TRIM/RBCC Proteins

The genomic 'golden age' has delivered the sequence of numerous novel genes while leaving us with many unanswered questions about their function. This is particularly true for gene families as, often, members are annotated based on homology rather than function. The tripartite motif family belonged to this category, although, during the last few years, the field boosted an important wealth of biochemical, cellular and physiological breakthrough data. In the first part of this book, we attempt to offer an overview of state-of-the-art basic findings on the tripartite motif (TRIM, also known as RBCC) family members and to deal in the second part with their relevant and growing physiological and pathological roles.

Germana Meroni is a graduate of the University of Milan, Italy. She was a post-graduate fellow at the Department of Biotechnology of the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, Italy, and then post-doctoral fellow at the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics of Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX (USA). She established her research group at the Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine (TIGEM) in Naples and then moved as leader of the Functional Genomics Laboratory at the Cluster in Biomedicine within AREA Science Park in Trieste, Italy. Her main research interest is the genetics and biochemistry of the Tripartite Motif family in health and disease.