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A guidebook to biochemistry
73
A Guidebook to Biochemistry by M Y u d k i n and R Offord. pp 261. Cambridge University Press. 1980. £18 or £6.95 (pbk) ISBN 0-52]-23084-5 or 0-521-29794-X Yudkin and Offord, although necessarily simplistic in their treatment have nevertheless succeeded in covering many of the concepts most fundamental and crucial to the understanding of living chemistry. The central pathways of synthesis and degradation are exceptionally well covered and it is good to see in a basic text coverage of the importance of internal bonding in macromolecular structure, molecular mechanisms of enzyme action and energy coupling. However, ATP and other compounds with high group transfer potential are described as 'high energy' compounds (although in parentheses) and high energy squiggle bonds creep in occasioually. The authors make no claim at being comprehensive and it is easy to find fault in their omissions. In particular, there is no discussion of the biochemical mechanisms underlying the ability of organisms to perceive and respond to environmental influences. Thus the chemistry of nervous transmission is completely absent and the contractile process is only mentioned briefly. Aho missing, although by design, is any consideration of enzyme kinetics. This is obviously not the place for an extensive mathematical treatment, but the use of kinetics as an investigatory tool for discriminating between different modes of functioning of the enzymes would have proved useful in subsequent chapters on cellular control. Thus although end-product inhibition is adequately treated the more fundamental phenomenon of allnstery, which allows it, is not. The book, although supposedly an introduction to biochemistry assumes a considerable knowledge of organic chemistry. Thus there is no preliminary discussion of, eg the basic principles of bond formation, the functional significance of different chemical groups and the different types of reaction they can undertake. The text is divided into four sections covering structure and function of macromolecules, metabolism, molecular genetics and protein synthesis, and compartmentation and control. My main criticism is the subjective one of style! The first two sections are dull and matter-of-fact, resulting in very tediom reading and hcking completely the edge of excitement and the questioning attitude apparent at the end of section 3 and in section 4. Although this is partly a function of subject matter it may also be that they are played on an empty stage. They have no context in which to unwind and the format would have been considerably improved by a much earlier introduction to ceil structure and function. The book is also ridiculomly and prohibitively expensive in its hardback form, although the paperback version is more reasonable. It may prove useful to schoolchildren taking A-levels who are contemplating the study of biochemistry at higher levels, and also to undergraduates taking biochemistry as a minor component of their course. Cath Sanderson
Lipid Biochemistry-- an Introduction (Third Edition) by M I G u r r and A T James. pp 247. C h a p m a n & Hall Science Paperbacks. 1980. £12.50 or £6.50 (pbk) ISBN 0-412-22620-0 or 0-412-22630-8 (pbk) The first edition of what the authors described as 'this little book' was published in 1971. h provided an invaluable contribution to an area of biochemistry which lacked a good introductory book to recommend to undergraduates and postgraduates. It must have had an honoured place on many reading lists. The second edition in 1975 saw substantial improvements both in the areas covered and in the visual presentation of the material. In this third edition, the authors have done the impossible. They have enlarged and updated certain key sections without increasing the overall length of the book. This has been achieved by discardiug some parts which were previously too detailed or which contained speculations which have not stood the test of rime. This pruning and replacement has enabled the publishers to hold the price in real terms at a level which still enables students (and staff!) to purchase their own copy. The first chapter is a brief and dear introduction to lipids and also deals with the principles of the separation and analytical techniques used by BIOCHEMICAL
EDUCATION
9(2)
1981
lipid biochemists (I'm sure the fourth edition will need an extended section on HPLC). This is followed logically in the second chapter by an excellent account of the structure, biosynthesis and catabolism of fatty acids. Our understanding of the structure of fatty acid synthetase has undergone a revolution since the second edition was published, and the newer concept of multicatadytic polypeptide chains is fully dealt with. The section on the mechanism of desamration of fatty acids has been rewritten in the light of recent research, and a new section deals with the roles of thromboxanes and prostacyclins. There is also an interesting new section on the short- and long-term control of fatty acid biosynthesis, and the authors have now included the peroxisomal oxidation of fatty acids. The role of fatty acid binding proteins has been introduced into the chapter on the structure and metabolism of neutral lipids, and the impetus given to metabolic studies by better lipid separation techniques has been stressed. A well written section on the integration and control of glyceride metabolism makes a welcome appearance. There have been fewer changes to the chapters on the structure, metabolism and analysis of phospholipids, glycolipids and sulpbolipids or to the chapter on the association of lipids and proteins in serum and membrane lipoproteins and on bacterial cell wall lipopolysaccharides. Additions include specific receptor sites for low density lipoproteins, the asymmetric distribution of lipids in membranes, and the use of probes to measure molecular motion in membranes. The emphasis of the last chapter on lipids in nutrition, health and disease has been altered to allow for sections on lipids in obesity and diabetes, immunoregulation, and in cancer. In short, an excellent introduction to the subject. As one final-year biochemist remarked 'It's the first book on lipids which I've understood and enjoyed reading'. The reviewer looks forward to the fourth edition. Raymond Dils
Department of PhFsioio&yand Biochemistry University of Readin&, UK
Colchicin, Untersuchungen zur Biochemie von Colchicin-Allmloidan b y M Schtnharting. pp 56. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart. 1980. DM12 ISBN 3-.800-18159-2 The reader of this booklet should not expect a textbook or a laboratory manual about colchicine and its use in cell biology or biochemistry. This work is one of a series of publications from the University of Hohenheim, it is the thesis for the habilitation of the author (ie the thesis qualifying him to lecture in a university). This is the reason why the text is arranged as a scientific paper with the emphasis on experimental results and a final discussion. The introduction reviews the structure and function of colchicine. The author states his view that it is still unknown whether colchicineor one of its metabolites mediates the biological action of this ~lk~loid at the molecular level. Hence it follows that the experimental work deals mainly with the analysis of the metabolism of coichicine and with the biological action of some of its metabolites, especially 01°-demethyl-colchicine (colchiceine). In contrast to colchicine, colchiceine was found m bind to membranes (from erythrocyte ghosts) and to interact with sulphydryl groups (colchiceine protects reduced glutathione agaimt autoxidation). Surprisingly, no binding ofcolchiceine to mbulin was observed in t,i~,e. Since, on the other hand, colchiceine effectively interfered with an established micrombulemediated effect (the fast axoual tramport of proteins) the author generally cautions against any conclusions which might be drawn from the reactivity of a compound with mbulin and an inhibitory action of this substance on transport processes where microtuboli are involved. This reasoning is taken up again in the final discussion under the heading: colchiceine, facts and hypotheses. This concludes a book which is a summary (in German) of mostly published data compiled for this thesis. To sum up, the reader will find an adequate ue.atment of the literature (270 references) related to the metabolism of culchicine. In its experimental part the book treats one of the questions arising from the study of colcbicine metabolism: a comparison of this llhloid with one of its metabolites in terms of biochemical reactivity and biological effects. Detlef Doenecke
Physiologisch-Chemischeslnstitut Philipps.Universit~t, l.~hnberge Marburg/Lahn, WestGerm~y
A Guidebook to Biochemistry by M Y u d k i n and R Offord. pp 261. Cambridge University Press. 1980. £18 or £6.95 (pbk) ISBN 0-52]-23084-5 or 0-521-29794-X Yudkin and Offord, although necessarily simplistic in their treatment have nevertheless succeeded in covering many of the concepts most fundamental and crucial to the understanding of living chemistry. The central pathways of synthesis and degradation are exceptionally well covered and it is good to see in a basic text coverage of the importance of internal bonding in macromolecular structure, molecular mechanisms of enzyme action and energy coupling. However, ATP and other compounds with high group transfer potential are described as 'high energy' compounds (although in parentheses) and high energy squiggle bonds creep in occasioually. The authors make no claim at being comprehensive and it is easy to find fault in their omissions. In particular, there is no discussion of the biochemical mechanisms underlying the ability of organisms to perceive and respond to environmental influences. Thus the chemistry of nervous transmission is completely absent and the contractile process is only mentioned briefly. Aho missing, although by design, is any consideration of enzyme kinetics. This is obviously not the place for an extensive mathematical treatment, but the use of kinetics as an investigatory tool for discriminating between different modes of functioning of the enzymes would have proved useful in subsequent chapters on cellular control. Thus although end-product inhibition is adequately treated the more fundamental phenomenon of allnstery, which allows it, is not. The book, although supposedly an introduction to biochemistry assumes a considerable knowledge of organic chemistry. Thus there is no preliminary discussion of, eg the basic principles of bond formation, the functional significance of different chemical groups and the different types of reaction they can undertake. The text is divided into four sections covering structure and function of macromolecules, metabolism, molecular genetics and protein synthesis, and compartmentation and control. My main criticism is the subjective one of style! The first two sections are dull and matter-of-fact, resulting in very tediom reading and hcking completely the edge of excitement and the questioning attitude apparent at the end of section 3 and in section 4. Although this is partly a function of subject matter it may also be that they are played on an empty stage. They have no context in which to unwind and the format would have been considerably improved by a much earlier introduction to ceil structure and function. The book is also ridiculomly and prohibitively expensive in its hardback form, although the paperback version is more reasonable. It may prove useful to schoolchildren taking A-levels who are contemplating the study of biochemistry at higher levels, and also to undergraduates taking biochemistry as a minor component of their course. Cath Sanderson
Lipid Biochemistry-- an Introduction (Third Edition) by M I G u r r and A T James. pp 247. C h a p m a n & Hall Science Paperbacks. 1980. £12.50 or £6.50 (pbk) ISBN 0-412-22620-0 or 0-412-22630-8 (pbk) The first edition of what the authors described as 'this little book' was published in 1971. h provided an invaluable contribution to an area of biochemistry which lacked a good introductory book to recommend to undergraduates and postgraduates. It must have had an honoured place on many reading lists. The second edition in 1975 saw substantial improvements both in the areas covered and in the visual presentation of the material. In this third edition, the authors have done the impossible. They have enlarged and updated certain key sections without increasing the overall length of the book. This has been achieved by discardiug some parts which were previously too detailed or which contained speculations which have not stood the test of rime. This pruning and replacement has enabled the publishers to hold the price in real terms at a level which still enables students (and staff!) to purchase their own copy. The first chapter is a brief and dear introduction to lipids and also deals with the principles of the separation and analytical techniques used by BIOCHEMICAL
EDUCATION
9(2)
1981
lipid biochemists (I'm sure the fourth edition will need an extended section on HPLC). This is followed logically in the second chapter by an excellent account of the structure, biosynthesis and catabolism of fatty acids. Our understanding of the structure of fatty acid synthetase has undergone a revolution since the second edition was published, and the newer concept of multicatadytic polypeptide chains is fully dealt with. The section on the mechanism of desamration of fatty acids has been rewritten in the light of recent research, and a new section deals with the roles of thromboxanes and prostacyclins. There is also an interesting new section on the short- and long-term control of fatty acid biosynthesis, and the authors have now included the peroxisomal oxidation of fatty acids. The role of fatty acid binding proteins has been introduced into the chapter on the structure and metabolism of neutral lipids, and the impetus given to metabolic studies by better lipid separation techniques has been stressed. A well written section on the integration and control of glyceride metabolism makes a welcome appearance. There have been fewer changes to the chapters on the structure, metabolism and analysis of phospholipids, glycolipids and sulpbolipids or to the chapter on the association of lipids and proteins in serum and membrane lipoproteins and on bacterial cell wall lipopolysaccharides. Additions include specific receptor sites for low density lipoproteins, the asymmetric distribution of lipids in membranes, and the use of probes to measure molecular motion in membranes. The emphasis of the last chapter on lipids in nutrition, health and disease has been altered to allow for sections on lipids in obesity and diabetes, immunoregulation, and in cancer. In short, an excellent introduction to the subject. As one final-year biochemist remarked 'It's the first book on lipids which I've understood and enjoyed reading'. The reviewer looks forward to the fourth edition. Raymond Dils
Department of PhFsioio&yand Biochemistry University of Readin&, UK
Colchicin, Untersuchungen zur Biochemie von Colchicin-Allmloidan b y M Schtnharting. pp 56. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart. 1980. DM12 ISBN 3-.800-18159-2 The reader of this booklet should not expect a textbook or a laboratory manual about colchicine and its use in cell biology or biochemistry. This work is one of a series of publications from the University of Hohenheim, it is the thesis for the habilitation of the author (ie the thesis qualifying him to lecture in a university). This is the reason why the text is arranged as a scientific paper with the emphasis on experimental results and a final discussion. The introduction reviews the structure and function of colchicine. The author states his view that it is still unknown whether colchicineor one of its metabolites mediates the biological action of this ~lk~loid at the molecular level. Hence it follows that the experimental work deals mainly with the analysis of the metabolism of coichicine and with the biological action of some of its metabolites, especially 01°-demethyl-colchicine (colchiceine). In contrast to colchicine, colchiceine was found m bind to membranes (from erythrocyte ghosts) and to interact with sulphydryl groups (colchiceine protects reduced glutathione agaimt autoxidation). Surprisingly, no binding ofcolchiceine to mbulin was observed in t,i~,e. Since, on the other hand, colchiceine effectively interfered with an established micrombulemediated effect (the fast axoual tramport of proteins) the author generally cautions against any conclusions which might be drawn from the reactivity of a compound with mbulin and an inhibitory action of this substance on transport processes where microtuboli are involved. This reasoning is taken up again in the final discussion under the heading: colchiceine, facts and hypotheses. This concludes a book which is a summary (in German) of mostly published data compiled for this thesis. To sum up, the reader will find an adequate ue.atment of the literature (270 references) related to the metabolism of culchicine. In its experimental part the book treats one of the questions arising from the study of colcbicine metabolism: a comparison of this llhloid with one of its metabolites in terms of biochemical reactivity and biological effects. Detlef Doenecke
Physiologisch-Chemischeslnstitut Philipps.Universit~t, l.~hnberge Marburg/Lahn, WestGerm~y