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Methods in immunology and immunochemistry vol. 1. Antigens and antibodies
Book Reviews
609
Methods in Immunology and Immnnochendstry Vol. 1. Ant/gens and Ant/. b c ~ e s - - E d i t e d by Curtis A. Williams and Merrill W. Chase. Academic Press, New York 1967. 424 pp., author and subject index, $22.00. THE CONTINUINGdevelopment of immunology as a discipline capable of providing unique contributions to a variety of biological and chemical problems, has been accompanied by the publication of many new books of theoretical and practical interest. These publications serve the dual function of recording recent progress and setting the stage for further advances. The volume under review fulfills these goals admirably. The editors regard this volume as the first of an open-ended series designed to provide detailed descriptions of the vast array of laboratory techniques utilized in immunological research. The first volume is divided into five major sections, Antigens, Production of Antiserum, Purification of Antibody, Labeling of Antigens and Antibody, and Studies of ImmunoglobulinStructure. Each section includes a very brief introductory statement which is followed by a complete and highly detailed description of specific technical procedures. More than 50 contributors have participated in the preparation of this volume, and each provides a statement drawn from personal experience. As a result, the individual procedures are written in an authoritative manner and can be readily adopted by other workers. This is indeed a significant contribution. Most immunologists have their private collections of procedures developed in their own laboratories or garnered from the reports of others. Now, many of these have been assembled in one volume, readily available to all. The coverage for each of the sections is extensive. Thus, the section on Productionof Antiserum deals with the use of adjuvants, immunizing procedures, collection of serum, as well as a description, with photographs, of methods for inoculating and bleeding the usual laboratory animals. The detailed nature of some of the sections can be illustrated by the material in Table II in Chapter 2, p. 267 which provides the specifications for constructing restraining holders for rabbits and guinea pigs. The same chapter offers a five page table describing various regimens of immunizing rabbits. There are numerous other subjects each of which received detailed attention, much more so than has been devoted to them in other texts. Examples include the preparation and characterization of synthetic and naturally-occurring antigens, the coupling of penicillin and its derivatives, and of steroids, nucleosides and oligonucleotides to protein carriers. There is a brief section on lipids. The chapter on antibody purification includes fractionation methods based on chemical properties of immunoglobulins, as well as procedures involving precipitation with antigen. The use of chromatography and immunoadsorbents is well described. The description of procedures currently used in studies of immunoglobulin structure provide the closing section. To prolong its usefulness in a field of rapid advance and newly developing procedures, a compendium of methods should be encyclopedic, as this first volume is. The achievement of this goal also entails the need for rapid publication, and the ability to delete outmoded techniques. The use of replaceable sections, such as in loose leaf form, might serve these purposes thereby lengthening the half-life of a volume such as this. This series and its initial volume will surely find a highly merited and prominent place on the laboratory benches of many investigators with highly varied interests in immunological techniques. A . G . OSLER
609
Methods in Immunology and Immnnochendstry Vol. 1. Ant/gens and Ant/. b c ~ e s - - E d i t e d by Curtis A. Williams and Merrill W. Chase. Academic Press, New York 1967. 424 pp., author and subject index, $22.00. THE CONTINUINGdevelopment of immunology as a discipline capable of providing unique contributions to a variety of biological and chemical problems, has been accompanied by the publication of many new books of theoretical and practical interest. These publications serve the dual function of recording recent progress and setting the stage for further advances. The volume under review fulfills these goals admirably. The editors regard this volume as the first of an open-ended series designed to provide detailed descriptions of the vast array of laboratory techniques utilized in immunological research. The first volume is divided into five major sections, Antigens, Production of Antiserum, Purification of Antibody, Labeling of Antigens and Antibody, and Studies of ImmunoglobulinStructure. Each section includes a very brief introductory statement which is followed by a complete and highly detailed description of specific technical procedures. More than 50 contributors have participated in the preparation of this volume, and each provides a statement drawn from personal experience. As a result, the individual procedures are written in an authoritative manner and can be readily adopted by other workers. This is indeed a significant contribution. Most immunologists have their private collections of procedures developed in their own laboratories or garnered from the reports of others. Now, many of these have been assembled in one volume, readily available to all. The coverage for each of the sections is extensive. Thus, the section on Productionof Antiserum deals with the use of adjuvants, immunizing procedures, collection of serum, as well as a description, with photographs, of methods for inoculating and bleeding the usual laboratory animals. The detailed nature of some of the sections can be illustrated by the material in Table II in Chapter 2, p. 267 which provides the specifications for constructing restraining holders for rabbits and guinea pigs. The same chapter offers a five page table describing various regimens of immunizing rabbits. There are numerous other subjects each of which received detailed attention, much more so than has been devoted to them in other texts. Examples include the preparation and characterization of synthetic and naturally-occurring antigens, the coupling of penicillin and its derivatives, and of steroids, nucleosides and oligonucleotides to protein carriers. There is a brief section on lipids. The chapter on antibody purification includes fractionation methods based on chemical properties of immunoglobulins, as well as procedures involving precipitation with antigen. The use of chromatography and immunoadsorbents is well described. The description of procedures currently used in studies of immunoglobulin structure provide the closing section. To prolong its usefulness in a field of rapid advance and newly developing procedures, a compendium of methods should be encyclopedic, as this first volume is. The achievement of this goal also entails the need for rapid publication, and the ability to delete outmoded techniques. The use of replaceable sections, such as in loose leaf form, might serve these purposes thereby lengthening the half-life of a volume such as this. This series and its initial volume will surely find a highly merited and prominent place on the laboratory benches of many investigators with highly varied interests in immunological techniques. A . G . OSLER