Protein Families / Wiley Series in Protein and Peptide Science (PDF)

New insights into the evolution and nature of proteins

Exploring several distinct approaches, this book describes the
methods for comparing protein sequences and protein structures in
order to identify homologous relationships and classify proteins
and protein domains into evolutionary families. Readers will
discover the common features as well as the key philosophical
differences underlying the major protein classification systems,
including Pfam, Panther, SCOP, and CATH. Moreover, they'll discover
how these systems can be used to understand the evolution of
protein families as well as understand and predict the degree to
which structural and functional information are shared between
relatives in a protein family.

Edited and authored by leading international experts, Protein
Families offers new insights into protein families that are
important to medical research as well as protein families that help
us understand biological systems and key biological processes such
as cell signaling and the immune response. The book is divided into
three sections:

* Section I: Concepts Underlying Protein Family
Classification reviews the major strategies for identifying
homologous proteins and classifying them into families.

* Section II: In-Depth Reviews of Protein Families focuses
on some fascinating super protein families for which we have
substantial amounts of sequence, structural and functional data,
making it possible to trace the emergence of functionally diverse
relatives.

* Section III: Review of Protein Families in Important
Biological Systems examines protein families associated with a
particular biological theme, such as the cytoskeleton.

All chapters are extensively illustrated, including depictions
of evolutionary relationships. References at the end of each
chapter guide readers to original research papers and reviews in
the field.

Covering protein family classification systems alongside
detailed descriptions of select protein families, this book offers
biochemists, molecular biologists, protein scientists, structural
biologists, and bioinformaticians new insight into the evolution
and nature of proteins.