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Molecular modelling: Basic principles and applications
194
Book Reviews/Biochemical Education 26 (1998) 187-195
spectral properties of Cyt P-450 proteins were known before their catalytic function. Because only one of the two atoms of oxygen (0,) is incorporated into the substrate, the hydroxylation reactions catalysed by Cyt P-450-dependent enzymes were previously referred to as mono-oxygenases. In addition to aliphatic and aromatic carbon hydroxylations, they are responsible for a wide range of reactions - aromatic carbon epoxidation, O-dealkylation, N-dealkylation, S-dealkylation, N-oxidation, S-oxidation, desulphuration, deamination, aromatic amine hydroxylation, aromatic amide hydrolysis and azoreduction. This book is a must for students of biochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology and researchers in drug and xenobiotic metabolism. It has six chapters. In the Introduction the historical background, distribution, isolation, purification and characterisation of P-450s are covered. Evolution of the P-450 superfamily is covered in the second chapter. In the third chapter, the catalytic cycle and the mechanism of oxygenation are explained. Substrate specificity and metabolism are discussed in the fourth chapter. The fifth chapter discusses induction, regulation and inhibition of P-450. Structural models of P-450 are provided in the last chapter. The author has developed each chapter very well and the reader should gain a lot from this book.
project should often be consulted by inexperienced researchers. The diagrams are particularly clear, with excellent use of colour, and the essential mathematics is covered clearly and concisely. It will be easily followed by anyone with ‘A’ level or equivalent knowledge of mathematics from high school. The book is marred by inadequate translation of the authors’ native German. There are many examples of strange grammatical structures (eg ‘Dimensions were translated linearly from the Angstrom area’), misuse of words (eg ‘It is inevitable to add the Hydrogens.‘) and ‘non-words’ (eg ‘automatical’). A few of these mistakes may be acceptable in a book written by non-native English speakers, but the poor translation makes this one hard to read. A Glossary, and many more URLs to refer the reader to useful sites on the Web, would have been useful additions. In conclusion, in spite of the translation difficulties, this book is bound to be a good resource for novice researchers in this fast-growing field. It could also be a useful reference book for lecturers teaching advanced undergraduate courses. It is not an undergraduate text, the level of knowledge assumed is too high - and at 195 DM (currently about f70) its price will put it out of the range even of graduate students. Clare Sansom
C V Anand
PII: SO307-4412(98)00053-3 PII: SO307-4412(97)00071-X
Molecular Modelling: Basic Principles and Applications By Hans-Dieter Holtje and Gerd Folkers. 200. VCH Verlagsgesellschaft GmbH, Weinheim & New York, ISBN 3-527-2984-l 1996. DM195 There is a shortage of good textbooks at all levels to cover the important field of molecular modelling. This book in the series Methods and Principles of Medicinal Chemistry is therefore timely. It is concise and attractively produced. The main part of the text is usefully divided into two sections, covering firstly techniques used for modelling small molecules and then those used for modelling proteins. The list of techniques described is comprehensive. For small molecules, these include force fields, geometry optimisation (including a very brief section on quantum chemistry), and conformational analysis. The section on proteins starts with a good introduction to protein structure and includes ‘knowledge-based’ structure prediction, molecular dynamics and the electrostatic properties of proteins. The sponsorship of the book by Tripos, the authors of SYBYL, one of the most widely used commercial molecular modelling packages, is reflected in an appendix describing the facilities of this comprehensive software suite. However, other programs, particularly those in the public domain, are given reasonable coverage in the main text. The inclusion of a long example at the end of each section is one of the best features of the book. These practical examples of problems which are likely to be encountered in a drug design
Growth Factors and Cytokines in Health and Disease Volume 3A and B Edited by Derek Leroith and Carolyn Bondy. pp 546. JAI Press, Greenwich, CT and London, UK. 1997. f139 ISBN o-7623-01 18-X This is a two volume multi-author work containing 6 chapters in volume 3A and 6 chapters in volume 3B, all written by experts in the various fields. Volume 3A contains chapters on growth factors and cytokines in the foetus and placenta, the immune system, bone, the clinical application of colony stimulating factors and cytokines in the female reproductive tract (a look at the chapter on haematopoietic growth factors reveals just how many are available for therapeutic use, eg erythropoietin, GM-CSF, thrombopoietin, and a number of interleukins). Some of the chapters in volume 3B focus on the role of growth factors in cancer (breast, lung, paediatric) as well as tumour invasion and metastasis, while others deal with Alzheimer’s disease and with cytokine function in osteoporosis. The final chapter by Paul Martin and his colleagues at University College London deals with growth factors and wound healing. These are all complicated areas and ones where there is a great deal of research going on. There many basic scientists trying to elucidate the roles of the various growth factors (a term used interchangeably with ‘cytokine’) - not an easy task and there are many clinical scientists as well as companies looking at implications for therapy. Books like this help to keep researchers and clinicians in touch with the exploding literature in these areas by providing concise and authoritative summaries of the current status of the
Book Reviews/Biochemical Education 26 (1998) 187-195
spectral properties of Cyt P-450 proteins were known before their catalytic function. Because only one of the two atoms of oxygen (0,) is incorporated into the substrate, the hydroxylation reactions catalysed by Cyt P-450-dependent enzymes were previously referred to as mono-oxygenases. In addition to aliphatic and aromatic carbon hydroxylations, they are responsible for a wide range of reactions - aromatic carbon epoxidation, O-dealkylation, N-dealkylation, S-dealkylation, N-oxidation, S-oxidation, desulphuration, deamination, aromatic amine hydroxylation, aromatic amide hydrolysis and azoreduction. This book is a must for students of biochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology and researchers in drug and xenobiotic metabolism. It has six chapters. In the Introduction the historical background, distribution, isolation, purification and characterisation of P-450s are covered. Evolution of the P-450 superfamily is covered in the second chapter. In the third chapter, the catalytic cycle and the mechanism of oxygenation are explained. Substrate specificity and metabolism are discussed in the fourth chapter. The fifth chapter discusses induction, regulation and inhibition of P-450. Structural models of P-450 are provided in the last chapter. The author has developed each chapter very well and the reader should gain a lot from this book.
project should often be consulted by inexperienced researchers. The diagrams are particularly clear, with excellent use of colour, and the essential mathematics is covered clearly and concisely. It will be easily followed by anyone with ‘A’ level or equivalent knowledge of mathematics from high school. The book is marred by inadequate translation of the authors’ native German. There are many examples of strange grammatical structures (eg ‘Dimensions were translated linearly from the Angstrom area’), misuse of words (eg ‘It is inevitable to add the Hydrogens.‘) and ‘non-words’ (eg ‘automatical’). A few of these mistakes may be acceptable in a book written by non-native English speakers, but the poor translation makes this one hard to read. A Glossary, and many more URLs to refer the reader to useful sites on the Web, would have been useful additions. In conclusion, in spite of the translation difficulties, this book is bound to be a good resource for novice researchers in this fast-growing field. It could also be a useful reference book for lecturers teaching advanced undergraduate courses. It is not an undergraduate text, the level of knowledge assumed is too high - and at 195 DM (currently about f70) its price will put it out of the range even of graduate students. Clare Sansom
C V Anand
PII: SO307-4412(98)00053-3 PII: SO307-4412(97)00071-X
Molecular Modelling: Basic Principles and Applications By Hans-Dieter Holtje and Gerd Folkers. 200. VCH Verlagsgesellschaft GmbH, Weinheim & New York, ISBN 3-527-2984-l 1996. DM195 There is a shortage of good textbooks at all levels to cover the important field of molecular modelling. This book in the series Methods and Principles of Medicinal Chemistry is therefore timely. It is concise and attractively produced. The main part of the text is usefully divided into two sections, covering firstly techniques used for modelling small molecules and then those used for modelling proteins. The list of techniques described is comprehensive. For small molecules, these include force fields, geometry optimisation (including a very brief section on quantum chemistry), and conformational analysis. The section on proteins starts with a good introduction to protein structure and includes ‘knowledge-based’ structure prediction, molecular dynamics and the electrostatic properties of proteins. The sponsorship of the book by Tripos, the authors of SYBYL, one of the most widely used commercial molecular modelling packages, is reflected in an appendix describing the facilities of this comprehensive software suite. However, other programs, particularly those in the public domain, are given reasonable coverage in the main text. The inclusion of a long example at the end of each section is one of the best features of the book. These practical examples of problems which are likely to be encountered in a drug design
Growth Factors and Cytokines in Health and Disease Volume 3A and B Edited by Derek Leroith and Carolyn Bondy. pp 546. JAI Press, Greenwich, CT and London, UK. 1997. f139 ISBN o-7623-01 18-X This is a two volume multi-author work containing 6 chapters in volume 3A and 6 chapters in volume 3B, all written by experts in the various fields. Volume 3A contains chapters on growth factors and cytokines in the foetus and placenta, the immune system, bone, the clinical application of colony stimulating factors and cytokines in the female reproductive tract (a look at the chapter on haematopoietic growth factors reveals just how many are available for therapeutic use, eg erythropoietin, GM-CSF, thrombopoietin, and a number of interleukins). Some of the chapters in volume 3B focus on the role of growth factors in cancer (breast, lung, paediatric) as well as tumour invasion and metastasis, while others deal with Alzheimer’s disease and with cytokine function in osteoporosis. The final chapter by Paul Martin and his colleagues at University College London deals with growth factors and wound healing. These are all complicated areas and ones where there is a great deal of research going on. There many basic scientists trying to elucidate the roles of the various growth factors (a term used interchangeably with ‘cytokine’) - not an easy task and there are many clinical scientists as well as companies looking at implications for therapy. Books like this help to keep researchers and clinicians in touch with the exploding literature in these areas by providing concise and authoritative summaries of the current status of the