R. John Mayer & Aaron J. Ciechanover 
Protein Degradation 
Vol. 1: Ubiquitin and the Chemistry of Life

The first volume in a new series dedicated to protein degradation, this book lays the foundations of targeted protein breakdown via the ubiquitin pathway.
The outstanding importance of the ubiquitin pathway has been recognized with the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for Aaaron Chiechanover, Avram Hershko, and Irwin Rose. Aaron Ciechanover is one of the editors of this series,
and Avram Hershko has contributed to the opening chapter of the present volume.
Drawing on the the expertise of two Nobel prize winners, this handy reference compiles information on the initial steps of the ubiquitin pathway. Starting out with a broad view of protein degradation and its functions in cellular regulation, it then goes on to examine the molecular mechanisms of ubiquitin conjugation and recycling in detail. All currently known classes of ubiquitin protein ligases are treated here, including latest structural data on these enzymes.
Further volumes in the series cover the function of the proteasome, and the roles of the ubiquitin pathway in regulating key cellular processes, as well as its pathophysiological disease states.
Required reading for molecular biologists, cell biologists and physiologists with an interest in protein degradation.

Table of Content

Brief history of protein degradation and the ubiquitin system (Avram Hershko)
N-terminal ubiquitination: Not such a rare modification anymore (Aaron Ciechanover)
Evolutionary origin of the activation step during ubiquitin dependent protein degration (Hermann Schindelin)
RING fingers and relatives: determination of protein fate (Allan M. Weissman, Kevin L. Lorick, Yien-Che Tsai, Yili Yang)
Ubiquitin conjugation enzymes (Cecile M. Pickart, Michael J. Eddins)
The SCF ubiquitin E3 ligase (Hui Zhang, Leigh A. Higa)
Structural biology of ubiquitin-protein ligases (Ning Zheng, Nikola P. Pavletich)
The deubiquitinating enzymes (Nathaniel S. Russel, Keith Wilkinson)
The 26S proteasome (Martin Rechsteiner)
Molecular machines for protein degradation (Robert Huber, Matthias Bochtler, Michael Groll, Hans Brandstetter, Tim Clausen)
Proteasome regulator, PA700 (19S regulatory particle)(George De Martino, Cezary Wojcik)
Bioinformatics of ubiquitin domains and their binding partners (Kay Hofmann)
The COP9 signalosome: Its possible role in the ubiquitin system (Wolfgang Dubiel, Dawadschargal Bech-Otschir, Barbara Kapelari).

About the author

John Mayer obtained his MS and Ph D degrees from the University of Birmingham (UK). He is currently serving as Professor of Biochemistry at the School of Biomedical Sciences at Nottingham University.
For the past 30 years, he has investigated intracellular proteolysis and particularly the ubiquitin/proteasome system. Presently, he is particularly interested in intracellular proteolysis in relation to neurodegenerative illnesses.

Aaron Ciechanover obtained his MD from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (Israel), and his Ph D from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, where he is presently serving as Professor of Biochemistry. Professor Ciechanover is known for his discovery of the first ubiquitin system mutant cell, demonstrating the role of the ubiquitin-proteasome proteolytic system in protein degradation in vivo. In 2004, he has received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his ground-breaking work on the ubiquitin-proteasome system.

Martin Rechsteiner is Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City (USA). He is interested in the proteasome component of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. He has identified several key regulators of proteasome function and is currently working on their structural and functional elucidation.