Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Protein Structure and Function is an introduction for postgenomic biologists to the structural basis for the biological activities of proteins, with special emphasis on the interpretation of gene sequence in terms of protein function. Early chapters discuss the determinants of folding and stability and of secondary, tertiary and quaternary structure, the universe of protein folds, and superfamilies and motifs in the analysis of protein function, as well as the basic principles of protein function, with major sections on ligand binding and enzyme catalysis. Later chapters describe the regulation of protein function and how proteins work as switches, machines and motors, and discuss the contribution of comparative structural analysis to the understanding of the relationship between sequence, structure and function. The book ends with a short chapter on how the structures of proteins are determined.
Synopsis
Published by New Science Press and distributed in the U.S. and Canada by Oxford University Press This text introduces general principles of protein structure, folding, and function, then goes beyond these basics to tackle the conceptual basis of inferring structure and function from genomic sequence. It is the first book in a series, Primers in Biology, employing a modular design in which chapters are divided into topics, each occupying one two-page spread that includes the relevant text, illustrations (in full color), definitions, and references.
The book has five chapters. The first is an introduction to the principles of protein structure and folding, with emphasis on proteins' biophysical properties. The second describes the principles of the main biochemical functions of proteins, namely binding and catalysis, with a short section on the properties of structural proteins. Chapter 3 covers the regulation of protein function, containing concise descriptions of all the regulatory mechanisms that operate on proteins, from pH to phosphorylation, with several sections on protein switches based on nucleotide hydrolysis. Chapter 4 introduces the principles whereby structure and function are deduced from sequence, with illustrative examples. The final chapter addresses how data on protein structure is gathered, interpreted, and presented.
Written for upper-level undergraduates and beginning graduate students, Protein Structure and Function is also be for working scientists needing an up-to-date introduction to the field.