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Structure and activity of enzymes
ARCHIVES OF BIOCHEMISTRY AND BIOPHYSICS 114, (1966)
Book Reviews Triterpenes. Revised English by GUY OURWON, Professor of ChemUniversity of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, PIERRE CRABBY, Research Laboratories, S. A., Mexico City, Mexico; and OSCAR RODIG, Associa,te Professor of Chemistry, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. Editions Scientifique Hermann, Paris and HoldenDay Inc., San Francisco (1964). 237 pp. $8.75 Edgar Lederer is editing a French series of monographs on the Chemistry of Natural Products with the intention of providing treatises on relat,ively small groups of interrelated compounds written by outstanding active researchers in the relevant field. This book is the first to be translated into Engl,ish; and if subsequent publications are as lucid, the series will represent an important contribut,ion to natural products chemistry. The monograph is no mere translation of the 1961 French edition, but a revised, corrected, and well-written English version. In the general introduction the authors define the scope of their topic. Whle one may wish they would have included all triiterpenes (steroids excepted), it is appreciated that the book would have been twice as large and perhaps quite an unwieldy compilation. Natural occurrence is touched upon as befits a subject so well covered in various other texts as well as the catalogue of this book. Methods of isolation are briefly discussed, but historical aspects are omitted. The heart and most commendable chapter of the book is that on the reactions of the tetracyclic triterpenes. Here the authors’ approach has eonverted what could be a series of redundancies into an interesting skeletal dissection of the triterpene molecule. Rather than considering the chemistry of each compound separately, the chapters are subdivided into sections dealing with chemical reactions of ring A, rings B and C, ring D, the side chain, and the entire molecule as a unit. This treatment permitted a discussion of the chemistry of various compounds together, thereby graphiieally illustrating the effect of stereochemistry on reaction mechanisms. In addition, this approach affords a chapter which is a convenient source of chemical information concerning any particular section of the triterpene molecule, making the book a useful reference to chemists having other than terpene interests. The most disappointing section of the mono-
graph is that on biosynthesis, particularly in light of: (a) the editor’s awareness of this important common ground for organic and biochemists (cf. p. 9), and (b) a well-written 1959 review of the biosynthesis of tetracyclic triterpenes by one of the authors. For example, the statement that acetate or amino acid is converted to isopentenol (p. 116, line 4) is made without implicating leucine as the amino acid and creating the impression that isopentenol itself is an intermediate. The role of mevalonate as the first irreversible precursor is mentioned later. Furthermore, hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme A is not discussed in the text and is misnamed as mevaldic acid in the diagram on p, 117. The stereochemistry of squalene cyclization to lanosterol on p. 123 is oversimpli~ed. The catalogue and, particularly, the list of physical constants provides an excellent reference table for those interested in natural products isolation. The bibliography commendably avoids sending the reader to other reviews. This book is well-indexed and illustrated containing relatively few errors. It is hoped that Edgar Lederer can continue to edit monographs of this quality and that they will be conveyed to an appreciative Englishreading audience.
Tetracyclic
Edition istry, France; Syntex,
CARMINE J. COSCIA, St. Louis, Missouri Structure and Activity of Enzymes. Edited byT.W. GOODWIN, J.I. HARRIS,AND B.S. HARTLEY. Academic Press, New York (1964). 190 pp. $6.00 This volume respresents a compilation of lectures and discussion remarks given in a Symposium which took place during the first Meeting of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies in London, England, in March 1964. The subject of the Symposium is certainly one of the most fundamental problems of, what is now generally termed, molecular biology. The hope seems justified that, our rapidly increasing knowledge of chemical structure and configuration of enzymes will soon enable us to explain the details of the catalytic mechanism of enzyme action. In this Symposium, no complete coverage of the existing material was intended. Only a few special topics, those in which progress was most obvious in the last years, are dealt with. The book
235
236
ROOK REVIEWS
is thus subdivided into four sections: Ribonuclease, Chymotrypsin, Active Sites, and-although somewhat outside of the area covered by the title of the Symposium, a.ppropriately supplementing the other chapters-Hemoglobin. The reader is presented with a comprehensive picture of the problems treated at the time of the Symposium. Its organizers (F. Sanger and T. W. Goodwin) are to be congratulated on their choice of contributors. The personal participation of many of the world’s leading workers in the field (although the Symposium was organized by the European Federation, several invited speakers and participants in the ensuing discussion came from America) was one of the main attractions of this first Federation Meeting. The directness of approach and the personal experience of the speakers is still well reflected in this volume. Some of the papers contain important original material which, at least at the time of the Symposium, was still unpublished; this is especially true for the
papers dealing with chymotrypsin, The four main experimental approaches the combination of which holds most promise for the elucidation of the mechanism of enzyme catalysis, namely amino acid sequence analysis, X-ray studies of the protein structure, investigation of the effect of chemical modification of certain groups within the enzyme moIecule, and kinetic nnatysis of the enzyme catalyzed reactions, all are well illustrated by papers of leading workers in the field. Although the reading of review articles and progress reports might possibly offer a wider and fuller picture of this fascinating subject, the present volume offers the luxury of well-assorted first-hand information. It can be recommended to all people interested in enzymes, molecular biology, or biochemistry at large. The book is sturdily bound, well printed, and provides useful indexes; the price is reasonable. 0.
HOFFMANN-OBTENHOF, Vienna,
Austria
Book Reviews Triterpenes. Revised English by GUY OURWON, Professor of ChemUniversity of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, PIERRE CRABBY, Research Laboratories, S. A., Mexico City, Mexico; and OSCAR RODIG, Associa,te Professor of Chemistry, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. Editions Scientifique Hermann, Paris and HoldenDay Inc., San Francisco (1964). 237 pp. $8.75 Edgar Lederer is editing a French series of monographs on the Chemistry of Natural Products with the intention of providing treatises on relat,ively small groups of interrelated compounds written by outstanding active researchers in the relevant field. This book is the first to be translated into Engl,ish; and if subsequent publications are as lucid, the series will represent an important contribut,ion to natural products chemistry. The monograph is no mere translation of the 1961 French edition, but a revised, corrected, and well-written English version. In the general introduction the authors define the scope of their topic. Whle one may wish they would have included all triiterpenes (steroids excepted), it is appreciated that the book would have been twice as large and perhaps quite an unwieldy compilation. Natural occurrence is touched upon as befits a subject so well covered in various other texts as well as the catalogue of this book. Methods of isolation are briefly discussed, but historical aspects are omitted. The heart and most commendable chapter of the book is that on the reactions of the tetracyclic triterpenes. Here the authors’ approach has eonverted what could be a series of redundancies into an interesting skeletal dissection of the triterpene molecule. Rather than considering the chemistry of each compound separately, the chapters are subdivided into sections dealing with chemical reactions of ring A, rings B and C, ring D, the side chain, and the entire molecule as a unit. This treatment permitted a discussion of the chemistry of various compounds together, thereby graphiieally illustrating the effect of stereochemistry on reaction mechanisms. In addition, this approach affords a chapter which is a convenient source of chemical information concerning any particular section of the triterpene molecule, making the book a useful reference to chemists having other than terpene interests. The most disappointing section of the mono-
graph is that on biosynthesis, particularly in light of: (a) the editor’s awareness of this important common ground for organic and biochemists (cf. p. 9), and (b) a well-written 1959 review of the biosynthesis of tetracyclic triterpenes by one of the authors. For example, the statement that acetate or amino acid is converted to isopentenol (p. 116, line 4) is made without implicating leucine as the amino acid and creating the impression that isopentenol itself is an intermediate. The role of mevalonate as the first irreversible precursor is mentioned later. Furthermore, hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme A is not discussed in the text and is misnamed as mevaldic acid in the diagram on p, 117. The stereochemistry of squalene cyclization to lanosterol on p. 123 is oversimpli~ed. The catalogue and, particularly, the list of physical constants provides an excellent reference table for those interested in natural products isolation. The bibliography commendably avoids sending the reader to other reviews. This book is well-indexed and illustrated containing relatively few errors. It is hoped that Edgar Lederer can continue to edit monographs of this quality and that they will be conveyed to an appreciative Englishreading audience.
Tetracyclic
Edition istry, France; Syntex,
CARMINE J. COSCIA, St. Louis, Missouri Structure and Activity of Enzymes. Edited byT.W. GOODWIN, J.I. HARRIS,AND B.S. HARTLEY. Academic Press, New York (1964). 190 pp. $6.00 This volume respresents a compilation of lectures and discussion remarks given in a Symposium which took place during the first Meeting of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies in London, England, in March 1964. The subject of the Symposium is certainly one of the most fundamental problems of, what is now generally termed, molecular biology. The hope seems justified that, our rapidly increasing knowledge of chemical structure and configuration of enzymes will soon enable us to explain the details of the catalytic mechanism of enzyme action. In this Symposium, no complete coverage of the existing material was intended. Only a few special topics, those in which progress was most obvious in the last years, are dealt with. The book
235
236
ROOK REVIEWS
is thus subdivided into four sections: Ribonuclease, Chymotrypsin, Active Sites, and-although somewhat outside of the area covered by the title of the Symposium, a.ppropriately supplementing the other chapters-Hemoglobin. The reader is presented with a comprehensive picture of the problems treated at the time of the Symposium. Its organizers (F. Sanger and T. W. Goodwin) are to be congratulated on their choice of contributors. The personal participation of many of the world’s leading workers in the field (although the Symposium was organized by the European Federation, several invited speakers and participants in the ensuing discussion came from America) was one of the main attractions of this first Federation Meeting. The directness of approach and the personal experience of the speakers is still well reflected in this volume. Some of the papers contain important original material which, at least at the time of the Symposium, was still unpublished; this is especially true for the
papers dealing with chymotrypsin, The four main experimental approaches the combination of which holds most promise for the elucidation of the mechanism of enzyme catalysis, namely amino acid sequence analysis, X-ray studies of the protein structure, investigation of the effect of chemical modification of certain groups within the enzyme moIecule, and kinetic nnatysis of the enzyme catalyzed reactions, all are well illustrated by papers of leading workers in the field. Although the reading of review articles and progress reports might possibly offer a wider and fuller picture of this fascinating subject, the present volume offers the luxury of well-assorted first-hand information. It can be recommended to all people interested in enzymes, molecular biology, or biochemistry at large. The book is sturdily bound, well printed, and provides useful indexes; the price is reasonable. 0.
HOFFMANN-OBTENHOF, Vienna,
Austria