Molecular Chaperones and Cell Signalling

This book reviews understanding of the biological roles of extracellular molecular chaperones. It provides an overview of the structure and function of molecular chaperones, their role in the cellular response to stress and their disposition within the cell. It also questions the basic paradigm of molecular chaperone biology - that these proteins are first and foremost protein-folding molecules. Paradigms of protein secretion are reviewed and the evolving concept of proteins (such as molecular chaperones) as multi-functional molecules for which the term 'moonlighting proteins' has been introduced is discussed. The role of exogenous molecular chaperones as cell regulators is examined and the physiological and pathophysiological role that molecular chaperones play is described. In the final section, the potential therapeutic use of molecular chaperones is described and the final chapter asks the question - what does the future hold for the extracellular biology of molecular chaperones?

Brian Henderson is Professor of Cell Biology at the Eastman Dental Institute, University College London and head of the Cellular Microbiology Research Group. He is the coauthor of Bacterial Disease Mechanisms (2002) and the coeditor of Bacterial Evasion of Host Immune Responses (2003). His major research interests are concerned with bacterial interactions with the host and how such interactions control inflammation and associated tissue destruction. It is through these studies that he identified that molecular chaperones are bacterial virulence factors and started his interest in the direct immunomodulatory actions of cell stress proteins. A. Graham Pockley is Professor of Immunobiology at the University of Sheffield Medical School and is head of the Immunobiology Research Unit. Professor Pockley has long-standing interests in the immunobiology of transplant rejection and his Unit is currently focussed on research relating to the biology and immunotherapeutic potential of heat shock proteins, particularly their involvement in the rejection of organ transplants and the development and progression of cardiovascular disease.