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Hormones the messengers of life
Book Reviews
Chronic Renal Disease. Causes, Complications and Treatment--Edited by N. B. Cummings and S. Klahr. 607pp. 1985. Plenum Medical Press. New York & London. US$75. Serious renal disease occurs in 200 cases per million population. Immunopathogenic mechanisms account for most forms of primary glomerular disease and this together with hypertension, diabetes, neoplasia and trauma can lead to end stage renal disease (ESRD). In the U.S.A. about 75,000 patients are undergoing dialysis and 5000 kidney transplants are performed each year; these being the two main form of treatment of ESRD. This multiauthored volume has 60 chapters grouped into; research trends in glomerular disease; cystic disease; renal osteopathy, vitamin D analogues; parathormone; neurologic complications; cardiovascular complications; treatment of children with renal failure; drugs and renal failure; hemodialysis and hemofiltration; transplantation and immunosupression; nutritional therapy. This well produced volume provides an excellent account of the problems and treatment of chronic renal disease.
Energetic Aspects of Muscle Contraction--By Roger C. Woledge, Nancy A. Curtin and Earl Homsher. Monographs of the Physiological Society, Vol. 41. 357pp. 1985. Academic Press, London and Orlando. US$79.50. Studies on the tension transients that accompany and follow fibre length on single muscle fibres, and on skinned muscle fibres where the concentrations of ATP, ADP and inorganic P can be controlled, provide information about the driving process in muscle contraction and the relation of contraction to ATP splitting. Measurement of energy changes give information about the chemical processes that supply the energy, the heat produced and the mechanical work done. Studies on isolated protein systems allow analysis of single reactions. All of these are described in detail in the present volume. The main sections are headed; initial facts and ideas; mechanics of contraction; kinetics; heat production and chemical change; crossbridge theories of muscle contraction. The latter chapter gives details of five different theories and their limitations. The main accent in the book is on the mechanical/ physical changes in muscle during contraction and how this is related to the energy input. This is to be expected since the main thing about muscle is that it moves (contracts). The book is very well written and provides excellent insight and information into an important subject.
515
a glycoprotein selectively taken up by hepatocytes. The conjugate was significantly more effective against the hepatic stage of malaria. This book provides a valuable guide to this important new stage in the biochemistry of drug design.
Drugs Affecting Lipid Metabolism (Vlll)---Edited by D. Kritchevsky, W. L. Holmes and R. Paoletti. 502 pp, 1985. Plenum Press, New York. US $72.50. (Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, Vol. 183) This volume contains papers presented at the 8th international symposium on drugs affecting lipid metabolism. New developments are presented on receptors for lipoproteins; measurement, structure and genetics of lipo. proteins; cellular biology of atherosclerosis, non-invasive assessment of atherosclerosis; hypolipidemic drugs (aryloxyacetic acid derivatives); dietary factors affecting lipoproteins. The information presented shows our increased understanding of the molecular biology of lipidemia and the resulting atherosclerosis and cardiac failure.
Toxic Susceptibility. Male/female Differences---Edward J. Calabrese. 336 pp. 1985. Wiley, New York. £61.35. There are differences between males and females. There are over 200 toxic substances for which sex related differences occur as shown by tests on laboratory rats, mice, and cats. However there are species differences and the results cannot be extrapolated to be true in all cases for Homo sapiens. There are sex differences in gastrointestinal absorption, plasma protein binding, biliary excretion, enzymatic detoxification. There are enzyme differences in aryl hydrocarbon hydrolases, epoxide hydroxylases, glucuronidation, sulfation, glutathione S-transferase, glutathione reductase. Male rats are at greater risk to cadmium, carbon tetrachloride, gentamicin, chloroform, mercury, and petrocarbons. Female rats had greater liver toxicity to Ammanita phalloides, D-galactosamine, ethionine, and orotic acid. The book also gives a list of some 50 widely used compounds that show male/female differential toxicity in rats.
Cancer Biology. Readings from Scientific American--Edited by E. C. Friedberg. 156 pp. 1985. Freeman, New York. US$12.95.
Receptor Mediated Targeting of Drugs--Edited by G. Gregoriadis, G. Poste, J. Senior and A. Trouet. 491 pp. 1985. Plenum Press, New York. US $79.50. (NATO ASI Series A--Life Sciences, Vol. 82) If a drug can be bound to a ligand that recognizes and binds to the receptor surface on the target organ i.e. cancer cells, the drug can be given in lower effective concentrations and the side effects may be reduced. This volume contains the papers presented at a Symposium held in Greece and discusses the use of monocional antibodies and liposomes as the targeting systems. Problems such as the delivery and release of the drug from the conjugate; the non toxicity of the conjugate; tissue barriers are discussed. Some success has been obtained with the linking of daunorubicin (DNR) to serum albumin through a tetrapeptide arm. This conjugated molecule was more effective than DNR alone in the treatment of murine leukemia. Similar success was obtained by linking the antimalarial drug primaquine to asialofetuin,
This useful volume contains 13 reprints from Scientific American on cancer; environmental effects; effects of low level radiation; inducable repair of DNA; bacterial tests for potential carcinogens; RNA directed DNA synthesis; oncogenes; molecular basis of cancer; teratomas and chimaeras; vascularization of tumors; cancer immunology; cancer metastasis. They are grouped in 4 sections and there is an introduction to each section putting the material into perspective.
Hormones the Messengers of Life---Lawrence Crapo. 194 pp. 1985. Freeman, New York. US$19.95 cloth, US$11.95 paper. This book gives an account of the endocrine systems of the body and includes recent work on peptides, releasing hormones, genetic engineering, and opiates receptors. It is
516
Book Reviews
written in a lively entertaining style and gives anecdotes, historical background and good factual information. It could be read with pleasure and instruction by most students.
The Enzymes of Biological Membranes. 2nd odn---Edited by Anthony N. Martonosi. Vol. I, Membrane Structure & Dynamics 451 pp. 1985. US$59.50. Vol. 2, Biosynthesis and Metabolism 449 pp. 1985. US$59.50. Vol. 3, Membrane Transport 676 pp. 1985. US$89.50. Vol. 4, Bioenergetics of Electron and Proton Transport 586 pp. 1985. US$79.50. Plenum Press, New York. The first edition of this work appeared in 1976 and quickly established itself as an important first source to provide orientation and data from the literature. The second edition has maintained this high standard by providing a series of new multi-authored integrative reviews on the major topics of membrane structure and function. The main title of the series is a little too restrictive since many of the topics covered, (cytoskeletal proteins, gramicidin transmembrane channel, control of ionic channels, calcium induced potassium transport, sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane, cell coupling, membrane fluidity, the acetylcholine receptor, the beta adrenergic receptor) are concerned with the present knowledge of the structures and functions of membranes, external membranes, mitochondrial membranes, chloroplast membranes, and their enzyme activities (mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, cytochrome oxidase, the cytochromes, ubiquinol, ADP/ATP carrier, the transferases, etc.). This second edition is strongly recommended as the best available synoptic review of what is known about membranes.
Biochemistry of Lipids and Membranes---Edited by D. E. Vance and J. E. Vance. 593 pp. 1985. Benjamin/Cummings, Menlo Park; Addison-Wesley, Wokingham. £34.95. This multi-authored volume has two objectives; to provide an advanced textbook in lipid and membrane biochemistry: to provide a clear summary for research workers in these fields. It does both of these well. The chapters deal with; cholesterol, evolution of structure and function; physical properties and functional roles of lipids in membranes; lipid metabolism; oxidation of fatty acids; fatty acid synthesis; fatty acid desaturation and chain elongation; metabolism of triglycerides; phospholipid metabolism; ether linked glycerolipids; phospholipase; eicosanoids; sphingolipids; metabolism of cholesterol and liproteins; lipid assembly into cell membranes; assembly of proteins into membranes. The chapters are well written, clearly illustrated, with a selected bibliography, and four to five problems per chapter (answers given at the back). The book is recommended reading for those who wish to go beyond the basic biochemistry textbooks and wish to have further insight into the dynamic role of lipids in the cell.
Metabolites and Metabolism; A Commentary on Secondary Metabolism--Edwin Haslam. 161 pp. 1985. Clarendon Press, Oxford. US$22.95. Many compounds such as alkaloids, terpenes, polyenes,
polyacetylenes, pigments, phenols, mycotoxins, appear in Nature but they often appear to play no explicit role in the welfare or economy of the producer. Many important compounds (i.e. actinomycin, aflatoxin, alizarin, bulbocapnine, caffeine, chloramphenicol, codeine, cantharathine, mescalin, morphine, nicotine, penicillin, psilocybin, quinine, strychnine) are considered and this book discusses their chemistry and some of the major themes of secondary metabolism. Sometimes the substances are produced at a specific stage in the life cycle i.e. antibiotic synthesis with sporulation in fungi. In most cases the secondary metabolites are clearly under the control of the genetic code and are activated by different levels of nutrient supply. Though it has been considered that many of the metabolites are detoxification products, it is more likely that they can play a role in the life of the organism, i.e. production of unpleasant or toxic metabolites to make them immune to attack by predators; as the products of overflow metabolism; or have an as-yet undetermined role in the biochemistry of the organism. As a result of secondary metabolism we have many natural products of value in pharmacology, enzymology, nutrition, and medicine. This interesting book will stimulate the reader to consider the biochemical wealth of products in the living world and appreciate new pathways and roles yet to be discovered.
Glycosylated Hemoglobins. Methods of Analysis and Clinical Applications.--E. C. Abraham. 238 pp. 1985. Dekker, New York. US$59.75 (U.S.A.) US$71.50 (elsewhere). (Clinical and Biochemical Analysis Series, Vol. 19) In diabetics where the serum glucose level is relatively high, there is a tendency for the hemoglobin to be nonenzymatically glycosylated. The hexose can be linked to the amino terminal groups of the beta chains, the alpha chain amino terminus and the eta amino groups of the lysyl residues. Ten different glycosylated Hb have been identified. The glycosylated Hb levels reflect the average glucose concentration in the serum for the past 2-3 months. This book describes the structure and function of the glycosylated Hb; the isolation and determination of their concentration; their presence in diabetes and hemolytic disease; and the glycosylation of other body proteins (albumin, lipoproteins, RBC, nerve proteins, collagen~ lens crystallins, insulin, osteocalcin).
The Biochemistry of the Polypeptide Hormones---M. Wallis, S. L. Howell and K. W. Taylor. 488 pp. 1985. Wiley, Chichester. £39.50 cloth, £14.95 paper. There has been a tremendous increase in our knowledge of the structure and mode of action of polypeptide hormones and this book provides an excellent account, written by experienced teachers so that undergraduates and postgraduates in medicine and science will find it easy to read and understand. It has a good biochemical endocrinology bias so that the facts fit into the wider framework of endocrine function and control. All the polypeptide hormones are considered and in addition there are chapters on structure-function relationship, hormone receptors, 2nd messengers, and the application of recombinant DNA techniques.
Chronic Renal Disease. Causes, Complications and Treatment--Edited by N. B. Cummings and S. Klahr. 607pp. 1985. Plenum Medical Press. New York & London. US$75. Serious renal disease occurs in 200 cases per million population. Immunopathogenic mechanisms account for most forms of primary glomerular disease and this together with hypertension, diabetes, neoplasia and trauma can lead to end stage renal disease (ESRD). In the U.S.A. about 75,000 patients are undergoing dialysis and 5000 kidney transplants are performed each year; these being the two main form of treatment of ESRD. This multiauthored volume has 60 chapters grouped into; research trends in glomerular disease; cystic disease; renal osteopathy, vitamin D analogues; parathormone; neurologic complications; cardiovascular complications; treatment of children with renal failure; drugs and renal failure; hemodialysis and hemofiltration; transplantation and immunosupression; nutritional therapy. This well produced volume provides an excellent account of the problems and treatment of chronic renal disease.
Energetic Aspects of Muscle Contraction--By Roger C. Woledge, Nancy A. Curtin and Earl Homsher. Monographs of the Physiological Society, Vol. 41. 357pp. 1985. Academic Press, London and Orlando. US$79.50. Studies on the tension transients that accompany and follow fibre length on single muscle fibres, and on skinned muscle fibres where the concentrations of ATP, ADP and inorganic P can be controlled, provide information about the driving process in muscle contraction and the relation of contraction to ATP splitting. Measurement of energy changes give information about the chemical processes that supply the energy, the heat produced and the mechanical work done. Studies on isolated protein systems allow analysis of single reactions. All of these are described in detail in the present volume. The main sections are headed; initial facts and ideas; mechanics of contraction; kinetics; heat production and chemical change; crossbridge theories of muscle contraction. The latter chapter gives details of five different theories and their limitations. The main accent in the book is on the mechanical/ physical changes in muscle during contraction and how this is related to the energy input. This is to be expected since the main thing about muscle is that it moves (contracts). The book is very well written and provides excellent insight and information into an important subject.
515
a glycoprotein selectively taken up by hepatocytes. The conjugate was significantly more effective against the hepatic stage of malaria. This book provides a valuable guide to this important new stage in the biochemistry of drug design.
Drugs Affecting Lipid Metabolism (Vlll)---Edited by D. Kritchevsky, W. L. Holmes and R. Paoletti. 502 pp, 1985. Plenum Press, New York. US $72.50. (Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, Vol. 183) This volume contains papers presented at the 8th international symposium on drugs affecting lipid metabolism. New developments are presented on receptors for lipoproteins; measurement, structure and genetics of lipo. proteins; cellular biology of atherosclerosis, non-invasive assessment of atherosclerosis; hypolipidemic drugs (aryloxyacetic acid derivatives); dietary factors affecting lipoproteins. The information presented shows our increased understanding of the molecular biology of lipidemia and the resulting atherosclerosis and cardiac failure.
Toxic Susceptibility. Male/female Differences---Edward J. Calabrese. 336 pp. 1985. Wiley, New York. £61.35. There are differences between males and females. There are over 200 toxic substances for which sex related differences occur as shown by tests on laboratory rats, mice, and cats. However there are species differences and the results cannot be extrapolated to be true in all cases for Homo sapiens. There are sex differences in gastrointestinal absorption, plasma protein binding, biliary excretion, enzymatic detoxification. There are enzyme differences in aryl hydrocarbon hydrolases, epoxide hydroxylases, glucuronidation, sulfation, glutathione S-transferase, glutathione reductase. Male rats are at greater risk to cadmium, carbon tetrachloride, gentamicin, chloroform, mercury, and petrocarbons. Female rats had greater liver toxicity to Ammanita phalloides, D-galactosamine, ethionine, and orotic acid. The book also gives a list of some 50 widely used compounds that show male/female differential toxicity in rats.
Cancer Biology. Readings from Scientific American--Edited by E. C. Friedberg. 156 pp. 1985. Freeman, New York. US$12.95.
Receptor Mediated Targeting of Drugs--Edited by G. Gregoriadis, G. Poste, J. Senior and A. Trouet. 491 pp. 1985. Plenum Press, New York. US $79.50. (NATO ASI Series A--Life Sciences, Vol. 82) If a drug can be bound to a ligand that recognizes and binds to the receptor surface on the target organ i.e. cancer cells, the drug can be given in lower effective concentrations and the side effects may be reduced. This volume contains the papers presented at a Symposium held in Greece and discusses the use of monocional antibodies and liposomes as the targeting systems. Problems such as the delivery and release of the drug from the conjugate; the non toxicity of the conjugate; tissue barriers are discussed. Some success has been obtained with the linking of daunorubicin (DNR) to serum albumin through a tetrapeptide arm. This conjugated molecule was more effective than DNR alone in the treatment of murine leukemia. Similar success was obtained by linking the antimalarial drug primaquine to asialofetuin,
This useful volume contains 13 reprints from Scientific American on cancer; environmental effects; effects of low level radiation; inducable repair of DNA; bacterial tests for potential carcinogens; RNA directed DNA synthesis; oncogenes; molecular basis of cancer; teratomas and chimaeras; vascularization of tumors; cancer immunology; cancer metastasis. They are grouped in 4 sections and there is an introduction to each section putting the material into perspective.
Hormones the Messengers of Life---Lawrence Crapo. 194 pp. 1985. Freeman, New York. US$19.95 cloth, US$11.95 paper. This book gives an account of the endocrine systems of the body and includes recent work on peptides, releasing hormones, genetic engineering, and opiates receptors. It is
516
Book Reviews
written in a lively entertaining style and gives anecdotes, historical background and good factual information. It could be read with pleasure and instruction by most students.
The Enzymes of Biological Membranes. 2nd odn---Edited by Anthony N. Martonosi. Vol. I, Membrane Structure & Dynamics 451 pp. 1985. US$59.50. Vol. 2, Biosynthesis and Metabolism 449 pp. 1985. US$59.50. Vol. 3, Membrane Transport 676 pp. 1985. US$89.50. Vol. 4, Bioenergetics of Electron and Proton Transport 586 pp. 1985. US$79.50. Plenum Press, New York. The first edition of this work appeared in 1976 and quickly established itself as an important first source to provide orientation and data from the literature. The second edition has maintained this high standard by providing a series of new multi-authored integrative reviews on the major topics of membrane structure and function. The main title of the series is a little too restrictive since many of the topics covered, (cytoskeletal proteins, gramicidin transmembrane channel, control of ionic channels, calcium induced potassium transport, sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane, cell coupling, membrane fluidity, the acetylcholine receptor, the beta adrenergic receptor) are concerned with the present knowledge of the structures and functions of membranes, external membranes, mitochondrial membranes, chloroplast membranes, and their enzyme activities (mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, cytochrome oxidase, the cytochromes, ubiquinol, ADP/ATP carrier, the transferases, etc.). This second edition is strongly recommended as the best available synoptic review of what is known about membranes.
Biochemistry of Lipids and Membranes---Edited by D. E. Vance and J. E. Vance. 593 pp. 1985. Benjamin/Cummings, Menlo Park; Addison-Wesley, Wokingham. £34.95. This multi-authored volume has two objectives; to provide an advanced textbook in lipid and membrane biochemistry: to provide a clear summary for research workers in these fields. It does both of these well. The chapters deal with; cholesterol, evolution of structure and function; physical properties and functional roles of lipids in membranes; lipid metabolism; oxidation of fatty acids; fatty acid synthesis; fatty acid desaturation and chain elongation; metabolism of triglycerides; phospholipid metabolism; ether linked glycerolipids; phospholipase; eicosanoids; sphingolipids; metabolism of cholesterol and liproteins; lipid assembly into cell membranes; assembly of proteins into membranes. The chapters are well written, clearly illustrated, with a selected bibliography, and four to five problems per chapter (answers given at the back). The book is recommended reading for those who wish to go beyond the basic biochemistry textbooks and wish to have further insight into the dynamic role of lipids in the cell.
Metabolites and Metabolism; A Commentary on Secondary Metabolism--Edwin Haslam. 161 pp. 1985. Clarendon Press, Oxford. US$22.95. Many compounds such as alkaloids, terpenes, polyenes,
polyacetylenes, pigments, phenols, mycotoxins, appear in Nature but they often appear to play no explicit role in the welfare or economy of the producer. Many important compounds (i.e. actinomycin, aflatoxin, alizarin, bulbocapnine, caffeine, chloramphenicol, codeine, cantharathine, mescalin, morphine, nicotine, penicillin, psilocybin, quinine, strychnine) are considered and this book discusses their chemistry and some of the major themes of secondary metabolism. Sometimes the substances are produced at a specific stage in the life cycle i.e. antibiotic synthesis with sporulation in fungi. In most cases the secondary metabolites are clearly under the control of the genetic code and are activated by different levels of nutrient supply. Though it has been considered that many of the metabolites are detoxification products, it is more likely that they can play a role in the life of the organism, i.e. production of unpleasant or toxic metabolites to make them immune to attack by predators; as the products of overflow metabolism; or have an as-yet undetermined role in the biochemistry of the organism. As a result of secondary metabolism we have many natural products of value in pharmacology, enzymology, nutrition, and medicine. This interesting book will stimulate the reader to consider the biochemical wealth of products in the living world and appreciate new pathways and roles yet to be discovered.
Glycosylated Hemoglobins. Methods of Analysis and Clinical Applications.--E. C. Abraham. 238 pp. 1985. Dekker, New York. US$59.75 (U.S.A.) US$71.50 (elsewhere). (Clinical and Biochemical Analysis Series, Vol. 19) In diabetics where the serum glucose level is relatively high, there is a tendency for the hemoglobin to be nonenzymatically glycosylated. The hexose can be linked to the amino terminal groups of the beta chains, the alpha chain amino terminus and the eta amino groups of the lysyl residues. Ten different glycosylated Hb have been identified. The glycosylated Hb levels reflect the average glucose concentration in the serum for the past 2-3 months. This book describes the structure and function of the glycosylated Hb; the isolation and determination of their concentration; their presence in diabetes and hemolytic disease; and the glycosylation of other body proteins (albumin, lipoproteins, RBC, nerve proteins, collagen~ lens crystallins, insulin, osteocalcin).
The Biochemistry of the Polypeptide Hormones---M. Wallis, S. L. Howell and K. W. Taylor. 488 pp. 1985. Wiley, Chichester. £39.50 cloth, £14.95 paper. There has been a tremendous increase in our knowledge of the structure and mode of action of polypeptide hormones and this book provides an excellent account, written by experienced teachers so that undergraduates and postgraduates in medicine and science will find it easy to read and understand. It has a good biochemical endocrinology bias so that the facts fit into the wider framework of endocrine function and control. All the polypeptide hormones are considered and in addition there are chapters on structure-function relationship, hormone receptors, 2nd messengers, and the application of recombinant DNA techniques.