Li-Mei Chen 
PROSTASIN IN HUMAN HEALTH AND DISEASE [EPUB ebook] 

The formation of placenta can be viewed as a controlled process of inflammation or cancer development in which cell proliferation, invasion, and immune surveillance or evasion are promoted in a time- and space-specific manner. This suggests that the functions of prostasin are mainly active in pathophysiological conditions, more so than those in basic or normal physiological conditions. The uniqueness of the prostasin serine protease is its membrane anchorage via a glycosylphosphatidylinositol moiety. This anchorage exposes the entire prostasin molecule to the outside while still being immobilized on the cell membrane and gives prostasin a better chance to be used as a biomarker or drug target. As presented in placenta development, the equilibrium between growth and differentiation dictates healthy and disease states.

This book provides readers with an integrated knowledge on serine protease prostasin, starting with its discovery, protein isolation, c DNA, and gene cloning, to its functions in physiology and pathophysiology, and to its application in the development of therapeutics. This is the first-of-its-kind book that covers the history, present state of knowledge, and future perspectives of the prototypic glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored epithelial extracellular serine protease prostasin, which is a key player in the regulation and maintenance of the extracellular fluid homeostasis. The chapters encapsulate all that has been learned about prostasin in the technical sophistication, but more importantly, also highlight a critical analysis on the problems with the current state of research and outline the challenges for the future.

Contents:

• The Serine Proteases — A Brief Overview


• The Membrane Serine Proteases — Classification and Overview


• Prostasin Serine Protease — 30 Years of Discoveries


• The Basic Molecular Information on Prostasin


• The Structure, the Function, and the Regulation


• The Roles in Physiology and Pathophysiology — An Overview


• Prostasin in the Kidney — Regulating the ENa C Activity


• Prostasin in the Airways


• Prostasin in the Intestinal Tract


• Prostasin in the Skin


• Prostasin in the Reproductive Organs


• Prostasin in Inflammation and Infection


• Prostasin in Other Organs


• Prostasin in Cancer


• Prostasin Substrates, Regulators, and Inhibitors


• Prostasin as a Biomarker, a Drug Target, and in Therapeutic Development

Readership: Health professionals including students, researchers, clinicians, as well as pharmaceutical companies.

Key Features:

• The subject of the book is a unique and versatile proteolytic enzyme that has a functional role in almost every tissue or organ in a human body and is implicated in many physiological or pathophysiological processes


• There is no competing title at the present time, while this book will serve not only as a 30-year summary of the past discoveries and findings but also a stimulation to inspire innovative research in the future to bring impactful benefits for human health


• The assessments in this book on the unique and versatile proteolytic enzyme prostasin challenge some existing paradigms and initiate discussions which will foster more in-depth collaborations among scientists and clinicians in the immediate but also the broader fields of research