- Email: [email protected]
Biochemical and clinical aspects of oxygen
117
Fibrous Proteins: Scientific, Industrial and Medical Aspects (Volumes I and 2) Edited b y D A D P a r r y a n d L K C r e a m e r . pp 508 (Vol 1) and pp 257 (Vol 2). A c a d e m i c Press, L o n d o n and N e w York. 1980. £19.80 and £13 (hardback) I S B N 0 - 1 2 - 5 4 5 7 0 1 - 4 (Vol 1) and 0 - 1 2 - 5 4 5 7 0 2 - 2 (Vol 2) These two volumes are based on an International Conference on Fibrous Protein held at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand during February 1979. The books take their title from that of the conference and like all such texts represent a compromise between general reading on the subject and an up-to-date account of current fibrous protein research. The scope of the conference, and as shown by these two volumes, was enormous, bringing together a vast amount of information from the main areas of fibrous protein research. Delays in publication are inevitable but the eighteen months taken is not unduly protracted. Volume 1 contains fifteen reviews based on the plenary lectures given at the conference by eminent scientists in the established areas of fibrous protein research. Contributions were grouped into four sections: muscle and meat, collagen and leather, keratin and wool, and other fibrous proteins. Within the three main sections, the reviews cover increasingly applied areas of research and thus clearly demonstrate the strong influence of the meat, leather and textile industries on the design and direction of fibrous protein research. This is especially true of keratin, where nearly all the established knowledge emanates from work on wool. The medical aspects of fibrous proteins are poorly represented (less than 6 per cent of the total text of volume 1) and this reflects a void in the basic understanding of the involvement of fibrous proteins in pathological conditions. The final section comprises a review on the comparative structure of several fibrous proteins as well as an account of the structure and assembly of fibrinogen. Volume 2 contains twenty-three research papers selected from those presented at the conference, covering what the editors considered to be areas of promise for future development in this field. These are grouped into three main sections: muscle/meat, connective tissue/leather and keratin/wool, together with two other papers of more general interest. The content is less industrially-oriented than that of volume 1, and reflects a move away from this type of research to a more medically-oriented one. This is especially true of the keratin section which contains recent information of the 'soft' epidermal keratins, a field that is at present expanding rapidly. In over-all terms these volumes represent a collection of information often considered separately and provide an opportunity for research workers in one area of fibrous protein research to gain an insight into developments in closely-related fields. Because of the mixture of diverse fields and the way the information is presented I doubt that these volumes will be of wide appeal but both volumes would be useful, though not essential, reference works for scientists involved in this expanding field. However, I would not recommend these texts to those involved solely in teaching biochemistry. P E Bowden
Skin Department Leeds General Infirmary Leeds, UK
Inborn Errors of Metabolism Edited b y R o l a n d Ellis. pp 105. C r o o m H e l m Ltd, L o n d o n . £8.95 or £3.50 (pbk) I S B N 0 - 7 0 9 9 - 0 0 2 6 - 0 or 0 - 7 0 9 9 - 0 0 2 7 - 9 (pbk) Twenty years ago our knowledge of inborn errors of metabolism could be summarized in a single book of moderate size. The standard work (Stanbury, Wyngaarden and Frederickson) has now grown to an unwieldy 1870 pages of telephone directory size and is by no means comprehensive. Monographs, often conference proceedings, attempt to keep us up to date and to fill the gaps. This growth in factual knowledge has paralleled that in the main component disciplines, biochemistry and medicine, but for workers in inborn errors of metabolism the problems created by such growth have been particularly severe. Nowadays the biochemist who wishes to concentrate on even a small section of human metabolism finds himself trying to cope with a variety of medical specialities, whilst the clinician approaching the subject as a paediatric neurologist, for example, will need to understand many widely separated areas of biochemistry. All the while geneticists, cell biologists and other marauders from peripheral disciplines keep reminding us how naive we BIOCHEMICAL
EDUCATION
9(3)
1981
are in their particular subjects. Thus life for the would-be student of inborn errors becomes increasingly hard and it is not surprising that many prefer to stick to their benches or their bedsides rather than to adopt a truely interdisciplinary approach. Against this background of increasing specialization and fragmentation the appearance of a book which attempts 'to describe, in straightforward language, the current state of our understanding of inborn metabolic disorders' is welcome. This book is certainly the right size, about a fortieth that of Stanbury et al, packs in a lot of information and is as up to date as can reasonably be expected. Following a short introductory chapter (eight pages), six chapters, each with a different author, deal in turn with disorders of metabolism of lipids, mucopolysaccharides, carbohydrates, amino acids, purines and pyrimidines, and trace metals. There is an extremely short closing chapter on possible developments in management. The work is aimed at students of medicine, those taking short courses in human or biochemical genetics, and 'physicians who wish to keep in touch with a rapidly expanding field of research', but the aim is by no means sure as the various contributors chose widely different approaches. At the extremes the chapters on mucopolysaccharidoses and on disorders of carbohydrate metabolism are fairly comprehensive, while for the amino acid chapter, with a much wider field to cover, the author selected only three illustrative disorders. Several of the individual contributions are of a high standard but the arrangement of diseases by metabolite affected leads to fundamental weaknesses in presentation as underlying principles are not brought out in a logical manner. This is particularly noticeable in the chapters on the mucopolysaccharidoses and lipidoses where concepts that help to unify the clinically and biochemically heterogenous lysosomal storage diseases are scarcely mentioned. Elsewhere too, points of general interest and applicability tend to remain hidden in a mass of other information. In this the clinical aspects suffer more than the biochemistry and I doubt whether many medical students will feel attracted to the study of inborn errors of metabolism on reading this book. The biochemist should feel more at home amongst the structural formulae and metabolic pathways but surely he too would have benefited from a few illustrations of clinical material and a more coherent presentation of the ways in which our knowledge can be applied to practical problems. In spite of these shortcomings, and a number of factual errors this book fills an important niche tolerably well. it should find its way into all libraries catering for students of biochemistry or medicine and would be helpful in the non-specialist clinical biochemistry laboratory. Given the difficulty of covering such a vast and heterogenous subject in a concise and coherent manner this is likely to remain a standard work for several years. R J Pollitt
Department of Psychiatry University of Sheflleld Shel~eld, UK
Biochemical and Clinical Aspects of Oxygen Edited by W i n s l o w S C a u g h e y . pp 866. A c a d e m i c Press, N e w York. 1979. $45 ISBN 0-121-64380-8 This book represents the proceedings of a meeting held in Colorado State University in September 1978. In a brief review it is not possible to critically evaluate or even to mention all of the fifty-one papers contained in the book, and this review will be limited to an indication of the major regions covered, together with some general impressions. The book includes a very wide range of topics concerned with the chemistry and biochemistry of oxygen. The field is not limited to molecular oxygen but includes superoxide, peroxide and hydroxyl radical. As might be anticipated the interaction of haemoproteins with dioxygen accounts for a major part of the volume. This area is comprehensively discussed from theoretical, chemical, biochemical, and clinical viewpoints, and includes detailed treatments on oxygen interactions with myoglobin, haemoglobin, leghaemoglobin, peroxidases, cytochrome oxidase, and cytochrome P450. However, the volume also includes useful contributions on flavin-dependent oxygen activation and superoxide dismustases. The last few chapters are more concerned with the physiological role of oxygen in metabolism and in tumour treatment. The book will be a valuable asset to all interested in the biochemistry of oxygen. It is particularly useful as a source of references to the primary literature. S B Brown
Fibrous Proteins: Scientific, Industrial and Medical Aspects (Volumes I and 2) Edited b y D A D P a r r y a n d L K C r e a m e r . pp 508 (Vol 1) and pp 257 (Vol 2). A c a d e m i c Press, L o n d o n and N e w York. 1980. £19.80 and £13 (hardback) I S B N 0 - 1 2 - 5 4 5 7 0 1 - 4 (Vol 1) and 0 - 1 2 - 5 4 5 7 0 2 - 2 (Vol 2) These two volumes are based on an International Conference on Fibrous Protein held at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand during February 1979. The books take their title from that of the conference and like all such texts represent a compromise between general reading on the subject and an up-to-date account of current fibrous protein research. The scope of the conference, and as shown by these two volumes, was enormous, bringing together a vast amount of information from the main areas of fibrous protein research. Delays in publication are inevitable but the eighteen months taken is not unduly protracted. Volume 1 contains fifteen reviews based on the plenary lectures given at the conference by eminent scientists in the established areas of fibrous protein research. Contributions were grouped into four sections: muscle and meat, collagen and leather, keratin and wool, and other fibrous proteins. Within the three main sections, the reviews cover increasingly applied areas of research and thus clearly demonstrate the strong influence of the meat, leather and textile industries on the design and direction of fibrous protein research. This is especially true of keratin, where nearly all the established knowledge emanates from work on wool. The medical aspects of fibrous proteins are poorly represented (less than 6 per cent of the total text of volume 1) and this reflects a void in the basic understanding of the involvement of fibrous proteins in pathological conditions. The final section comprises a review on the comparative structure of several fibrous proteins as well as an account of the structure and assembly of fibrinogen. Volume 2 contains twenty-three research papers selected from those presented at the conference, covering what the editors considered to be areas of promise for future development in this field. These are grouped into three main sections: muscle/meat, connective tissue/leather and keratin/wool, together with two other papers of more general interest. The content is less industrially-oriented than that of volume 1, and reflects a move away from this type of research to a more medically-oriented one. This is especially true of the keratin section which contains recent information of the 'soft' epidermal keratins, a field that is at present expanding rapidly. In over-all terms these volumes represent a collection of information often considered separately and provide an opportunity for research workers in one area of fibrous protein research to gain an insight into developments in closely-related fields. Because of the mixture of diverse fields and the way the information is presented I doubt that these volumes will be of wide appeal but both volumes would be useful, though not essential, reference works for scientists involved in this expanding field. However, I would not recommend these texts to those involved solely in teaching biochemistry. P E Bowden
Skin Department Leeds General Infirmary Leeds, UK
Inborn Errors of Metabolism Edited b y R o l a n d Ellis. pp 105. C r o o m H e l m Ltd, L o n d o n . £8.95 or £3.50 (pbk) I S B N 0 - 7 0 9 9 - 0 0 2 6 - 0 or 0 - 7 0 9 9 - 0 0 2 7 - 9 (pbk) Twenty years ago our knowledge of inborn errors of metabolism could be summarized in a single book of moderate size. The standard work (Stanbury, Wyngaarden and Frederickson) has now grown to an unwieldy 1870 pages of telephone directory size and is by no means comprehensive. Monographs, often conference proceedings, attempt to keep us up to date and to fill the gaps. This growth in factual knowledge has paralleled that in the main component disciplines, biochemistry and medicine, but for workers in inborn errors of metabolism the problems created by such growth have been particularly severe. Nowadays the biochemist who wishes to concentrate on even a small section of human metabolism finds himself trying to cope with a variety of medical specialities, whilst the clinician approaching the subject as a paediatric neurologist, for example, will need to understand many widely separated areas of biochemistry. All the while geneticists, cell biologists and other marauders from peripheral disciplines keep reminding us how naive we BIOCHEMICAL
EDUCATION
9(3)
1981
are in their particular subjects. Thus life for the would-be student of inborn errors becomes increasingly hard and it is not surprising that many prefer to stick to their benches or their bedsides rather than to adopt a truely interdisciplinary approach. Against this background of increasing specialization and fragmentation the appearance of a book which attempts 'to describe, in straightforward language, the current state of our understanding of inborn metabolic disorders' is welcome. This book is certainly the right size, about a fortieth that of Stanbury et al, packs in a lot of information and is as up to date as can reasonably be expected. Following a short introductory chapter (eight pages), six chapters, each with a different author, deal in turn with disorders of metabolism of lipids, mucopolysaccharides, carbohydrates, amino acids, purines and pyrimidines, and trace metals. There is an extremely short closing chapter on possible developments in management. The work is aimed at students of medicine, those taking short courses in human or biochemical genetics, and 'physicians who wish to keep in touch with a rapidly expanding field of research', but the aim is by no means sure as the various contributors chose widely different approaches. At the extremes the chapters on mucopolysaccharidoses and on disorders of carbohydrate metabolism are fairly comprehensive, while for the amino acid chapter, with a much wider field to cover, the author selected only three illustrative disorders. Several of the individual contributions are of a high standard but the arrangement of diseases by metabolite affected leads to fundamental weaknesses in presentation as underlying principles are not brought out in a logical manner. This is particularly noticeable in the chapters on the mucopolysaccharidoses and lipidoses where concepts that help to unify the clinically and biochemically heterogenous lysosomal storage diseases are scarcely mentioned. Elsewhere too, points of general interest and applicability tend to remain hidden in a mass of other information. In this the clinical aspects suffer more than the biochemistry and I doubt whether many medical students will feel attracted to the study of inborn errors of metabolism on reading this book. The biochemist should feel more at home amongst the structural formulae and metabolic pathways but surely he too would have benefited from a few illustrations of clinical material and a more coherent presentation of the ways in which our knowledge can be applied to practical problems. In spite of these shortcomings, and a number of factual errors this book fills an important niche tolerably well. it should find its way into all libraries catering for students of biochemistry or medicine and would be helpful in the non-specialist clinical biochemistry laboratory. Given the difficulty of covering such a vast and heterogenous subject in a concise and coherent manner this is likely to remain a standard work for several years. R J Pollitt
Department of Psychiatry University of Sheflleld Shel~eld, UK
Biochemical and Clinical Aspects of Oxygen Edited by W i n s l o w S C a u g h e y . pp 866. A c a d e m i c Press, N e w York. 1979. $45 ISBN 0-121-64380-8 This book represents the proceedings of a meeting held in Colorado State University in September 1978. In a brief review it is not possible to critically evaluate or even to mention all of the fifty-one papers contained in the book, and this review will be limited to an indication of the major regions covered, together with some general impressions. The book includes a very wide range of topics concerned with the chemistry and biochemistry of oxygen. The field is not limited to molecular oxygen but includes superoxide, peroxide and hydroxyl radical. As might be anticipated the interaction of haemoproteins with dioxygen accounts for a major part of the volume. This area is comprehensively discussed from theoretical, chemical, biochemical, and clinical viewpoints, and includes detailed treatments on oxygen interactions with myoglobin, haemoglobin, leghaemoglobin, peroxidases, cytochrome oxidase, and cytochrome P450. However, the volume also includes useful contributions on flavin-dependent oxygen activation and superoxide dismustases. The last few chapters are more concerned with the physiological role of oxygen in metabolism and in tumour treatment. The book will be a valuable asset to all interested in the biochemistry of oxygen. It is particularly useful as a source of references to the primary literature. S B Brown