Structural and Mechanistic Enzymology, Volume 109, the latest release in the Advances in Protein Chemistry and Structural Biology series, is an essential resource for protein chemists. Chapters in this new volume include Collagenolytic Matrix Metalloproteinase Structure–Function Relationships: Insights from Molecular Dynamics Studies, Computational Glycobiology: Mechanistic Studies of Carbohydrate-Active Enzymes and Implication for Inhibitor Design, Computational Biochemistry-Enzyme Mechanisms Explored, and A Paradigm for C-H Bond Cleavage: Structural and Functional Aspects of Transition State Stabilization by Mandelate Racemase. This series presents new information on protocols and analysis of proteins, with each volume guest edited by leading experts in a broad range of protein-related topics. This volume presents state-of-the-art contributions, providing insights into the relationship between enzyme structure, catalysis, and function. Provides cutting-edge developments in protein chemistry and structural biology Features new information about protocols and analysis of proteins Contains chapters written by authorities in their respective fields Targeted to a wide audience of researchers, specialists and students

The discovery that RNA could act as a macromolecular catalyst in the cell, signified a paradigm shift in molecular biology. Ribozymes and RNA Catalysis takes the reader through the origins of catalysis in RNA and necessarily includes significant discussion of structure and folding. The main focus of the book concerns chemical mechanism with extensive comment on how, despite the importance of RNA catalysis in the cell, its origins are still poorly understood and often controversial. The reader is given an outline of the important role of RNA catalysis in many aspects of cell function, including RNA processing and translation. There has been a significant coming together in the field of RNA in recent years and this book offers a compelling review of the whole field to date. Written by leading experts in their field, who in turn review the structural and mechanistic data for all known ribozymes this book is well suited for undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers in catalytic chemistry as well as those in related fields who require a unique overview of the subject.

This volume is a timely and comprehensive description of the many facets of DNA and RNA modification-editing processes and to some extent repair mechanisms. Each chapter offers fundamental principles as well as up to date information on recent advances in the field (up to end 2008). They ended by a shortconclusion and future prospect' section and

This volume is a timely and comprehensive description of the many facets of DNA and RNA modification-editing processes and to some extent repair mechanisms. Each chapter offers fundamental principles as well as up to date information on recent advances in the field (up to end 2008). They ended by a short ‘conclusion and future prospect’ section and an exhaustive list of 35 to up to 257 references (in average 87). Contributors are geneticists, structural enzymologists and molecular biologists working at the forefront of this exciting, fast-moving and diverse field of researches. This book will be a major interest to PhD students and University teachers alike. It will also serve as an invaluable reference tool for new researchers in the field, as well as for specialists of RNA modification enzymes generally not well informed about what is going on in similar processes acting on DNA and vice-versa for specialists of the DNA modification-editing and repair processes usually not much acquainted with what is going on in the RNA maturation field. The book is subdivided into 41 chapters (740 pages). The common links between them are mainly the enzymatic aspects of the different modification-editing and repair machineries: structural, mechanistic, functional and evolutionary aspects. It starts with two general and historical overview of the discovery of modified nucleosides in DNA and RNA and corresponding modification-editing enzymes. Then follows eleven chapters on DNA modification and editing (mechanistic and functional aspects). Two additional chapters cover problems related to DNA/RNA repair and base editing by C-to-U deaminases, followed by three chapters on RNA editing by C-to-U and A-to-I type of deamination. Discussions about interplay between DNA and RNA modifications and the emergence of DNA are covered in two independent chapters, followed by twenty chapters on different but complementary aspects of RNA modification enzymes and their cellular implications. The last chapter concerns the description of the present state-of-the art for incorporating modified nucleosides by in vitro chemical synthesis. At the end of the book, six appendicies give useful details on modified nucleosides, modification-editing enzymes and nucleosides analogs. This information is usually difficult to obtain from current scientific literature.