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Advances in experimental medicine and biology
307 It is of utmost importance that the methods whereby the structural knowledge is acquired be thoroughly understood by the very community that uses their results. A general monograph on the method of X-ray crystallography should therefore be written in a way accessible to the largest public possible. This is exactly what Glusker, Lewis and Rossi have set out to do in their Crystal Structure Analysis for Chemists and
ratory, but one can consider it a worthwhile addition to the private library as well. A Lewit-Bentley
Biologists.
Crystallography is a vast field of science and thus it is no easy task to convey !ts essentials without reducing it excessively. Glusker, Lewis and Rossi have been rather successful in this respect. The monograph contains a lot of basic crystallography, concentrating specifically on the implications of the results on the structural information obtained. The accent is more on chemistry than on general biology - but then, chemistry is at the basis of all reactions in biology! The book starts with an historical introduction to put crystallography into perspective. Throughout the book, however, there are historical references, which make for very interesting reading. Each chapter deals fairly thoroughly with one aspect of the subject, progressing logically from the description of crystals and their macroscopic properties, to diffraction and the determination of three-dimensional structures. The way the text is organised makes reading thi~ book easier than one may snspect: each chapter starts with a short summary of the subject matter, the text itself containing very helpful illustrations, and it terminates with a glossary of importam terms that were introduced. It is impossible to explain crystallographic analysis without the use of a certain amount of mathematics. This has been kept to the essential minimum and, interestingly, most equations are grouped in the forrn of tables, so that the reader can easily go through the text first and then return to tile mathematics. Each chapter terminates with a long list of references that supplement and extend the information given in the text. It is extremely difficult, as mentioned above, to select just the right amount of information about such a vast field, without creating an impossibly enormous monograph. Thus one may argue that the methods used for macromolecule structure determination are described a little too briefly. In particular, the method of molecular replacement for phasing, as well as the method of molecular dynamics for refinement, earn only a few sentences. This is unfortunate, since an ever increasing number of protein erystallographers use them and it is difficult for the unitiated, and in particular for the biologist, to appreciate the particular pitfalls - and thus potentially erroneous results - of these two methods. On the other hand, the detailed explanations of the result of smaller molecule crystallography, as well as the discussion of the validity of the results, will be especially interesting for the biologist. A whole chapter is given to the use of the results of structure determination, with an excellent survey of existing data bases and their access. The use of these in the analyses and comparisons of structures is described, leading naturally to the discussion of interactions between molecules and the field of drug design. A comprehensive index of both the terms collected in the glossaries to each chapter, as well as general terms, concludes the monograph. Complete books on crystallography are not produced very frequently, the last major protein crystallography text-book (by TL Blundeil, and LN Johnson) was published in 1976! This situation is certainly due to the difficulty of the enterprise. It is therefore all the more useful and timely to have the Crystal Structure Analysis fir,.r Chemists and Biologists by Glusker, Lewis and Rossi avail"able for interested reader. It will be a very useful reference book for the chemist's and biologist's labo-
Advances in Second Messenger and Phosphoprotein Research, edited by AR Means, Raven Press, New York, 1994, $125,00, 416 p The series 'Advances in Second Messenger and Phosphoprotein Research' provides us, in its 30th volume (calcium regulation of cellular functions) with an up-to-date analysis of the literature devoted to calcium regulation of cellular function. Calcium is indeed a major actor of cellular processes, and much more than 1000 references can be found each year on subjects related to calcium effects. In this reviews series most calcium effects (channels, gene expression, translation, control of phosphorylation cascades, regulation of enzyme activities, etc) are dealt with. Also, processes linked to macroscopic behaviour, such as calcium waves, regulation of embryo development, memory or apoptosis are reviewed. It would be out of the scope of this short comment to describe the content of this volume, which is certainly of major importance for all scientists interested in calcium effects, but I would like to say a few words on the chapter dealing with intracellular calcium waves (by Clapham and Sneyd). This chapter describes the existence of calcium waves (with remarkable pictures) in the Xenopus oocyte and relates them to very simple biochemical processes, giving examples of the biological significance of such macroscopic waves in no-excitable cells. The data and modelisation are quite convincing and presented in clear biological terms, avoiding the 'philosophical' flavour which plagues many models about oscillations in biological systems with ad hoc assumptions, meant to bias the reader towards the ideological tendencies of the model-builder instead of use modelisation as it should be done: as a construction made to be falsified by appropriate experiments. An excellent chapter in an excellent book. AL Lecoc
Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, edited b y C Hershko, Plenum Press, New York, 1994, 402 p At present, iron research is a very active and large area of investigation including molecular, physiological and clinical aspects, concerning both, basic and clinical scientists. For these reasons, meetings are absolutely necessary to bring together scientists from different disciplines for the exchange of information. Progress in Iron Research, volume 356 of Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, is a selection of presentations of the 4th International Conference on Hemochromatosis and the 11th International Conference on Iron and Iron Proteins. These meetings took place in Jerusalem in April and
308 May I993. The book, an intelligent selection of basic and clinical contributions, covers several aspects of iron physiology and pathophysiology and constitutes an interesting state of the art review on iron research. Contents of the book analyse biophysical aspects of iron ~ u n ~ ~ s f e r r i n and transferrin receptor physiology, iron absorption and storage, iron protein gene expression, femtin meta~lism, erythroid iron regulation, pathophysiology of iron disorders, epidemiology and genetics of hemochromatosis and development and applications of iron chelators.
Ea,~i', of ti~ese subjects are treated by several authors. Some of the chapters are fine contributions, and in general each presentation is clearly written. Even if the book is published with some delay, it is welcome just a few months before the 1995 International Conference on Bioiron to be held in Asheville, North Caroline, LISA. MMZ~n
ratory, but one can consider it a worthwhile addition to the private library as well. A Lewit-Bentley
Biologists.
Crystallography is a vast field of science and thus it is no easy task to convey !ts essentials without reducing it excessively. Glusker, Lewis and Rossi have been rather successful in this respect. The monograph contains a lot of basic crystallography, concentrating specifically on the implications of the results on the structural information obtained. The accent is more on chemistry than on general biology - but then, chemistry is at the basis of all reactions in biology! The book starts with an historical introduction to put crystallography into perspective. Throughout the book, however, there are historical references, which make for very interesting reading. Each chapter deals fairly thoroughly with one aspect of the subject, progressing logically from the description of crystals and their macroscopic properties, to diffraction and the determination of three-dimensional structures. The way the text is organised makes reading thi~ book easier than one may snspect: each chapter starts with a short summary of the subject matter, the text itself containing very helpful illustrations, and it terminates with a glossary of importam terms that were introduced. It is impossible to explain crystallographic analysis without the use of a certain amount of mathematics. This has been kept to the essential minimum and, interestingly, most equations are grouped in the forrn of tables, so that the reader can easily go through the text first and then return to tile mathematics. Each chapter terminates with a long list of references that supplement and extend the information given in the text. It is extremely difficult, as mentioned above, to select just the right amount of information about such a vast field, without creating an impossibly enormous monograph. Thus one may argue that the methods used for macromolecule structure determination are described a little too briefly. In particular, the method of molecular replacement for phasing, as well as the method of molecular dynamics for refinement, earn only a few sentences. This is unfortunate, since an ever increasing number of protein erystallographers use them and it is difficult for the unitiated, and in particular for the biologist, to appreciate the particular pitfalls - and thus potentially erroneous results - of these two methods. On the other hand, the detailed explanations of the result of smaller molecule crystallography, as well as the discussion of the validity of the results, will be especially interesting for the biologist. A whole chapter is given to the use of the results of structure determination, with an excellent survey of existing data bases and their access. The use of these in the analyses and comparisons of structures is described, leading naturally to the discussion of interactions between molecules and the field of drug design. A comprehensive index of both the terms collected in the glossaries to each chapter, as well as general terms, concludes the monograph. Complete books on crystallography are not produced very frequently, the last major protein crystallography text-book (by TL Blundeil, and LN Johnson) was published in 1976! This situation is certainly due to the difficulty of the enterprise. It is therefore all the more useful and timely to have the Crystal Structure Analysis fir,.r Chemists and Biologists by Glusker, Lewis and Rossi avail"able for interested reader. It will be a very useful reference book for the chemist's and biologist's labo-
Advances in Second Messenger and Phosphoprotein Research, edited by AR Means, Raven Press, New York, 1994, $125,00, 416 p The series 'Advances in Second Messenger and Phosphoprotein Research' provides us, in its 30th volume (calcium regulation of cellular functions) with an up-to-date analysis of the literature devoted to calcium regulation of cellular function. Calcium is indeed a major actor of cellular processes, and much more than 1000 references can be found each year on subjects related to calcium effects. In this reviews series most calcium effects (channels, gene expression, translation, control of phosphorylation cascades, regulation of enzyme activities, etc) are dealt with. Also, processes linked to macroscopic behaviour, such as calcium waves, regulation of embryo development, memory or apoptosis are reviewed. It would be out of the scope of this short comment to describe the content of this volume, which is certainly of major importance for all scientists interested in calcium effects, but I would like to say a few words on the chapter dealing with intracellular calcium waves (by Clapham and Sneyd). This chapter describes the existence of calcium waves (with remarkable pictures) in the Xenopus oocyte and relates them to very simple biochemical processes, giving examples of the biological significance of such macroscopic waves in no-excitable cells. The data and modelisation are quite convincing and presented in clear biological terms, avoiding the 'philosophical' flavour which plagues many models about oscillations in biological systems with ad hoc assumptions, meant to bias the reader towards the ideological tendencies of the model-builder instead of use modelisation as it should be done: as a construction made to be falsified by appropriate experiments. An excellent chapter in an excellent book. AL Lecoc
Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, edited b y C Hershko, Plenum Press, New York, 1994, 402 p At present, iron research is a very active and large area of investigation including molecular, physiological and clinical aspects, concerning both, basic and clinical scientists. For these reasons, meetings are absolutely necessary to bring together scientists from different disciplines for the exchange of information. Progress in Iron Research, volume 356 of Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, is a selection of presentations of the 4th International Conference on Hemochromatosis and the 11th International Conference on Iron and Iron Proteins. These meetings took place in Jerusalem in April and
308 May I993. The book, an intelligent selection of basic and clinical contributions, covers several aspects of iron physiology and pathophysiology and constitutes an interesting state of the art review on iron research. Contents of the book analyse biophysical aspects of iron ~ u n ~ ~ s f e r r i n and transferrin receptor physiology, iron absorption and storage, iron protein gene expression, femtin meta~lism, erythroid iron regulation, pathophysiology of iron disorders, epidemiology and genetics of hemochromatosis and development and applications of iron chelators.
Ea,~i', of ti~ese subjects are treated by several authors. Some of the chapters are fine contributions, and in general each presentation is clearly written. Even if the book is published with some delay, it is welcome just a few months before the 1995 International Conference on Bioiron to be held in Asheville, North Caroline, LISA. MMZ~n