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Immunochemical methods in the biological sciences: Enzymes and proteins
ANAI.YTICAL
BIOCHEMISTRY
115,
243-244
(1981)
BOOK
REVIEWS
Immunochemical Methods in the Biological Sciences: Enzymes and Proteins. By R. J. MAYER AND J. H. WALKER, Academic Press, New York, 1980. 168 pp. $29.50. This small book by R. J. Mayer and J. H. Walker is directed to the biochemist who wishes to use immunochemical techniques for such analytical problems as the quantitation of specific proteins in crude mixtures or the subcellular localization of enzymes, or for preparative purposes, e.g., the isolation of specific membrane proteins. The authors have tried to avoid overwhelming the neophyte by keeping things simple and brief, but the book’s usefulness is impaired by what is not covered. The most serious omission is a discussion of the principles of immunologic reactivity. Without an appreciation of the fundamentals of noncovalent interactions, the molecular basis of clonal selection and antibody specificity and the influence of antibody polyvalency on antibody-antigen interactions, the biochemist user of immunologic procedures is handicapped. He is limited to rote application of previous protocols and lacks the conceptual basis necessary for the adaptation of these methods to his individual needs. Errors of interpretation are also more likely. For example, Mayer and Walker briefly discuss the new hybridoma technology but fail to consider the substantial differences engendered by substituting homogeneous antibodies for heterogeneous mixtures of antibodies in various immunologic procedures. On a more practical level very little information and almost no bibliography is offered on the structure of antibodies and its manipulation. Only about 120 words are given to IgG fragmentation and even these contain several errors! This is unfortunate. The material is relatively simple to present and the manipulations of antibodies are straightforward with the possibility of markedly enhancing the versatility of immunologic procedures It also would have been useful to catalog conditions under which antibodies are stable, an area of frequent concern to the biochemist user. The authors fail to consider the use of complement fixation assays, Jerne-plaque techniques, rosetting assays, and photoactivated cell sorting, all powerful and widely used methods. While the book is admirable in its purpose, promoting the application of powerful and relatively simple im-
243
munologic techniques, it lacks significant conceptual and practical information. A book twice as large would still have been palatable and could have more adequately encompassed the area. HENRY CLARE National Received
Electron
Institutes November
Beam
of Health 18, 1980
X-Ray Microanalysis. Van Nostrand-Reinhold, 198 1. 578 pp. $42.50.
HEINRICH,
METZGER FEWTRELL
By
KURT
New
F. J. York,
The book’s title emphasizes that it covers the analysis of X-rays produced in electron microscopes; analysis by Auger electrons, for example, is excluded. An earlier book edited by Kurt Heinrich, entitled “Quantitative Electron Probe Microanalysis,” was issued in 1968. The book is organized into an Introduction and six Parts which include: The instrument; X-ray physics; The measurement of X-rays; Quantitative analysis; Spatial aspects of electron-probe microanalysis; and The target. Each part consists of one or more chapters in which the author has taken considerable pains to unify disparate usages of symbols and to make the treatment self-consistent; the symbols used are set out in a section following the Table of Contents. An Appendix deals with relevant topics in statistics. The chapters are lucidly written and informative. Each includes an extensive list of references to the original literature presented rationally and in a well-organized way. Since the invention of the technique, electron-probe microanalysis (EPMA) has been most extensively applied to metallurgical and mineralogical problems. In this book, the author deals extensively with the many aspects, both theoretical and practical, of such applications. He includes details of the various derivations and mathematical treatments of the problems associated with quantitative analysis by EPMA in “hard” materials. Section 13.4 does deal with the analysis of biological tissue and enumerates the difficulties attending
0003-2697/81/110243-02$02.00/O Copyright 0 1981 by Academic Press. Inc. All rights OC reproduction in any form reserved.
BIOCHEMISTRY
115,
243-244
(1981)
BOOK
REVIEWS
Immunochemical Methods in the Biological Sciences: Enzymes and Proteins. By R. J. MAYER AND J. H. WALKER, Academic Press, New York, 1980. 168 pp. $29.50. This small book by R. J. Mayer and J. H. Walker is directed to the biochemist who wishes to use immunochemical techniques for such analytical problems as the quantitation of specific proteins in crude mixtures or the subcellular localization of enzymes, or for preparative purposes, e.g., the isolation of specific membrane proteins. The authors have tried to avoid overwhelming the neophyte by keeping things simple and brief, but the book’s usefulness is impaired by what is not covered. The most serious omission is a discussion of the principles of immunologic reactivity. Without an appreciation of the fundamentals of noncovalent interactions, the molecular basis of clonal selection and antibody specificity and the influence of antibody polyvalency on antibody-antigen interactions, the biochemist user of immunologic procedures is handicapped. He is limited to rote application of previous protocols and lacks the conceptual basis necessary for the adaptation of these methods to his individual needs. Errors of interpretation are also more likely. For example, Mayer and Walker briefly discuss the new hybridoma technology but fail to consider the substantial differences engendered by substituting homogeneous antibodies for heterogeneous mixtures of antibodies in various immunologic procedures. On a more practical level very little information and almost no bibliography is offered on the structure of antibodies and its manipulation. Only about 120 words are given to IgG fragmentation and even these contain several errors! This is unfortunate. The material is relatively simple to present and the manipulations of antibodies are straightforward with the possibility of markedly enhancing the versatility of immunologic procedures It also would have been useful to catalog conditions under which antibodies are stable, an area of frequent concern to the biochemist user. The authors fail to consider the use of complement fixation assays, Jerne-plaque techniques, rosetting assays, and photoactivated cell sorting, all powerful and widely used methods. While the book is admirable in its purpose, promoting the application of powerful and relatively simple im-
243
munologic techniques, it lacks significant conceptual and practical information. A book twice as large would still have been palatable and could have more adequately encompassed the area. HENRY CLARE National Received
Electron
Institutes November
Beam
of Health 18, 1980
X-Ray Microanalysis. Van Nostrand-Reinhold, 198 1. 578 pp. $42.50.
HEINRICH,
METZGER FEWTRELL
By
KURT
New
F. J. York,
The book’s title emphasizes that it covers the analysis of X-rays produced in electron microscopes; analysis by Auger electrons, for example, is excluded. An earlier book edited by Kurt Heinrich, entitled “Quantitative Electron Probe Microanalysis,” was issued in 1968. The book is organized into an Introduction and six Parts which include: The instrument; X-ray physics; The measurement of X-rays; Quantitative analysis; Spatial aspects of electron-probe microanalysis; and The target. Each part consists of one or more chapters in which the author has taken considerable pains to unify disparate usages of symbols and to make the treatment self-consistent; the symbols used are set out in a section following the Table of Contents. An Appendix deals with relevant topics in statistics. The chapters are lucidly written and informative. Each includes an extensive list of references to the original literature presented rationally and in a well-organized way. Since the invention of the technique, electron-probe microanalysis (EPMA) has been most extensively applied to metallurgical and mineralogical problems. In this book, the author deals extensively with the many aspects, both theoretical and practical, of such applications. He includes details of the various derivations and mathematical treatments of the problems associated with quantitative analysis by EPMA in “hard” materials. Section 13.4 does deal with the analysis of biological tissue and enumerates the difficulties attending
0003-2697/81/110243-02$02.00/O Copyright 0 1981 by Academic Press. Inc. All rights OC reproduction in any form reserved.