- Email: [email protected]
A symposium on the mechanism of enzyme action
254
BOOK
REVIEWS
discussed by one of the leading exponents of this most recent of biophysical techniques. Iii the chromatographic separation of the steroids of the adrenal gland, W. J. Haines and J. N. Karnemaat stress practice rather than theory, for the benefit of the novice in this field, for whom techniques from widely dispersed sources are made available. In a chapter on the analysis of mixtures of sugars by paper and cellulose column chromatography, L. Hough illustrates the efficiency of this method for the separation of closely related compounds. Chromatographic analysis of radioactive iodine compounds from the thyroid gland and body fluids, by J. Roche, S. Lissiteky, and R. Michel, brings the reader up to date in the use of a tool which has made possible rapid advances in metabolic studies of many kinds. The chemical estimation of choline, in its various forms, by R. W. Engel, W. D. Salmon, and C. J. Ackerman; and the estimation of nucleic acids, by E. Volkin and W. E. Cohn; cover work on biological compounds the interest in which has recently been heightened by analytical developments. Of more specialized interest (to the sugar industry) is the review of H. C. S. de Whalley and D. Gross on the determination of raffinose and kestose in plant products. B. L. Strehler and J. R. Totter outline the determination of adenosine triphosphate and related compounds by firefly luminescence and other methods, with preference accorded to the former. The assay of catalases and peroxidases is treated in an exhaustive review by A. C. Maehly and B. Chance, with over 409 references cited, although much of what is ultimately recommended to the reader is based on the latter author’s own outstanding work in this field. S. Tolksdorf’s chapder on the in vitro determination of hyaluronidase likewise points up the numerous variables which must be controlled in quantitative work on enzyme-substrate systems and reactions. Ultracentrifugal analysis of serum lipoproteins, by 0. F. de Lalla and J. W. Gofman, is a carefully detailed account of a technique which has recently advanced our knowledge of this most important class of basic biological substances. An important aid in certain endocrinological studies is presented by L. L. Engel in a consideration of the methods of assay of urinary neutral 17-ketosteroids. The titles of the topics reveal the timeliness of this work, which comprises, for the most part, critical, authoritative evaluations of experimental, in addition to analytical, operations rather than an enumeration, in summary style, of references to the literature. In reading from chapter to chapter, one is impressed by the extent to which the newest of techniques has taken its place in the armamentarium of the biochemist. Thus, with the exception of two topics concerned with biological asaay, of two based on physical methods, and of two concerned with enzyme reactions and analysis, in the remaining eleven chromatography appears in all but two. It is also quite apparent that the general excellence of this work sets a high standard for future contributors to this series of reviews. JULIUS SENDROY,JR., Bethesda, Maryland
A Symposium on the Mechanism of Enzyme Action. Edited by WILLIAM D. MCELROYANDBENTLEYGLASS.The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, Maryland, 1954. xvi + 819 pp. Price $11.90. Participants of a symposium are expected to present their own contributions
BOOK
REVIEWS
255
to the progress in a certain field and do not have to attempt to give an objective survey. The function of a symposium is thus to give a kaleidoscopic picture of a sector of science, through the more or less colored viewpoints of the various authors. The richer these colors are, the better the picture, and the more stimulating is the symposium. Regarded from this viewpoint, the Symposium on the Mechanism of Enzyme Action, held at The Johns Hopkins University, under the sponsorship of the McCollum-Pratt Institute, was a considerable success. This was to be expected judging from t’he list of participants, and its value was greatly enhanced by the interesting and often critical discussions, which have followed each report, and which are fortunately included in this collection. The total of 26 papers is conveniently divided into five sections : I. “Protein Configuration and Biological Activity” (with an introduction by M. Heidelberger, and papers by J. G. Kirkwood, R. M. Herriott, H. Neurath et al., and W. Kauzmann). II. “Kinetics of Enzyme-Catalyzed Reactions” (with H. Eyring et al., H. B. Bull, and J. S. Friedenwald and G. D. Maengwyn-Davies). III. “The Function of Metals in Enzyme Catalysis” (with M. Calvin, I. M. Klots, and E. L. Smith et a2.). IV. “The Mechanism of Electron and Hydrogen Transport” (with B. Vennesland and F. H. Westheimer, and B. Chance and R. R. Fergusson). V. “The Function of Enzymes in Group Transfer” (with F. Lipmann, E. Racker, S. F. Velick, P. D. Boyer and H. L. Segal, I. C. Gunsalus, E. R. Stadtman, D. E. Koshland, Jr., I. B. Wilson, P. D. Boyer and W. H. Harrison, and H. M. Kalckar). These five sections adequately cover some of the major trends on today’s frontiers of enzymology. The main impression remaining with this reviewer was the increasing shift from the empiricism of the early days to an ever-mounting application of physical chemistry. The latter provides a variety of highly specialized techniques and instrumentation, but even more imporant, it provides the essent,ial mathematical background for the proper understanding of many phenomena. In ultimate analysis, with the better characterization and successful isolation of many enzyme systems, the problems of mechanism of enzyme action become identified with problems of protein structure. This is well evident from the first three sections of the Symposium, in whioh enzyme and protein chemistry tend to merge asymptotically. The progress in the first field is therefore necessarily limited by our knowledge in the second. The problems whi’ch have received particular attention are interactions of enzymes and proteins with other proteins, enzymesubstrates and ions, protein denaturation, and analysis of the kinetics of enzyme action. The fourth section deals with the mechanism of oxidation-reduction in inorganic and organic chemistry, as well as in biological systems. Most impressive is the discussion of these reactions in living cells, the study of which, by means of rapid spectrophotometric recording, has given us some insight into the chemistry of living matter. The fifth section elaborates on enzyme-catalyzed group transfers which are certainly at present the most rapidly growing branch of enzymology. Just the bare enumeration of the topics, such as acyl and carbonyl complexes, lipoic acid, ace-
256
BOOK
REVIEWS
tylimidazole, acetylcholinesterase, ATP and protein synthesis, transglycosidation and phosphate transfer, should be sufhcient to illustrate the scope of these reports. This collection will be useful to advanced students in enzymology and biochemistry, as well as to serve as a reference book for the research worker. It can be considered as a valuable appendix to the now indispensable volumes of Advances in Enzymology. Only one mild criticism may be recorded. This reader would have preferred to find a summary at the end of each report, instead of the over-all summary at the end of the volume, though it was painstakingly assembled by Bentley Glass. M. BIER, New York, New York
Spot Tests. By FRITZ FEIGL, Professor at the University of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro. (Translated by R. E. Oesper.) Elsevier Publishing Co. Amsterdam, 1954. Vol. I. Inorganic Applications. xii + 518 pp. Price $6.56. Vol. II. Organic Applications. xvi f 436 pp. Price $6.25. Ever since 1931 when the first edition of Feigl’s Spot Tests was published, it has been a pleasant surprise whenever this author brought out,a new textbook concerned with methods of specific, selective, and special reactions. The new book is the fourth completely revised edition of Spot Tests. The immense material was divided into an inorganic and an organic part. In his preface, Feigl states that this is not a textbook for beginners, but that it is meant for advanced students and independent research workers. This reviewer is of the opinion that all chemistsirrespective of their specialization-should study the book, preferably by a method not universally subscribed to, namely by opening it at random and going over a few pages of fascinating description of unusual, or at least not commonplace reactions. From the text we learned that Hugo Schiff should be considered an important pioneer of the chromatographic technique, preceding Schoenbein and Goppelsroeder. We are furthermore told that, according to Clarke and Hermance, the sensitivity of spot tests on filter paper is enhanced if the filter paper is impregnated with an insoluble reagent such as an ion donor. Special attention should be paid to the differentiation between complexing and masking reactions as developed by Feigl. The chapter on “Spot Test Techniques” is vividly descriptive. Our knowledge of inorganic chemistry is also brought up to date when we learn that the bluish tint in the nonluminous flame of a Bunsen burner appearing if Hz is developed from a solution of Sn compounds, is not due to the formation of tin hydride. Another fact mentioned, to be remembered, is a decrease in pH taking place in mixing certain metal oxides with alkali and mannitol. The catalytic action of MO in the discoloration of methylene blue by reducing agents is explained by rapid reduction of Movr to MoV and reoxidation of the latter to MoV’. Sources of errors in the identification of phosphoric acid are traced to the formation of yellow thallous phosphomolybdate. Identification of Ba or HsS04 by a precipitate of BaSOc of stable violet color from a solution containing permanganate is among the less familiar reactions. This phenomenon is due to the inclusion of permanganate in the lattice. The precipitability of Ca as insoluble calcium ammonium
BOOK
REVIEWS
discussed by one of the leading exponents of this most recent of biophysical techniques. Iii the chromatographic separation of the steroids of the adrenal gland, W. J. Haines and J. N. Karnemaat stress practice rather than theory, for the benefit of the novice in this field, for whom techniques from widely dispersed sources are made available. In a chapter on the analysis of mixtures of sugars by paper and cellulose column chromatography, L. Hough illustrates the efficiency of this method for the separation of closely related compounds. Chromatographic analysis of radioactive iodine compounds from the thyroid gland and body fluids, by J. Roche, S. Lissiteky, and R. Michel, brings the reader up to date in the use of a tool which has made possible rapid advances in metabolic studies of many kinds. The chemical estimation of choline, in its various forms, by R. W. Engel, W. D. Salmon, and C. J. Ackerman; and the estimation of nucleic acids, by E. Volkin and W. E. Cohn; cover work on biological compounds the interest in which has recently been heightened by analytical developments. Of more specialized interest (to the sugar industry) is the review of H. C. S. de Whalley and D. Gross on the determination of raffinose and kestose in plant products. B. L. Strehler and J. R. Totter outline the determination of adenosine triphosphate and related compounds by firefly luminescence and other methods, with preference accorded to the former. The assay of catalases and peroxidases is treated in an exhaustive review by A. C. Maehly and B. Chance, with over 409 references cited, although much of what is ultimately recommended to the reader is based on the latter author’s own outstanding work in this field. S. Tolksdorf’s chapder on the in vitro determination of hyaluronidase likewise points up the numerous variables which must be controlled in quantitative work on enzyme-substrate systems and reactions. Ultracentrifugal analysis of serum lipoproteins, by 0. F. de Lalla and J. W. Gofman, is a carefully detailed account of a technique which has recently advanced our knowledge of this most important class of basic biological substances. An important aid in certain endocrinological studies is presented by L. L. Engel in a consideration of the methods of assay of urinary neutral 17-ketosteroids. The titles of the topics reveal the timeliness of this work, which comprises, for the most part, critical, authoritative evaluations of experimental, in addition to analytical, operations rather than an enumeration, in summary style, of references to the literature. In reading from chapter to chapter, one is impressed by the extent to which the newest of techniques has taken its place in the armamentarium of the biochemist. Thus, with the exception of two topics concerned with biological asaay, of two based on physical methods, and of two concerned with enzyme reactions and analysis, in the remaining eleven chromatography appears in all but two. It is also quite apparent that the general excellence of this work sets a high standard for future contributors to this series of reviews. JULIUS SENDROY,JR., Bethesda, Maryland
A Symposium on the Mechanism of Enzyme Action. Edited by WILLIAM D. MCELROYANDBENTLEYGLASS.The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, Maryland, 1954. xvi + 819 pp. Price $11.90. Participants of a symposium are expected to present their own contributions
BOOK
REVIEWS
255
to the progress in a certain field and do not have to attempt to give an objective survey. The function of a symposium is thus to give a kaleidoscopic picture of a sector of science, through the more or less colored viewpoints of the various authors. The richer these colors are, the better the picture, and the more stimulating is the symposium. Regarded from this viewpoint, the Symposium on the Mechanism of Enzyme Action, held at The Johns Hopkins University, under the sponsorship of the McCollum-Pratt Institute, was a considerable success. This was to be expected judging from t’he list of participants, and its value was greatly enhanced by the interesting and often critical discussions, which have followed each report, and which are fortunately included in this collection. The total of 26 papers is conveniently divided into five sections : I. “Protein Configuration and Biological Activity” (with an introduction by M. Heidelberger, and papers by J. G. Kirkwood, R. M. Herriott, H. Neurath et al., and W. Kauzmann). II. “Kinetics of Enzyme-Catalyzed Reactions” (with H. Eyring et al., H. B. Bull, and J. S. Friedenwald and G. D. Maengwyn-Davies). III. “The Function of Metals in Enzyme Catalysis” (with M. Calvin, I. M. Klots, and E. L. Smith et a2.). IV. “The Mechanism of Electron and Hydrogen Transport” (with B. Vennesland and F. H. Westheimer, and B. Chance and R. R. Fergusson). V. “The Function of Enzymes in Group Transfer” (with F. Lipmann, E. Racker, S. F. Velick, P. D. Boyer and H. L. Segal, I. C. Gunsalus, E. R. Stadtman, D. E. Koshland, Jr., I. B. Wilson, P. D. Boyer and W. H. Harrison, and H. M. Kalckar). These five sections adequately cover some of the major trends on today’s frontiers of enzymology. The main impression remaining with this reviewer was the increasing shift from the empiricism of the early days to an ever-mounting application of physical chemistry. The latter provides a variety of highly specialized techniques and instrumentation, but even more imporant, it provides the essent,ial mathematical background for the proper understanding of many phenomena. In ultimate analysis, with the better characterization and successful isolation of many enzyme systems, the problems of mechanism of enzyme action become identified with problems of protein structure. This is well evident from the first three sections of the Symposium, in whioh enzyme and protein chemistry tend to merge asymptotically. The progress in the first field is therefore necessarily limited by our knowledge in the second. The problems whi’ch have received particular attention are interactions of enzymes and proteins with other proteins, enzymesubstrates and ions, protein denaturation, and analysis of the kinetics of enzyme action. The fourth section deals with the mechanism of oxidation-reduction in inorganic and organic chemistry, as well as in biological systems. Most impressive is the discussion of these reactions in living cells, the study of which, by means of rapid spectrophotometric recording, has given us some insight into the chemistry of living matter. The fifth section elaborates on enzyme-catalyzed group transfers which are certainly at present the most rapidly growing branch of enzymology. Just the bare enumeration of the topics, such as acyl and carbonyl complexes, lipoic acid, ace-
256
BOOK
REVIEWS
tylimidazole, acetylcholinesterase, ATP and protein synthesis, transglycosidation and phosphate transfer, should be sufhcient to illustrate the scope of these reports. This collection will be useful to advanced students in enzymology and biochemistry, as well as to serve as a reference book for the research worker. It can be considered as a valuable appendix to the now indispensable volumes of Advances in Enzymology. Only one mild criticism may be recorded. This reader would have preferred to find a summary at the end of each report, instead of the over-all summary at the end of the volume, though it was painstakingly assembled by Bentley Glass. M. BIER, New York, New York
Spot Tests. By FRITZ FEIGL, Professor at the University of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro. (Translated by R. E. Oesper.) Elsevier Publishing Co. Amsterdam, 1954. Vol. I. Inorganic Applications. xii + 518 pp. Price $6.56. Vol. II. Organic Applications. xvi f 436 pp. Price $6.25. Ever since 1931 when the first edition of Feigl’s Spot Tests was published, it has been a pleasant surprise whenever this author brought out,a new textbook concerned with methods of specific, selective, and special reactions. The new book is the fourth completely revised edition of Spot Tests. The immense material was divided into an inorganic and an organic part. In his preface, Feigl states that this is not a textbook for beginners, but that it is meant for advanced students and independent research workers. This reviewer is of the opinion that all chemistsirrespective of their specialization-should study the book, preferably by a method not universally subscribed to, namely by opening it at random and going over a few pages of fascinating description of unusual, or at least not commonplace reactions. From the text we learned that Hugo Schiff should be considered an important pioneer of the chromatographic technique, preceding Schoenbein and Goppelsroeder. We are furthermore told that, according to Clarke and Hermance, the sensitivity of spot tests on filter paper is enhanced if the filter paper is impregnated with an insoluble reagent such as an ion donor. Special attention should be paid to the differentiation between complexing and masking reactions as developed by Feigl. The chapter on “Spot Test Techniques” is vividly descriptive. Our knowledge of inorganic chemistry is also brought up to date when we learn that the bluish tint in the nonluminous flame of a Bunsen burner appearing if Hz is developed from a solution of Sn compounds, is not due to the formation of tin hydride. Another fact mentioned, to be remembered, is a decrease in pH taking place in mixing certain metal oxides with alkali and mannitol. The catalytic action of MO in the discoloration of methylene blue by reducing agents is explained by rapid reduction of Movr to MoV and reoxidation of the latter to MoV’. Sources of errors in the identification of phosphoric acid are traced to the formation of yellow thallous phosphomolybdate. Identification of Ba or HsS04 by a precipitate of BaSOc of stable violet color from a solution containing permanganate is among the less familiar reactions. This phenomenon is due to the inclusion of permanganate in the lattice. The precipitability of Ca as insoluble calcium ammonium