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New Ideas on Protein Moonlighting

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Moonlighting Cell Stress Proteins in Microbial Infections

Part of the book series: Heat Shock Proteins ((HESP,volume 7))

Abstract

An increasing number and variety of proteins are being found to “moonlight” or have multiple, sometimes (apparently) unrelated functions. In this chapter, I describe moonlighting proteins in general – how moonlighting is defined, examples of some of the most common types of moonlighting proteins, how moonlighting functions evolved, and the fact that close homologues of moonlighting proteins might share all, some, or none of these functions. Moonlighting proteins include several taxon-specific crystallins, enzymes adopted for structural roles, enzymes that are also transcription factors, proteins with two different catalytic functions, and intracellular proteins with a second function outside the cell. The ability of so many proteins, over 200 identified to date, to moonlight also has an impact on genome annotation, selection of biomarkers, proteomics, and systems biology. The moonlighting functions of chaperones and heat shock proteins described in more detail elsewhere in this book are particularly important in disease, either by being secreted and affecting the activities of host cells, or by being displayed on the cell surface where they can play key roles in infection and virulence by pathogens.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, MC567 900 S. Ashland Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60607, USA

    Constance J. Jeffery

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Correspondence to Constance J. Jeffery .

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  1. Eastman Dental Institute, Div. Microbial Diseases, University College, London, Gray's Inn Road 256, London, WC1X 8LD, United Kingdom

    Brian Henderson

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Jeffery, C.J. (2013). New Ideas on Protein Moonlighting. In: Henderson, B. (eds) Moonlighting Cell Stress Proteins in Microbial Infections. Heat Shock Proteins, vol 7. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6787-4_3

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