This book guides through the fascinating world of viruses and makes readers enjoy science in an accessible way. Virologist and author Professor Van Wilson imparts knowledge about what viruses are, how they work, and how much they impact life on Earth. The book equips the reader with the scientific basics behind virus function and presents the historic milestones of virus research and discovery. Well-known viruses such as HIV or Influenza are tackled alongside novel pathogens like coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Professor Wilson explores where they come from and how they impact our society. Last but not least the book provides exciting insights into how our immune system reacts to different viruses and how vaccines contribute to conquer pandemics. While scientifically informative, this book makes the field of virology understandable to a lay audience and encourages readers to further thinking. And more importantly, it conveys the wonder, beauty, and mystery of these ubiquitous, microscopic marvels. This book addresses anyone interested in understanding the principles of virology, viral diseases, or the impact of viruses on human societies.

This is the second edition of a very well received book that details how the sumoylation system functions and how it modulates numerous cellular activities. SUMO is a post-translational modifier in the ubiquitin super-family that has gained recognition over the last twenty years as an essential and prevalent regulatory molecule. Individual chapters explore the biochemistry, molecular biology, and cell biology of the sumoylation system and its substrate proteins. The book is divided into three themed parts: Molecular Functions (I), Cell Growth Regulation (II), and Diseases (III). Parts I and II focus on the contribution of sumoylation to cellular activities in both the nuclear and cytoplasmic compartments. The nuclear activities covered include nucleic acid metabolism (both RNA and DNA), chromosome structure and replication, and nucleocytoplasmic transport. Cytoplasmic processes presented include regulation of membrane ion channels, general metabolism, and apoptotic signalling. Topics in Part III include the role of sumoylation in developmental abnormalities (craniofacial and cardiovascular), diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and infections with viruses and bacteria. Each of the corresponding chapter authors is an active researcher who has made significant contributions to understanding sumoylation. This second edition provides updates and revisions to most of the original chapters plus adds six new chapters to address important developing areas of sumoylation research. This volume is intended for a scientific audience from undergraduates to independent researchers. The content will serve as both a solid introduction for the novice reader and an in depth treatment for the advanced scholar.

This is the second edition of a very well received book that details how the sumoylation system functions and how it modulates numerous cellular activities. SUMO is a post-translational modifier in the ubiquitin super-family that has gained recognition over the last twenty years as an essential and prevalent regulatory molecule. Individual chapters explore the biochemistry, molecular biology, and cell biology of the sumoylation system and its substrate proteins. The book is divided into three themed parts: Molecular Functions (I), Cell Growth Regulation (II), and Diseases (III). Parts I and II focus on the contribution of sumoylation to cellular activities in both the nuclear and cytoplasmic compartments. The nuclear activities covered include nucleic acid metabolism (both RNA and DNA), chromosome structure and replication, and nucleocytoplasmic transport. Cytoplasmic processes presented include regulation of membrane ion channels, general metabolism, and apoptotic signalling. Topics in Part III include the role of sumoylation in developmental abnormalities (craniofacial and cardiovascular), diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and infections with viruses and bacteria. Each of the corresponding chapter authors is an active researcher who has made significant contributions to understanding sumoylation. This second edition provides updates and revisions to most of the original chapters plus adds six new chapters to address important developing areas of sumoylation research. This volume is intended for a scientific audience from undergraduates to independent researchers. The content will serve as both a solid introduction for the novice reader and an in depth treatment for the advanced scholar.

The Horizon Bioscience series focuses on high-level microbiology and molecular biology topics. Written by internationally renowned and highly respected leaders in the field, titles in this series comprise of review manuals, practical manuals, and reference texts for research scientists, bioscience professionals and graduate students. Sumoylation is a novel posttranslational modification system, biochemically analogous to, but functionally distinct from, ubiquitinylation. Sumoylation involves the covalent attachment of a SUMO (small ubiquitin-related modifier) to substrate proteins. This modification system has crucial roles in many different biological processes, including protein localization and stability, transcriptional activities, nucleocytoplamic signalling and transport, and genome replication, as well as the regulation of gene expression. The molecular and biochemical mechanisms involved in sumoylation have been the subject of intense interest in recent years. This volume, edited and written by leading international experts, is the first book to be devoted to sumoylation. It presents information on the history, evolution and mechanisms of sumoylation, discusses SUMO proteases, ligases and conjugation pathways, and reviews the impact on modification and nucleocytoplasmic transport, PML nuclear bodies, and transcriptional regulation. In addition, specialist chapters cover the role of sumoylation in yeast, viruses and the tumor suppressor P53. This comprehensive book is the definitive reference volume on all aspects of sumoylation. It is an essential reference manual for all researchers in this area.