How Proteins Work

High-throughput #xE2;#xAC;#xDC;omics#xE2;#xAC;" projects such as genome sequencing, structural genomics and proteomics mean that there is no shortage of information on proteins. But the more information we have, the harder it is to make sense of it, to know where to start, and to identify the important results. This book is a clear, up to date and authoritative account of the principles that govern the way proteins work, and sets proteins within the context in which they function: within the cell, within biological systems, and within the limitations fixed by physics, chemistry, and evolution, taking examples from many different areas of biology. It provides an integrated view of proteins, showing how evolutionary pressure has driven proteins to adopt a domain structure, and to put these domains together in various combinations in order to achieve a biological outcome. It shows how the association of proteins into dimers, complexes (molecular machines) and multi-enzyme complexes allows them to achieve remarkable catalytic and functional efficiency. It shows how evolution has led to an accumulation of regulatory and scaffold proteins, particularly with reference to signaling pathways; and it presents current views of protein dynamics and interactions. For the student it provides a framework, showing where old and new results fit in, and for the postgraduate and researcher it provides an up to date and coherent account of the relationship between protein function, structure and dynamics.