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Cell cycle and growth control
04/00 TCB final
8/3/00
9:49 am
Page 166
book reviews was correct and what was clearly erroneous in the earlier discussions about cells. Then, beginning in about 1870, there was an explosion of new information on chromosomes, mitosis, fertilization, centrioles, spindles and cytokinesis. Harris analyses the factors that brought about this golden period in the development of the cell theory – not only was the intellectual climate just right, but there were important technical advances in fixation, sectioning and staining of tissues, dramatic improvements in microscope design, and the incomparable observational skill of microscopists such as Strasburger,
Cell cycle and growth control The Molecular Basis of Cell Cycle and Growth Control edited by Gary S. Stein, Renato Baserga, Antonio Giordano and David T. Denhardt, Wiley-Liss, 1999. £51.95 (389 pages) ISBN 0 471 15706 6
Inez Vincent Dept of Pathology, University of Washington, Box 357705, 1959 NE Pacific Avenue, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
166
This anthology of work on the molecular basis of cell cycle and growth control, compiled by an array of internationally acclaimed scientists, is intense but brilliant. From the mid-20th-century awakening of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ – the study of cell division – by an assemblage of valiant knights, this book documents Beauty’s entrance into the presentday kingdom of cell-cycle research by a fleet of gallant coachmen. The theme of multisystem-integrated regulation of growth control penetrates this book, as it portrays historic and new trends in a field that has expanded well beyond the walls of a culture dish and into the hospital ward. The distinction between regulated and regulatory components of the mechanistic pathways that mediate cell proliferation is appropriately and clearly substantiated.
Bütschli, Flemming, van Beneden and Boveri. By the end of the century, well before the rediscovery of Mendel, cytologists had shown how new cells were generated and how the behaviour of chromosomes provided a rational basis for understanding inheritance. Harris points out that his training as a professional scientist makes him interested in what earlier investigators could have seen, given the equipment and ideas of their time, compared with what they actually did see. It also makes him focus on issues of priority, whether of observations or of ideas. For both reasons, he is meticulous in
citing original sources throughout the text and in a 16-page appendix that contains dozens of quotations from books and papers published during the 300 years covered by this book. Much of this material is extremely difficult to find, even in the best of libraries, and Harris does a great service by providing both the original texts and his own translations into English. In summary, The Birth of the Cell is the best single source for anyone seriously interested in learning about the history of the cell theory. It will remain the standard reference for some time to come.
Baserga defines terms, and outlines concepts, in the first chapter of the book, setting the stage for the more complex scenes ahead. Puri et al. render an excellent description of the fundamental or ‘intrinsic’ cell cycle from yeast to man. Although there are only a few passing references to Xenopus, and even fewer references to Drosophila, this chapter nevertheless provides an excellent synopsis of the cell cycle, as it is understood today. The ensuing chapters feature salient stages of the cell cycle: DNA replication and S phase, mitosis and meiosis, and gene- and signal-transduction-mediated regulation of cell growth. Each of these is explicit in detail and encompasses technical approaches and clinical implications, with particular emphasis on cell-cycle checkpoints and restriction points. Stein and colleagues make a remarkable effort in depicting the integrated multidirectional signalling cascades that control cell proliferation. However, I often became entangled in this web, and I would like to suggest (for further editions of this book) that a simplified summary of the temporal profile of gene expression through the cell cycle be presented at the onset of this chapter. Armed with these basic facts, the reader – particularly the student – would then be better prepared to assimilate and appreciate the delicate interconnected nature of the mechanisms regulating cell division and growth. The chapters on differentiation, immortalization, senescence and
death do well to capture the fascination of these cellular processes and are illustrated lucidly. The final chapter on antisense strategies for the treatment of leukaemia is the crowning delight of decades of exponentially intensive basic and clinical research. My feeling is that the addition of an appendix of other strategies currently being used – for example, taxol or tamoxifen, or in trials for cancer therapy –would further highlight the promise of victory in the fight against neoplasia and help to goad the student, the laboratory investigator and the clinical researcher on towards new or improved interventions. Overall, although the breadth of this book is enormous, there are certain minor but insightful aspects of cell division and growth, such as the phenomenon of gene amplification, transcriptional dysregulation in tumour cells and the role of the MPM-2 phosphoepitope in mitosis, that have been neglected. Nevertheless, I highly recommend The Molecular Basis of Cell Cycle and Growth Control as a teaching resource for graduate and medical students and as a useful reference book for cell and cancer biologists and clinicians. Some graduate students in the laboratory seemed daunted by the complicated schematics and intensity of this book. I could only remind them of the thorny brambles that enmeshed the castle for 100 years, when alas, Sleeping Beauty was brought to life by a simple kiss!
trends in CELL BIOLOGY (Vol. 10) April 2000
8/3/00
9:49 am
Page 166
book reviews was correct and what was clearly erroneous in the earlier discussions about cells. Then, beginning in about 1870, there was an explosion of new information on chromosomes, mitosis, fertilization, centrioles, spindles and cytokinesis. Harris analyses the factors that brought about this golden period in the development of the cell theory – not only was the intellectual climate just right, but there were important technical advances in fixation, sectioning and staining of tissues, dramatic improvements in microscope design, and the incomparable observational skill of microscopists such as Strasburger,
Cell cycle and growth control The Molecular Basis of Cell Cycle and Growth Control edited by Gary S. Stein, Renato Baserga, Antonio Giordano and David T. Denhardt, Wiley-Liss, 1999. £51.95 (389 pages) ISBN 0 471 15706 6
Inez Vincent Dept of Pathology, University of Washington, Box 357705, 1959 NE Pacific Avenue, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
166
This anthology of work on the molecular basis of cell cycle and growth control, compiled by an array of internationally acclaimed scientists, is intense but brilliant. From the mid-20th-century awakening of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ – the study of cell division – by an assemblage of valiant knights, this book documents Beauty’s entrance into the presentday kingdom of cell-cycle research by a fleet of gallant coachmen. The theme of multisystem-integrated regulation of growth control penetrates this book, as it portrays historic and new trends in a field that has expanded well beyond the walls of a culture dish and into the hospital ward. The distinction between regulated and regulatory components of the mechanistic pathways that mediate cell proliferation is appropriately and clearly substantiated.
Bütschli, Flemming, van Beneden and Boveri. By the end of the century, well before the rediscovery of Mendel, cytologists had shown how new cells were generated and how the behaviour of chromosomes provided a rational basis for understanding inheritance. Harris points out that his training as a professional scientist makes him interested in what earlier investigators could have seen, given the equipment and ideas of their time, compared with what they actually did see. It also makes him focus on issues of priority, whether of observations or of ideas. For both reasons, he is meticulous in
citing original sources throughout the text and in a 16-page appendix that contains dozens of quotations from books and papers published during the 300 years covered by this book. Much of this material is extremely difficult to find, even in the best of libraries, and Harris does a great service by providing both the original texts and his own translations into English. In summary, The Birth of the Cell is the best single source for anyone seriously interested in learning about the history of the cell theory. It will remain the standard reference for some time to come.
Baserga defines terms, and outlines concepts, in the first chapter of the book, setting the stage for the more complex scenes ahead. Puri et al. render an excellent description of the fundamental or ‘intrinsic’ cell cycle from yeast to man. Although there are only a few passing references to Xenopus, and even fewer references to Drosophila, this chapter nevertheless provides an excellent synopsis of the cell cycle, as it is understood today. The ensuing chapters feature salient stages of the cell cycle: DNA replication and S phase, mitosis and meiosis, and gene- and signal-transduction-mediated regulation of cell growth. Each of these is explicit in detail and encompasses technical approaches and clinical implications, with particular emphasis on cell-cycle checkpoints and restriction points. Stein and colleagues make a remarkable effort in depicting the integrated multidirectional signalling cascades that control cell proliferation. However, I often became entangled in this web, and I would like to suggest (for further editions of this book) that a simplified summary of the temporal profile of gene expression through the cell cycle be presented at the onset of this chapter. Armed with these basic facts, the reader – particularly the student – would then be better prepared to assimilate and appreciate the delicate interconnected nature of the mechanisms regulating cell division and growth. The chapters on differentiation, immortalization, senescence and
death do well to capture the fascination of these cellular processes and are illustrated lucidly. The final chapter on antisense strategies for the treatment of leukaemia is the crowning delight of decades of exponentially intensive basic and clinical research. My feeling is that the addition of an appendix of other strategies currently being used – for example, taxol or tamoxifen, or in trials for cancer therapy –would further highlight the promise of victory in the fight against neoplasia and help to goad the student, the laboratory investigator and the clinical researcher on towards new or improved interventions. Overall, although the breadth of this book is enormous, there are certain minor but insightful aspects of cell division and growth, such as the phenomenon of gene amplification, transcriptional dysregulation in tumour cells and the role of the MPM-2 phosphoepitope in mitosis, that have been neglected. Nevertheless, I highly recommend The Molecular Basis of Cell Cycle and Growth Control as a teaching resource for graduate and medical students and as a useful reference book for cell and cancer biologists and clinicians. Some graduate students in the laboratory seemed daunted by the complicated schematics and intensity of this book. I could only remind them of the thorny brambles that enmeshed the castle for 100 years, when alas, Sleeping Beauty was brought to life by a simple kiss!
trends in CELL BIOLOGY (Vol. 10) April 2000