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Endocrine genetics and genetics of growth
GENER4LANDCOMPARATIVEENDOWNOLOGY66,297-299(1987)
BOOK REVIEWS Endocrine Genetics and Genetics of Growth. Edited by C.3. PAPADATOS AND C. S. BARTSOCAS. Liss, New York, 1986. 375 pp.
“Endocrine Genetics and Genetics of Growth” is an intriguing title, but for the comparative endocrinologist the book itself may be a disappointment in that it is oriented primarily toward the clinic and human developmental problems. The opening chapter by Bartsocas is an interesting and scholarly consideration of ancient Greek conceptions of dwarfism and hermaphroditism. A chapter on insulin-like growth1 factors by Froesch and Zopf provides ;a very clear account of the physiology of these factors and their regulation by pituitary growth hormone and insulin. Most of the remaining chapters analyze a variety of clinical conditions, mostly disorders of somatic and skeletal growth, but there is some attention to human thyroid and adrenal disease and to sex differentiation.
Second C:olloqdum in Biological Sciences. Edited by C.D. BURRELL AND E L. STRAND. N.Y. Acad. Sci., New York, 1984. 422 pp. $106.
This book is the product of a symposium held in November 1984. Of particular interest are the six plenary lectures that open the volume. J. Roth and colleagues discuss in an informal style, “the evolutionary origins of intercellular communication and the Maginot lines of the mind.” The article summarizes the distribution of vertebrate hormone-like substances in invertebrates, unicellular organisms, and plants and comes t’o the now familiar conclusion that these may have served other (nonhormonal) functions in these organismsperhaps as communication (pheromonelike) agents. 0. M. Rosen discusses the ty-
rosine kinase mediation of insulin receptor action, and several other of the plenary lectures deal with hormone and/or neurotransmitter receptors: for opioids acetyl choline and angiotensin. S. H. Snyder discusses enzymes that are involved in processing of prohormones for angiotensin and enkephalin as “receptors” for particular competitive antagonists of these two hormones.
Biochemical Actions of Hormones, Vol. 13. Edited by G. LITWACK. Academic Press, New York, 1986. 422 pp. $98.50.
In the 13th volume of this useful series is the announcement that the series will close with the following volume. At a time when the major emphasis in endocrinology is on cellular-level mechanisms, as in many fields of biology, this is difficult to understand. Of most direct importance to comparative endocrinologists in Vol. 13 is a report by Koeppe and Kovalick on binding proteins for insect juvenile hormone. As might be expected, there is emphasis in this volume on the nature and properties of hormone receptors: for EGF, ACTH, glucocorticoids, and androgens. The human chorionic molecule is considered in detail, and particularly with respect to specific antigenic sites. Hruby provides a detailed analysis of structure-activity relationships of the neurohypophyseal hormonal peptides. Dekel provides an interesting analysis of the separate endocrine controls for mammalian egg maturation, formation of the cumulus oophorus, luteinization, and follicular rupture. Special attention is given to the phenomenon of meiotic arrest in the oocyte. A long-time mystery has been how primary oocytes can be held in the ovary for years in the midst of the meiotic pro-
297 0016~6480/87 $1.50 Copyright 0 1987 by Academic Press, Inc. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
BOOK REVIEWS Endocrine Genetics and Genetics of Growth. Edited by C.3. PAPADATOS AND C. S. BARTSOCAS. Liss, New York, 1986. 375 pp.
“Endocrine Genetics and Genetics of Growth” is an intriguing title, but for the comparative endocrinologist the book itself may be a disappointment in that it is oriented primarily toward the clinic and human developmental problems. The opening chapter by Bartsocas is an interesting and scholarly consideration of ancient Greek conceptions of dwarfism and hermaphroditism. A chapter on insulin-like growth1 factors by Froesch and Zopf provides ;a very clear account of the physiology of these factors and their regulation by pituitary growth hormone and insulin. Most of the remaining chapters analyze a variety of clinical conditions, mostly disorders of somatic and skeletal growth, but there is some attention to human thyroid and adrenal disease and to sex differentiation.
Second C:olloqdum in Biological Sciences. Edited by C.D. BURRELL AND E L. STRAND. N.Y. Acad. Sci., New York, 1984. 422 pp. $106.
This book is the product of a symposium held in November 1984. Of particular interest are the six plenary lectures that open the volume. J. Roth and colleagues discuss in an informal style, “the evolutionary origins of intercellular communication and the Maginot lines of the mind.” The article summarizes the distribution of vertebrate hormone-like substances in invertebrates, unicellular organisms, and plants and comes t’o the now familiar conclusion that these may have served other (nonhormonal) functions in these organismsperhaps as communication (pheromonelike) agents. 0. M. Rosen discusses the ty-
rosine kinase mediation of insulin receptor action, and several other of the plenary lectures deal with hormone and/or neurotransmitter receptors: for opioids acetyl choline and angiotensin. S. H. Snyder discusses enzymes that are involved in processing of prohormones for angiotensin and enkephalin as “receptors” for particular competitive antagonists of these two hormones.
Biochemical Actions of Hormones, Vol. 13. Edited by G. LITWACK. Academic Press, New York, 1986. 422 pp. $98.50.
In the 13th volume of this useful series is the announcement that the series will close with the following volume. At a time when the major emphasis in endocrinology is on cellular-level mechanisms, as in many fields of biology, this is difficult to understand. Of most direct importance to comparative endocrinologists in Vol. 13 is a report by Koeppe and Kovalick on binding proteins for insect juvenile hormone. As might be expected, there is emphasis in this volume on the nature and properties of hormone receptors: for EGF, ACTH, glucocorticoids, and androgens. The human chorionic molecule is considered in detail, and particularly with respect to specific antigenic sites. Hruby provides a detailed analysis of structure-activity relationships of the neurohypophyseal hormonal peptides. Dekel provides an interesting analysis of the separate endocrine controls for mammalian egg maturation, formation of the cumulus oophorus, luteinization, and follicular rupture. Special attention is given to the phenomenon of meiotic arrest in the oocyte. A long-time mystery has been how primary oocytes can be held in the ovary for years in the midst of the meiotic pro-
297 0016~6480/87 $1.50 Copyright 0 1987 by Academic Press, Inc. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.