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Cell Biology: Structure, Biochemistry and Function
154
Cell Biology: Structure, Biochemistry and Function by Phillip Scheeler and Donald Bianchi. pp 578. J o h n Wiley and Sons, N e w York. 1980 1SBN 0-471-78220-3 The molecular approach to biology, the dominant one during the past three decades or so, has supplied the unifying principles on which our present understanding of the functioning of living systems rests. Where biochemistry, physiology, cytology, and genetics were once well circumscribed discplines because their common ground was so poorly understood, the disciplines of cell biology, molecular biology, cell physiology, and biochemistry, all of which seek explanations for living phenomena at a molecular or chemical level, today overlap to such an extent that their boundaries, if they exist at all, are often indistinct. Cell biology views cells in terms of the molecules of which they are composed and on which their activities depend. It is very concerned with nucleic acids and proteins (because of their primary roles in the transfer and expression of information), with enzymes (as the agents of chemical change) and with lipids (as components of membranous structures). It is of necessity very 'biochemical'. For several years, I have been impressed by the amount of'biochemical' information (ie the type of material one expects to find in a textbook of biochemistry) to be found in recent textbooks of this discipline. I have in mind the books by De Robertis, Saez and De Robertis (1975, sixth edition, W B Saunders Company) and by Dyson (1974, Allyn and Bacon Inc). This impression has been further strengthened by two others that have recently joined the ranks, that by Flickinger, Brown, Kutchai, and Ogilvie (1979, W B Saunders Company) and the one under review here. Scheeler and Bianchi are professors of biology at California State University, Northridge. Their book is 'written for junior and senior level courses in cell biology, molecular biology and cell physiology'. It considers 'in some detail the fine structure of eucaryotic and procaryotic cells (and viruses), the chemical composition and organization of cells, cell metabolism and bioenergetics, and for each major cell organelle or structural component, its particular molecular and supermolecular organization and its functions'. It is assumed that students will have had courses in introductory biology and introductory chemistry. The book is divided into five parts: (1) Cells and Cell Growth (60 pp); (2) Molecular Constituents of Cells (77 pp); (3) Cell Metabolism (78 pp); (4) Tools and Methods of Cell Biology (63 pp); and (5) Structure and Function of the Major Cell Organelles (254 pp). A quick survey of the chapter contents and of the illustrative material reveals that approximately two-thirds of the book describes biochemical topics. Each chapter ends with a list of references and suggested reading of which about one-third of the total are to articles from Scientific American. My overall impression is that the book is very good in the cell biology areas. The chapters in Parts 1 and 4 and most of those in Part 5 reveal the experience of the authors as cell biologists. However, there are far too many trivial errors in the areas of biochemistry. Thus, the pH of human blood is given as 6.7 (p 69), AMP, ADP and ATP are described as mono-, di- and tri-nucleotides (p 71), the alpha chain of haemoglobin as consisting of two cysteine residues (p 92), disulfide bridges of ribonuclease as being broken by concentrated urea or guanidine (p 95), hydrolases as catalysing reactions in which water is either added to or removed from the reactant(s) (p 144), feedback inhibition as a type of competitive inhibition and feedback inhibition as a special form of allosterism (p 151), the catalase and peroxidase reactions as being identical (p 162), ribose-5-phosphate, ribulose-5-phosphate and xylulose-5phosphate as being incorporated into nucleic acids (p 194), triglycerides as being formed by condensation of fatty acyl-CoA with dihydroxy acetone phosphate (p 199), induction of tryptophan 2,3 oxygenase in vertebrate liver cells as requiring many hours (p 218), many procaryotic mRNAs as containing poly A sequences (p 270), 'pyrimidine-linked dehydrogenases' as participating in the electron transport system (p 362), etc. Several tables of biochemical information are jumbled up or contain misleading entries, while a number of diagrams are either mislabelled or contain misleading material. A course based on this text would inevitably have a strong biochemical bias. It may also be the only formal exposure that students have to the discipline and subject matter of biochemistry. Because of this, the weaknesses in the biochemical content become significant. Without doubt, they could easily have been spotted and eliminated by close editorial scrutiny. Their elimination would have enhanced the value of a text which is profusely and colourfuUy illustrated, is well planned and designed and which has many commendable features. F VeUa BIOCHEMICAL
EDUCATION
9(4)
1981
Principles of Biological Chemistry (Second Edition) by David S Page. pp. 454. Wiltard Grant Press, Boston, U S A . 1981 ISBN 0-87150-740-4 The present edition of this small book is much more attractive than its predecessor. About eighty pages longer, it contains added material on a variety of topics of interest to students in the life sciences. These include: vitamins and coenzymes; applications of enzymes in clinical diagnosis and in food technology; enzyme inhibitors as drugs; glycoproteins and blood group substances; digestion and absorption of foodstuffs; viruses; blood proteins; plasma lipoproteins; steroid hormones; prostaglandins; human nutrition; and inborn errors of metabolism. However, most of these topics are presented at a rather simple level. Though a lot of material is carried over from the first edition, this version is much better organized and much clearer mainly as a result of a two-colour format and the effective use of italics, heavy print and bold subheadings. The book is intended for the diverse, but large, group of students required to take an introductory course in biological chemistry, and to supply a concise text that relates basic concepts of general and organic chemistry to the chemistry of living cells. The author has met these objectives well, especially if the 'concise' aspect is emphasized. Thirteen chapters are grouped into three parts concerned, respectively, with the molecules of living systems, the generation of energy and the utilization of energy. They are well and attractively illustrated. There are many cross-references between chapters. Clarity, readability and brevity characterize most sections, though at times brevity invites superficiality. Each chapter contains a list of suggestions for further reading. Most of these are to articles from Scientific American (one chapter lists almost a score of these) or to standard and larger textbooks of biochemistry (usually to Lehninger, White et al, and Metzler). Problems and review questions are also included. Answers to problems, a glossary, and a background review of organic chemistry (nearly eight pages long) are supplied in appendices. The index covers nine pages only. Students majoring in non-science areas who are required to take an introductory (especially a one-semester) course in biochemistry should find this book appealing. It may also be useful to those contemplating careers in the human health professions. Sufficient material is presented, without going into too much detail, to provide an understanding of the basic principles of biochemistry. Serious students will find themselves seeking further information from the more recent of the references in the suggestions to further reading sections. F Vella
Department of Biochemistry University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Canada
Multi-functional Proteins Edited by H Bisswanger and E Schmincke-Ott. Wiley-Interscience, Chichester, U K . 1980. £21.25 I S B N 0-471-04270-6
pp 333.
The aim of this book was to provide a summary of typical behaviour of multi-functional proteins, that is, proteins which possess more than a single type of biological function. After a general introductory chapter, the monograph consists of chapters dealing with specific enzymes and enzyme complexes, namely aspartokinases, anthranilate synthase, tryptophan synthase, DNA polymerase, fatty acid synthetase, and gramicidin synthetase. Additionally, there is a discussion of chimaeras induced artifically by genetic fusions, and sections on amphipathic proteins, ADP-ribosylating exotoxins, and the multi-functional properties of antibodies. Each of the chapters is in effect a research review, and presents a summary of detailed knowledge on the particular topic, with extensive reference lists. It is likely to be of use to biochemists actually involved in the particular fields rather than to the more general reader. D G Dalgleish The Hannah Research Institute Ayr, Scotland, UK
Cell Biology: Structure, Biochemistry and Function by Phillip Scheeler and Donald Bianchi. pp 578. J o h n Wiley and Sons, N e w York. 1980 1SBN 0-471-78220-3 The molecular approach to biology, the dominant one during the past three decades or so, has supplied the unifying principles on which our present understanding of the functioning of living systems rests. Where biochemistry, physiology, cytology, and genetics were once well circumscribed discplines because their common ground was so poorly understood, the disciplines of cell biology, molecular biology, cell physiology, and biochemistry, all of which seek explanations for living phenomena at a molecular or chemical level, today overlap to such an extent that their boundaries, if they exist at all, are often indistinct. Cell biology views cells in terms of the molecules of which they are composed and on which their activities depend. It is very concerned with nucleic acids and proteins (because of their primary roles in the transfer and expression of information), with enzymes (as the agents of chemical change) and with lipids (as components of membranous structures). It is of necessity very 'biochemical'. For several years, I have been impressed by the amount of'biochemical' information (ie the type of material one expects to find in a textbook of biochemistry) to be found in recent textbooks of this discipline. I have in mind the books by De Robertis, Saez and De Robertis (1975, sixth edition, W B Saunders Company) and by Dyson (1974, Allyn and Bacon Inc). This impression has been further strengthened by two others that have recently joined the ranks, that by Flickinger, Brown, Kutchai, and Ogilvie (1979, W B Saunders Company) and the one under review here. Scheeler and Bianchi are professors of biology at California State University, Northridge. Their book is 'written for junior and senior level courses in cell biology, molecular biology and cell physiology'. It considers 'in some detail the fine structure of eucaryotic and procaryotic cells (and viruses), the chemical composition and organization of cells, cell metabolism and bioenergetics, and for each major cell organelle or structural component, its particular molecular and supermolecular organization and its functions'. It is assumed that students will have had courses in introductory biology and introductory chemistry. The book is divided into five parts: (1) Cells and Cell Growth (60 pp); (2) Molecular Constituents of Cells (77 pp); (3) Cell Metabolism (78 pp); (4) Tools and Methods of Cell Biology (63 pp); and (5) Structure and Function of the Major Cell Organelles (254 pp). A quick survey of the chapter contents and of the illustrative material reveals that approximately two-thirds of the book describes biochemical topics. Each chapter ends with a list of references and suggested reading of which about one-third of the total are to articles from Scientific American. My overall impression is that the book is very good in the cell biology areas. The chapters in Parts 1 and 4 and most of those in Part 5 reveal the experience of the authors as cell biologists. However, there are far too many trivial errors in the areas of biochemistry. Thus, the pH of human blood is given as 6.7 (p 69), AMP, ADP and ATP are described as mono-, di- and tri-nucleotides (p 71), the alpha chain of haemoglobin as consisting of two cysteine residues (p 92), disulfide bridges of ribonuclease as being broken by concentrated urea or guanidine (p 95), hydrolases as catalysing reactions in which water is either added to or removed from the reactant(s) (p 144), feedback inhibition as a type of competitive inhibition and feedback inhibition as a special form of allosterism (p 151), the catalase and peroxidase reactions as being identical (p 162), ribose-5-phosphate, ribulose-5-phosphate and xylulose-5phosphate as being incorporated into nucleic acids (p 194), triglycerides as being formed by condensation of fatty acyl-CoA with dihydroxy acetone phosphate (p 199), induction of tryptophan 2,3 oxygenase in vertebrate liver cells as requiring many hours (p 218), many procaryotic mRNAs as containing poly A sequences (p 270), 'pyrimidine-linked dehydrogenases' as participating in the electron transport system (p 362), etc. Several tables of biochemical information are jumbled up or contain misleading entries, while a number of diagrams are either mislabelled or contain misleading material. A course based on this text would inevitably have a strong biochemical bias. It may also be the only formal exposure that students have to the discipline and subject matter of biochemistry. Because of this, the weaknesses in the biochemical content become significant. Without doubt, they could easily have been spotted and eliminated by close editorial scrutiny. Their elimination would have enhanced the value of a text which is profusely and colourfuUy illustrated, is well planned and designed and which has many commendable features. F VeUa BIOCHEMICAL
EDUCATION
9(4)
1981
Principles of Biological Chemistry (Second Edition) by David S Page. pp. 454. Wiltard Grant Press, Boston, U S A . 1981 ISBN 0-87150-740-4 The present edition of this small book is much more attractive than its predecessor. About eighty pages longer, it contains added material on a variety of topics of interest to students in the life sciences. These include: vitamins and coenzymes; applications of enzymes in clinical diagnosis and in food technology; enzyme inhibitors as drugs; glycoproteins and blood group substances; digestion and absorption of foodstuffs; viruses; blood proteins; plasma lipoproteins; steroid hormones; prostaglandins; human nutrition; and inborn errors of metabolism. However, most of these topics are presented at a rather simple level. Though a lot of material is carried over from the first edition, this version is much better organized and much clearer mainly as a result of a two-colour format and the effective use of italics, heavy print and bold subheadings. The book is intended for the diverse, but large, group of students required to take an introductory course in biological chemistry, and to supply a concise text that relates basic concepts of general and organic chemistry to the chemistry of living cells. The author has met these objectives well, especially if the 'concise' aspect is emphasized. Thirteen chapters are grouped into three parts concerned, respectively, with the molecules of living systems, the generation of energy and the utilization of energy. They are well and attractively illustrated. There are many cross-references between chapters. Clarity, readability and brevity characterize most sections, though at times brevity invites superficiality. Each chapter contains a list of suggestions for further reading. Most of these are to articles from Scientific American (one chapter lists almost a score of these) or to standard and larger textbooks of biochemistry (usually to Lehninger, White et al, and Metzler). Problems and review questions are also included. Answers to problems, a glossary, and a background review of organic chemistry (nearly eight pages long) are supplied in appendices. The index covers nine pages only. Students majoring in non-science areas who are required to take an introductory (especially a one-semester) course in biochemistry should find this book appealing. It may also be useful to those contemplating careers in the human health professions. Sufficient material is presented, without going into too much detail, to provide an understanding of the basic principles of biochemistry. Serious students will find themselves seeking further information from the more recent of the references in the suggestions to further reading sections. F Vella
Department of Biochemistry University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Canada
Multi-functional Proteins Edited by H Bisswanger and E Schmincke-Ott. Wiley-Interscience, Chichester, U K . 1980. £21.25 I S B N 0-471-04270-6
pp 333.
The aim of this book was to provide a summary of typical behaviour of multi-functional proteins, that is, proteins which possess more than a single type of biological function. After a general introductory chapter, the monograph consists of chapters dealing with specific enzymes and enzyme complexes, namely aspartokinases, anthranilate synthase, tryptophan synthase, DNA polymerase, fatty acid synthetase, and gramicidin synthetase. Additionally, there is a discussion of chimaeras induced artifically by genetic fusions, and sections on amphipathic proteins, ADP-ribosylating exotoxins, and the multi-functional properties of antibodies. Each of the chapters is in effect a research review, and presents a summary of detailed knowledge on the particular topic, with extensive reference lists. It is likely to be of use to biochemists actually involved in the particular fields rather than to the more general reader. D G Dalgleish The Hannah Research Institute Ayr, Scotland, UK