Download or read book RNA Binding Proteins in Development and Disease written by Robert B. Denman and published by . This book was released on 2008-01-01 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Introduction - The circle of life is a philosophical construct, for want of a better term that posits the interconnectedness of all living things. In the movie The Lion King which brought the term to the consciousness of the Western mind, Mufasa tries to explain the concept to his heir-apparent, Simba, by saying, we eat the antelope, but when we die, we become the grass that they eat . While the circle of life has an uncanny resonance with something deep within, especially for children, being Disney marketing magic it is never spelled out what actually connects us. I would submit to you that what this book demonstrates is that RNA binding proteins (RBPs) are some of the stuff connecting the circle of life. They are ageless, they are ubiquitous, and they are diverse. Found in all kingdoms, phyla and subphyla they impinge on all aspects of cellular metabolism from the transcription and splicing of messenger RNAs, to the formation of ribosomal RNA (see Aveilla et al. Chapter 11), from the translation of messenger RNAs (see Zhong et al. Chapter 1), to the timing of their translation and their degradation (see Pelletier et al. Chapter 2 and Vessey et al. Chapter 5). They are chaperones and repressors. More broadly they are regulators, which are in turn are regulated by a host of post-translational modifications (see Gopal et al. Chapter 3 and Kobarg Chapter 4). They play important roles in the differentiation of the nervous system (see Kawahara et al. Chapter 6), in muscle development (see Denman Chapter 7) and in germ line development (see Vessey et al. Chapter 5). Correspondingly, as befits a central role in metabolism, their loss or mutation can have profound organismal affects, from outright lethality to cancer (see Noubissi et al. Chapter 8), muscular disorders (see Meola et al. Chapter 9), eye disorders (see Schreuder et al. Chapter 10), bone marrow failure (see Aveilla et al. Chapter 11) epilepsy and mental retardation (Zhong et al. Chapter 1). Quite simply, they are RNA binding proteins . I would therefore invite the interested reader on an abbreviated tour of the circle of life that is contained in this slender tome. Of course, the very enterprise of making a book places constraints on what is included and what is not. As there are currently more than 30,000 papers on PubMed dealing with RNA binding proteins it is probable that many a would-be-reader will not find his or her favorite RBP reviewed here. Nevertheless, I would commend this book as a representative sampling of those articles, and therefore a worthwhile read for several reasons. First, the modular architecture of RBPs produces diversity via the mixing of a limited set of RNA binding motifs. Doubtless, one of the motifs the would-be reader is familiar with is discussed in these pages. Therefore, this book would offer a unique view of this motif operating in a different context. Second, the most common problem attended to within the field of RNA binding proteins is, What RNAs bind to a particular RBP and how do we know they are bona fide? By reading this book you will see how others have dealt with, or are dealing with this problem providing you the reader with the insight needed to attack this problem on another front. Finally, the dynamism of RBP-RNA interactions, coupled with their propensity to form larger aggregates make it likely that the RBP most familiar to a would-be reader associates with one or more of the RBPs reviewed here. If so, I would say, in order to know thyself, know thy neighbor . It is after all the circle of life.