- Email: [email protected]
Biochemistry of Signal Transduction and Regulation
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1571 (2002) 249 – 250 www.bba-direct.com
Book review Biochemistry of Signal Transduction and Regulation (2nd edition, July 2001) The research area of cell signaling has undergone an explosion-like expansion and development during the last two decades, a progress that is only rivaled by the expansion of the term ‘signal transduction’ itself. In the early 1980s ‘signal transduction’ referred only to the hormone-induced turnover of inositol phospholipids discovered originally by Hokin and Hokin in 1958. The production of cAMP in response to external stimuli was not commonly referred to as signal transduction. Signal transduction started its expansion with the new discoveries that phosphatidylinositol phosphate turnover was regulated by G proteins and was causally coupled to calcium mobilization. Soon, molecular biology entered the mainly biochemical area of ‘signal transduction’, and researchers that worked in many different areas, such as viral oncogenes, growth factors, tyrosine kinases, the immune system, neurobiology, etc., found themselves squarely in the field of ‘signal transduction’. Today, the term ‘signal transduction’ encompasses virtually all areas of cell biology, from the biology and function of thousands of cell surface receptors to the regulation of gene expression at the transcriptional, translational, and posttranslational levels. The research field of programmed cell death, apoptosis, is pure signal transduction. Embryonic development and cell differentiation is governed by signal transduction mechanisms. Malignant transformation and cancer are now widely seen as problems in signaling. The immune system is essentially a network of received and produced signaling. The key function of the central nervous system is signal transduction. Even regulation of the cell cycle is now within the realm of signaling, as the progression through the G1 phase is highly dependent of external stimuli. No ordinary textbook can keep up with this very rapid expansion of our understanding of how cells communicate and use intracellular pathways to regulate their life and death in response to external and internal stimuli. Dr. Gerhard Kraus has filled this vacuum with his book ‘‘Biochemistry of Signal Transduction and Regulation’’ (2001), already in its second edition. The book is based on his lectures for graduate students of biology at the University of Bayreuth, and treats the main topics within signal transduction in a systematic and clear manner. He begins with the basics of gene expression and its reguPII: S 0 3 0 4 - 4 1 6 5 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 2 6 0 - X
lation by transcription factors, showing examples of protein – DNA complexes at the atomic resolution level, and explains how signals influence transcription factors. The molecular mechanisms of enzyme regulation and the general principles of signal transduction are followed by more detailed description of signaling by nuclear receptors, G-protein coupled signal transmission, second messengers, protein kinases, phosphatases and signaling by growth factor receptors, Ras superfamily proteins, MAP kinases, and plasma membrane receptor types that use cytoplasmic tyrosine kinases or other means of signaling. The cell cycle is given a thorough review, particularly from the view of its regulation by external and internal signals, including DNA damage. This discussion then easily leads to oncogenesis through malfunction of signaling pathways presented in previous chapters. The regulation and role of apoptosis naturally follows the discussion of cell survival induced by oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. Finally, the principles of ion channels in signaling are presented. With the invasion of signal transduction into more areas of cell biology, future editions will probably also venture into regulation of the cytoskeleton, intracellular transport, secretion, cell differentiation, and more crosstalk between pathways. Overall, the layout is very logic and proceeds from basic topics to more complex, but important, areas of signal transduction and regulation. The text by Dr. Kraus, translated into English by Nancy Scho¨nbrunner and Julia Cooper, is very easy to read and appears to be essentially correct in all details, with the exception of a few missed translations in the tables (e.g. Table 3.1), incorrect replacement of the Greek letter ‘kappa’ by another symbol in the early parts of the book, Jak4 instead of Tyk2, and a little misunderstanding regarding the definition of an immunological synapse, a concept that is not based on interleukin secretion. By necessity, a book that reviews such a broad area as modern signal transduction is forced to remain somewhat superficial; it is simply impossible to go into too much detail if one wishes the text to stay accessible to most readers. The value of this book is instead to put all the areas of signal transduction into a balanced whole, the ‘Big Picture’. As a consequence, this book will serve as an excellent introduction into contemporary cell biology for undergraduate and graduate students. In addition, I believe that a much wider readership will benefit greatly from
250
Book review
reading at least selected parts of this book, particularly postdoctoral researchers and staff scientists in both academia and industry. We all tend to focus on our own fields at the expense of other fields, and it is a healthy experience to revisit other fields from time to time to remember that your own field is just one of many and to consider the interplay of your favorite pathway with the myriad of pathways and processes that characterize a cell.
T. Mustelin Laboratory of Signal Transduction, La Jolla Cancer Research Center, The Burnham Institute, North Torrey Pines Road, 92037 La Jolla, CA USA E-mail address: [email protected] Tel.: +1-858-646-3100; fax: +1-858-646-3199
Book review Biochemistry of Signal Transduction and Regulation (2nd edition, July 2001) The research area of cell signaling has undergone an explosion-like expansion and development during the last two decades, a progress that is only rivaled by the expansion of the term ‘signal transduction’ itself. In the early 1980s ‘signal transduction’ referred only to the hormone-induced turnover of inositol phospholipids discovered originally by Hokin and Hokin in 1958. The production of cAMP in response to external stimuli was not commonly referred to as signal transduction. Signal transduction started its expansion with the new discoveries that phosphatidylinositol phosphate turnover was regulated by G proteins and was causally coupled to calcium mobilization. Soon, molecular biology entered the mainly biochemical area of ‘signal transduction’, and researchers that worked in many different areas, such as viral oncogenes, growth factors, tyrosine kinases, the immune system, neurobiology, etc., found themselves squarely in the field of ‘signal transduction’. Today, the term ‘signal transduction’ encompasses virtually all areas of cell biology, from the biology and function of thousands of cell surface receptors to the regulation of gene expression at the transcriptional, translational, and posttranslational levels. The research field of programmed cell death, apoptosis, is pure signal transduction. Embryonic development and cell differentiation is governed by signal transduction mechanisms. Malignant transformation and cancer are now widely seen as problems in signaling. The immune system is essentially a network of received and produced signaling. The key function of the central nervous system is signal transduction. Even regulation of the cell cycle is now within the realm of signaling, as the progression through the G1 phase is highly dependent of external stimuli. No ordinary textbook can keep up with this very rapid expansion of our understanding of how cells communicate and use intracellular pathways to regulate their life and death in response to external and internal stimuli. Dr. Gerhard Kraus has filled this vacuum with his book ‘‘Biochemistry of Signal Transduction and Regulation’’ (2001), already in its second edition. The book is based on his lectures for graduate students of biology at the University of Bayreuth, and treats the main topics within signal transduction in a systematic and clear manner. He begins with the basics of gene expression and its reguPII: S 0 3 0 4 - 4 1 6 5 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 2 6 0 - X
lation by transcription factors, showing examples of protein – DNA complexes at the atomic resolution level, and explains how signals influence transcription factors. The molecular mechanisms of enzyme regulation and the general principles of signal transduction are followed by more detailed description of signaling by nuclear receptors, G-protein coupled signal transmission, second messengers, protein kinases, phosphatases and signaling by growth factor receptors, Ras superfamily proteins, MAP kinases, and plasma membrane receptor types that use cytoplasmic tyrosine kinases or other means of signaling. The cell cycle is given a thorough review, particularly from the view of its regulation by external and internal signals, including DNA damage. This discussion then easily leads to oncogenesis through malfunction of signaling pathways presented in previous chapters. The regulation and role of apoptosis naturally follows the discussion of cell survival induced by oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. Finally, the principles of ion channels in signaling are presented. With the invasion of signal transduction into more areas of cell biology, future editions will probably also venture into regulation of the cytoskeleton, intracellular transport, secretion, cell differentiation, and more crosstalk between pathways. Overall, the layout is very logic and proceeds from basic topics to more complex, but important, areas of signal transduction and regulation. The text by Dr. Kraus, translated into English by Nancy Scho¨nbrunner and Julia Cooper, is very easy to read and appears to be essentially correct in all details, with the exception of a few missed translations in the tables (e.g. Table 3.1), incorrect replacement of the Greek letter ‘kappa’ by another symbol in the early parts of the book, Jak4 instead of Tyk2, and a little misunderstanding regarding the definition of an immunological synapse, a concept that is not based on interleukin secretion. By necessity, a book that reviews such a broad area as modern signal transduction is forced to remain somewhat superficial; it is simply impossible to go into too much detail if one wishes the text to stay accessible to most readers. The value of this book is instead to put all the areas of signal transduction into a balanced whole, the ‘Big Picture’. As a consequence, this book will serve as an excellent introduction into contemporary cell biology for undergraduate and graduate students. In addition, I believe that a much wider readership will benefit greatly from
250
Book review
reading at least selected parts of this book, particularly postdoctoral researchers and staff scientists in both academia and industry. We all tend to focus on our own fields at the expense of other fields, and it is a healthy experience to revisit other fields from time to time to remember that your own field is just one of many and to consider the interplay of your favorite pathway with the myriad of pathways and processes that characterize a cell.
T. Mustelin Laboratory of Signal Transduction, La Jolla Cancer Research Center, The Burnham Institute, North Torrey Pines Road, 92037 La Jolla, CA USA E-mail address: [email protected] Tel.: +1-858-646-3100; fax: +1-858-646-3199