Table of Contents

Sample of chapters listed according to catalytic type (chapter order will be reorganized by time of publication):
Aspartic Peptidases: Introduction: aspartic peptidases and their clans; Rous sarcoma virus retropepsin and avian myeloblastosis virus retropepsin; Pepsin F
Cysteine Peptidases: Introduction: the clans and families of cysteine peptidases; Coronavirus picornain-like cysteine proteinase; Calicivirus endopeptidases
Metallopeptidases: Introduction: metallopeptidases and their clans; Ophiolysin; Philodryas venom metalloproteinases
Serine Peptidases: Introduction: unsequenced serine peptidases; Muramoyl-pentapeptide carboxypeptidase; Tail-specific protease
Threonine Peptidases: Introduction: clan PB containing N-terminal nucleophile peptidases; HslVU protease; Glycosylasparaginase and other self-processing N-terminal nucleophile amidohydrolases
Unclassified Peptidases: Introduction: peptidases of unknown catalytic type; Murein tetrapeptide LD-carboxypeptidases; Tubulinyl-Tyr carboxypeptidase

Promotional Information

* Presents practical information in terms of name, history, activity, specificity, structural chemistry, preparation, biological aspects, distinguishing features, and relevant references for each enzyme; representative assay conditions are also included
* Enzymes are further presented not only according to the Enzyme Commission system, but are further subdivided within each class to include clans and families, based on genetic relatedness
* Provides information and answers on how one peptidase can be distinguished from another and referred to ambiguously, and how a scientist can tell when they have discovered a novel peptidase
* Accompanying CD-ROM provides useful search facilities

About the Author

Currently Dr. Neil Rawlings is a Senior Scientist in the Proteins Department at the EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire, UK. Dr. Rawlings has been an active researcher at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute for over twenty years. He is extremely well known in the proteolytic enzyme community for his work curating the MEROPS database, an information resource covering peptidases and the proteins that inhibit them, which is used by expert researchers and students worldwide. Dr. Rawlings has published widely in such peer reviewed journals as Genome Research, BMC Bioinformatics, PloS ONE, Nucleic Acids Research, the Journal of Biological Chemistry, and Science.

Reviews

Mention in FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ABSTRACTS, Volume 37, 2005

Praise for the Second Edition:
"The clear goal of these volumes is to provide complete coverage of proteases. All known enzymes of this class are described. As a reference, this is a very worthwhile contribution. The goals of this book are well met...The major strength of this book is the comprehensive coverage...An essential reference for scientific research...A very impressive offering…Any investigator with a protease question should start here."
- Doody’s (2005)

"This handbook would be very useful a reference for a library that serves graduate and post-graduate researchers in molecular biology and related fields."
- E-STREAMS (2005)

Doody's 4-star review-
"A very impressive offering. While many of the chapters are short, they provide essential information as well as appropriate references. Any investigator with a protease question should start here."
Eugene A. Davidson, PhD, Georgetown University School of Medicine in DOODYS

"The Handbook of Proteolytic Enzymes, Second Edition provides a structured and systematic, up-to-date account of the information about proteolytic enzymes...an indispensable reference for all researchers utilizing such enzymes in areas of organic chemistry, biochemistry, biotechnology and molecular biology."
John F. Kennedy and Menh M. He, Chembiotech Laboratories in CARBOHYDRATE POLYMERS, April 2005

"This handbook would be a very useful reference for a library that serves graduate and post-graduate researchers in molecular biology and related fields. However, the CD-ROM version may be significantly more useful than the print version, especially for workers adept with bioinformatics."
Rafael Garcia, Chemical Engineer USDA for E-STREAMS, March 2005

Praise for the first edition:

"The CD-ROM format is ideal for the presentation of this mass of structured information. There are a number of useful search facilities, including the unique Specificity Search procedure developed for this project..... Nethertheless with excellent diagrams, useful search facilities and extensive hyperlinks, the CD-ROM is far too useful a resource for any reader who is used to the vagaries of software to be put off by minor glitches...."
-BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION

" The Handbook of Proteolytic Enzymes is a much needed reference book in the field of peptidases. Not only does it provide a wealth of information for the vast majority of the individual enzymes discussed, but also it shows vividly the relationships among members of families and clans within the 4 major classes."
-Michael N.G. James, MRC Canada, Group in Protein Structure and Function, Department of Biochemistry in PROTEIN SCIENCE

"...a massive and definitive compilation of information on proteolytic enzymes and will no doubt be the standard work for years to come...the information collected here will be of great value to scientists working in practically the whole of biology as well as to the biotechnology industry..." -BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION

" The present Handbook of Proteolytic Enzymes by Barrett, Rawlings, and Woessner is an important and heroic accomplishment in this regard, as for the first time in the history of enzymology it presents a rather complete hierarchical reference of the chemical and biological properties of proteases. This work has been the product of over [550] contributors, most of who have demonstrated their knowledge and familiarity with one or the other of the [more than] 500 proteases described in this work. The list will undoubtedly grow further but even at this stage, I consider it an indispensable resource for the practicing enzymologists, protein chemists and molecular biologists generally. The authors, their contributors and the publisher have rendered a most valuable service to the students, scholars and general practitioners in making this compilation available at this time and deserve a round of applause for having done so with remarkable skill and devotion."
-Hans Neurath, Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry, University of Washington Seattle, Washington