Chaperone Activity And Oligomerization Of Bacterial Small Heat Shock Proteins

Based upon a workshop entitled “The Small HSP World” held in Québec 2-5 October 2014. Twenty-five scientists provided chapters for the book. The chapters are from the best scientists currently working in this field. These colleagues include Arrigo, Benesch, Benjamin, Buchner-Haslbeck-Weinkauf, Benndorf, Boelens, Carra, Chang, Currie, Ecroyd, Emanuelsson, Fu, Garrido, Golenhofen, Gusev, Hightower, Kampinga, Lavoie, MacRae, Quinlan, Tanguay, Vierling, Vigh, Weeks and Wu. Briefly, the book starts with the structure of small heat shock proteins, moving to their functions and finishing with their involvement in diseases. Although this is quite broad, the structural aspect will be the unifying theme of the book.

Heat shock proteins are emerging as important molecules in the development of cancer and as key targets in cancer therapy. These proteins enhance the growth of cancer cells and protect tumors from treatments such as drugs or surgery. However, new drugs have recently been developed particularly those targeting heat shock protein 90. As heat shock protein 90 functions to stabilize many of the oncogenes and growth promoting proteins in cancer cells, such drugs have broad specificity in many types of cancer cell and offer the possibility of evading the development of resistance through point mutation or use of compensatory pathways. Heat shock proteins have a further property that makes them tempting targets in cancer immunotherapy. These proteins have the ability to induce an inflammatory response when released in tumors and to carry tumor antigens to antigen presenting cells. They have thus become important components of anticancer vaccines. Overall, heat shock proteins are important new targets in molecular cancer therapy and can be approached in a number of contrasting approaches to therapy.

This book makes a novel synthesis of the molecular aspects of the stress response and long term adaptation processes with the system biology approach of biological networks. Authored by an exciting mixture of top experts and young rising stars, it provides a comprehensive summary of the field and identifies future trends.

This books provides the most up-to-date reviews on current advances in our understanding of the regulation of heat shock protein responses. Key basic scientists and clinical research laboratories from major universities, academic medical centers and pharmaceutical companies around the world have contributed chapters that review present research activity and importantly project this field into the future. For easy readability, the book is sub divided into four sections, including, Section I - HSP and Stress Responses; Section II - Chaperone Functions of HSP; Section III - HSP in Human Diseases; Section IV - Prognosis & Diagnosis of HSP. The book is a must read for researchers involved in biomedical research, drug discovery and design to improve human health.

There are numerous examples in the history of science when the parallel develop ments of two or more disciplines, methodologies, technologies or theoretical in sights have converged to produce significant scientific advances. The decades following the 1950s have produced several such significant advances, as a result of a convergence of developments in molecular biology and in solid state-based electronics instrumentation. Since one of these areas of significant advancement, analytical ultracentrifu gation, has been undergoing a renaissance, we thought it would be a useful activity to call upon a group of researchers who have been developing either the experi mental or theoretical aspects of the methodology and gather in one place a group of articles summarizing the current status of the field. The success of recombinant DNA methodologies at producing biologically active macromolecules of commer cial interest has evoked interests in mechanisms of function. Pursuit of the related questions has emphasized the importance of studies of macromolecular binding and interaction. Several contributions to this volume remind us that analytical ultra centrifugation is rigorously based on solid thermodynamic theory and, as such, is fully capable of providing comprehensive quantitative descriptions of molecular interactions in solution. Furthermore, a number of the chapters provide examples, along with innovative methods for carrying out these characterizations. The past decade has seen several developments that reflect the rebirth of interest in analytical ultracentrifugation.

The book Heat Shock Proteins and Stress provides the most comprehensive review on contemporary knowledge on the role of HSP in Stress. Using an integrative approach to understanding the regulation of HSP responses, the contributors provide a synopsis of novel mechanisms by which HSP responses are regulated under normal physiological and pathophysiological conditions. Key basic and clinical research laboratories from major universities and academic medical hospitals around the world contribute chapters that review present research activity and importantly project the field into the future. The book is a must read for researchers, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students in the fields of Translational Medicine, Clinical Psychologists, Human Physiology, Zoologists, Botanists, Biotechnology, Molecular Medicine, Infectious Diseases Experts and Pathologists.

Protein homeostasis, or “Proteostasis”, lies at the heart of human health and disease. From the folding of single polypeptide chains into functional proteins, to the regulation of intracellular signaling pathways, to the secreted signals that coordinate cells in tissues and throughout the body, the proteostasis network operates to support cell health and physiological fitness. However, cancer cells also hijack the proteostasis network and many of these same processes to sustain the growth and spread of tumors. The chapters in this book are written by world experts in the many facets of the proteostasis network. They describe cutting-edge insights into the structure and function of the major chaperone and degradation systems in healthy cells and how these systems are co-opted in cancer cells and the cells of the tumor microenvironment. The chapters also cover therapeutic interventions such as the FDA-approved proteasome inhibitors Velcade and Krypolis as well as other therapies currently under clinical investigation to disarm the ability of the proteostasis network to support malignancy. This compendium is the first of its kind and aims to serve as a reference manual for active investigators and a primer for newcomers to the field. This book is dedicated to the memory of Susan Lindquist, a pioneer of the proteostasis field and a champion of the power of basic scientific inquiry to unlock the mechanisms of human disease. The chapter “Reflections and Outlook on Targeting HSP90, HSP70 and HSF1 in Cancer: A Personal Perspective” is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Immune Surveillance deals with the issues regarding tumor immunology and surveillance, in which the central theme is all about the life span of the mammalian host that is depleted by the environment with mutagenic agents and solutions. The book is divided into six chapters. It includes discussions on the organization and modulation of cell membrane receptors, as well as the origin and expression of membrane antigens. It also covers the topics on the triggering mechanisms for and effector mechanisms activated by the cellular recognition. These topics analyze and evaluate alternatives for the recognition and destruction mechanisms in the knowledge of cell cooperation and requirements for immune recognition. A chapter provides discourse on a solution for the paradox of thriving tumors based on the demonstrable in vitro host immunity. Another discusses the generation of antibody diversity and the theory of self-tolerance. The last chapter explains the evaluation of the evidence for immune surveillance. This reference will be invaluable to those who specialize in immunology.

The second edition of this encyclopedia presents over 400 biologically important signaling molecules and the content is built on the core concepts of their functions along with early findings written by some of the world’s foremost experts. The molecules are described by recognized leaders in each molecule. The interactions of these single molecules in signal transduction networks will also be explored. This encyclopedia marks a new era in overview of current cellular signaling molecules for the specialist and the interested non-specialist alike. Currently, there are more than 30,000 genes in human genome. However, not all the proteins encoded by these genes work equally in order to maintain homeostasis. Understanding the important signaling molecules as completely as possible will significantly improve our research-based teaching and scientific capabilities.