
Our image of plants is changing dramatically away from passive entities merely subject to environmental forces and organisms that are designed solely for the accumulation of photosynthate. Plants are revealing themselves to be dynamic and highly sensitive organisms that actively and competitively forage for limited resources, both above and below ground, organisms that accurately gauge their circumstances, use sophisticated cost-benefit analysis, and take clear actions to mitigate and control diverse environmental threats. Moreover, plants are also capable of complex recognition of self and non-self and are territorial in behavior. They are as sophisticated in behavior as animals but their potential has been masked because it operates on time scales many orders of magnitude less than those of animals. Plants are sessile organisms. As such, the only alternative to a rapidly changing environment is rapid adaptation. This book will focus on all these new and exciting aspects of plant biology.
The impact of global climate change on crop production has emerged as a major research priority during the past decade. Understanding abiotic stress factors such as temperature and drought tolerance and biotic stress tolerance traits such as insect pest and pathogen resistance in combination with high yield in plants is of paramount importance to counter climate change related adverse effects on the productivity of crops. In this multi-authored book, we present synthesis of information for developing strategies to combat plant stress. Our effort here is to present a judicious mixture of basic as well as applied research outlooks so as to interest workers in all areas of plant science. We trust that the information covered in this book would bridge the much-researched area of stress in plants with the much-needed information for evolving climate-ready crop cultivars to ensure food security in the future.
A cofactor is a component part of many enzymes and functions by uniting with another molecule in order to become active. The use of cofactors to supplement the native amino acids of a protein is essential to maintain the chemical capabilities necessary for organisms to survive. This volume focuses on the significant advances of the past decade in identifying and describing new cofactors--either small molecules or those derived posttranslationally.
A single volume collection that surveys the exciting field of plant-made pharmaceuticals and industrial proteins This comprehensive book communicates the recent advances and exciting potential for the expanding area of plant biotechnology and is divided into six sections. The first three sections look at the current status of the field, and advances in plant platforms and strategies for improving yields, downstream processing, and controlling post-translational modifications of plant-made recombinant proteins. Section four reviews high-value industrial and pharmacological proteins that are successfully being produced in established and emerging plant platforms. The fifth section looks at regulatory challenges facing the expansion of the field. The final section turns its focus toward small molecule therapeutics, drug screening, plant specialized metabolites, and plants as model organisms to study human disease processes. Molecular Pharming: Applications, Challenges and Emerging Areas offers in-depth coverage of molecular biology of plant expression systems and manipulation of glycosylation processes in plants; plant platforms, subcellular targeting, recovery, and downstream processing; plant-derived protein pharmaceuticals and case studies; regulatory issues; and emerging areas. It is a valuable resource for researchers that are in the field of plant molecular pharming, as well as for those conducting basic research in gene expression, protein quality control, and other subjects relevant to molecular and cellular biology. Broad ranging coverage of a key area of plant biotechnology Describes efforts to produce pharmaceutical and industrial proteins in plants Provides reviews of recent advances and technology breakthroughs Assesses realities of regulatory and cost hurdles Forward looking with coverage of small molecule technologies and the use of plants as models of human disease processes Providing wide-ranging and unique coverage, Molecular Pharming: Applications, Challenges and Emerging Areas will be of great interest to the plant science, plant biotechnology, protein science, and pharmacological communities.
There are currently intense efforts devoted to understand plant respiration (from genes toecosystems) and its regulatory mechanisms; this is because respiratory CO2 productionrepresents a substantial carbon loss in crops and in natural ecosystems. Thus, in addition tomanipulating photosynthesis to increase plant biomass production, minimization ofrespiratory loss should be considered in plant science and engineering. However, respiratorymetabolic pathways are at the heart of energy and carbon skeleton production and therefore, itis an essential component of carbon metabolism sustaining key processes such asphotosynthesis. The overall goal of this book is to provide an insight in such interactions aswell as an up-to-date view on respiratory metabolism, taking advantage of recent advancesand concepts, from fluxomics to natural isotopic signal of plant CO2 efflux. It is thus a nonoverlapping,complement to Volume 18 in this series (Plant Respiration From Cell toEcosystem) which mostly deals with mitochondrial electron fluxes and plant-scale respiratorylosses.
A Comprehensive Guide to Crucial Attributes of Therapeutic Proteins in Biological Pharmaceuticals With this book, Dr. Raju offers a valuable resource for professionals involved in research and development of biopharmaceutical and biosimilar drugs. This is a highly relevant work, as medical practitioners have increasingly turned to biopharmaceutical medicines in their search for safe and reliable treatments for complex diseases, while pharmaceutical researchers seek to expand the availability of biopharmaceuticals and create more affordable biosimilar alternatives. Readers receive a thorough overview of the major co-translational modifications (CTMs) and post-translational modifications (PTMs) of therapeutic proteins relevant to the development of biotherapeutics. The majority of chapters detail individual CTMs and PTMs that may affect the physicochemical, biochemical, biological, pharmacokinetic, immunological, toxicological etc. properties of proteins. In addition, readers are guided on the methodology necessary to analyze and characterize these modifications. Thus, readers gain not only an understanding of CTMs/PTMs, but also the ability to design and assess their own structure-function studies for experimental molecules. Specific features and topics include: Discussion of the research behind and expansion of biopharmaceuticals Twenty chapters detailing relevant CTMs and PTMs of proteins, such as glycosylation, oxidation, phosphorylation, methylation, proteolysis, etc. Each chapter offers an introduction and guide to the mechanisms and biological significance of an individual CTM or PTM, including practical guidance for experiment design and analysis An appendix of biologic pharmaceuticals currently on the market, along with an assessment of their PTMs and overall safety and efficacy This volume will prove a key reference on the shelves of industry and academic researchers involved in the study and development of biochemistry, molecular biology, biopharmaceuticals and proteins in medicine, particularly as biopharmaceuticals and biosimilars become ever more prominent tools in the field of healthcare.
Aquaporins are channel proteins that facilitate the diffusion of water and small uncharged solutes across cellular membranes. Plant aquaporins form a large family of highly divergent proteins that are involved in many different physiological processes. This book will summarize the recent advances regarding plant aquaporins, their phylogeny, structure, substrate specificity, mechanisms of regulation and roles in various important physiological processes related to the control of water flow and small solute distribution at the cell, tissue and plant level in an ever-changing environment.
Advancement in Crop Improvement Techniques presents updates on biotechnology and molecular biological approaches which have contributed significantly to crop improvement. The book discusses the emerging importance of bioinformatics in analyzing the vast resources of information regarding crop improvement and its practical application and utilization. Throughout this comprehensive resource, emphasis is placed on various techniques used to improve agricultural crops, providing a common platform for the utility of these techniques and their combinations. Written by an international team of contributors, this book provides an in-depth analysis of existing tools and a framework for new research. - Reviews techniques used for crop improvement, from selection and crossing over, to microorganismal approaches - Explores the role of conventional biotechnology in crop improvement - Summarizes the combined approaches of cytogenetics and biotechnology for crop improvement, including the importance of molecular techniques in this process - Focuses on the emerging role of bioinformatics for crop improvement
