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Organic Reaction Mechanisms 1979
37 Foundation Stones o f Biochemistry. Classical papers on enzymes and pH. Translated and edited by T R Caine Boyde. pp 316. Voile ct A v i r o n , P O B o x 629, H o n g Kong; or 27 Lines Ave, H o p a t c o n g , NJ 07843, U S A ; or 23 H a r t i n g t o n Grove, C a m b r i d g e CB1 H U A , U K . 1980. £10 (paperback) ISBN 962-7037-01-X The bulk of this book consists of translations from the French and German of fifteen research papers, concerning enzymes and pH, published between 1833 and 1913. There is additional text, setting these papers in their historical context of the early development of physiological chemistry/biochemistry, including a small amount of modern theory and brief biographical notes. The papcrs chosen cover developments concerning the recognition of the function of enzymes, the effects of inhibitors and pH on enzyme activity and enzyme kinetics, concluding with the classic paper by Michaelis and Menten. Much of the subject matter is undoubtedly appropriate from a historical point of view and is presented in an interesting manner with useful notes and discussion. The points made about the general validity ofpH values being particularly relevant. This book would be of considerable value to any course on the history of biochemistry, in spite of its relatively high cost. Professor Boyde, however, recommends if for a more general audience; in particular, to medical students. I cannot agrcc with him on this point for, although it is generally recognized that a good biochemical understanding is important to medical education and that this should prcferably be based on a broad and firm foundation, 1 would recommend that the foundation should be scientific not historical. M F Chaplin
Captopril and Hypertension Edited b y D B Case, E H S o n n e n b l i c k and J H Laragh. pp 236. P l e n u m Medical B o o k C o m p a n y , N e w York and London. 1980. $23.50 ISBN 0-306-40532-6 Captopril is an inhibitor for peptidyldipeptidase, an enzyme that removes dipeptides from the C-terminus of suitable substrates. In particular, it inhibits angiotensin-converting enzyme which is capable of activating angiotensin I by this mode of attack. The scientists at the Squibb Institute for Medical Research designed the inhibitor on logical principles, based on the assumption that the active site of the enzyme was analogous to that of carboxypeptidase A, but with the Zn 2+ ion slightly further removed from the carboxyl-group binding site. Captopril, or SQ 14225 (O-3-mercapto-2-methylpropanoyl-t-proline) proved to be a potent inhibitor with an ICs, value of 2riM. Interest in the compound extends beyond the field of enzymology, because the renin-angiotensin system has been implicated in the aetiology of hypertension. This monograph is based on the proceedings of a symposium sponsored by Squibb on the pathogenesis of hypertension. It brings together a set of fifteen papers that review first: the role of humoral factors in the mechanisms of hypertension; secondly, the role of angiotensin-converting enzyme and the development of the inhibitors; and thirdly, the clinical experience with inhibitors, Captopril and the peptide inhibitor, teprotide (SQ 20881) in hypertension. The book is well-produced and provides a valuable summary and an up-to-date bibliography of both the scientific background and the clinical status of the inhibitor in hypertension. A J Kenuy
Organic Reaction Mechanisms 1979 Edited by A C Knipe and W E Watts. pp 759. J o h n Wiley and Sons, Chichester, U K . 1981. £58 I S B N 0-471-27818-1 This book opens with a welcome quotation from Samuel Johnson's neglected but very rewarding set of Rambler essays. It is hard to speculate on the way in which Johnson would have reacted to the densely written text that follows. I suspect, however, that the great lexicographer would have been unhappy about the sub-title to the volume ('An annual survey of the literature dated December 1978 through November 1979') that seems to have come from Northern America rather than Northern Ireland (the editors are from the New University of Ulster).
BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION 10 (1) 1982
The first chapter deals with aldehydes and ketones, the second with acids. This includes some work familiar to biochemists m an intcrcstmg review of proteolysis with references to the work of Bender and others. 1 note that chemists have less of personality cult that biologists: Bendcr's name does not appear in the text. Chemists reading the tcxt ncvcrthclcss have an implied knowledge of biology: such as S. Griseus appcar without any explanation of what the S. might stand for. (For the benefit of any puzzled chemists reading this, it is Streptomyces; the G however should be in lower case.) The following chapters cover free radicals, oxidation-reduction, carbenes, nitrenes, aromatic substitutions, and carbonium iotas. Many of these topics are of considerable interest to biochemists: the imprcssion lcft by the book is that the chemists seem to choose thc most exotic cxamplcs. Also, in places, the lack of detail is quite devastating. The oxidations of toluene and anisole by iron (11) complexes of N-alkyl-2hydroxybenzylamines have been investigated (or so wc arc assured on p 18(/). With what results? Perhaps 1 should go to the library and find out some time. Nucleophilic and electrophilic substitutions, eliminatio,l, addition and rearrangement complete the text. The book contains very comprehensive author and subject indices. The editors are to be congratulated on another carefully prepared and comprehensive survey of their field. J H Parish
Structure and Bonding (Volume 40) Edited by J D Dunitz, et al. pp 146. Springcr-Vcrlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, N e w York. 198(/. I ) M 88 ISBN 3--540-0981(~-X Many chemists and biochemists will be familiar with the Struct,re a,d Bo,di,~ series, In their preface, the editors briefly, but justifiably, remark on the achievements of the series and look forward to a bright fimlrc, especially in the bioinorganic area. Certainly, this is a field which has flourished in recent years with a growing realization of the importance, not only of the transition metals, but also the simple inorganic ions such as Na +, K + and Ca -"+. Structure and Bondin¢ is an established series, welT-placed to report on these developments and the present volume contains four useful, if rather specialized, articles. The first chapter is concerned with metal-metal interactions in metalloporphyrins and metalloproteins. The importance of oxo-bridged haem-haem interactions is discussed along with various metal-oxygenmetal or metal-nitrogen-metal interactions in haemcrythrin, haemocyanin, laccase and cytochrome oxidase. The second article, by Lawrence Que is concerned with recent progress m the understanding of the structure and mechanism of non-haem iron dioxygcnascs. Examples of three different classes of these enzymes are discussed with particular emphasis on the role of spectroscopic methods in the elucidation of the enzyme mechanism. The Bleomycins (anti-tumour coppcr-binding antibiotics) arc discussed in the third article by Hamao Umezawa and Tomahisa Takita. Thcsc arc a group of glycopeptide antibiotics used clinically for thc treatment of tumours. The final chapter by Wol~art Pudigor is a timcly discussion on phytochrome, a major light receptor in plant photomorphogcncsis. The article deals with recent results on chemical, biochemical and biophysical characterization of isolated phytochrome. S B Brown
Introduction to Biochemistry
(Second Edition) b y J I Routh. pp 221. W B Saundcrs Co, Philadelphia. 1978. ~5.50 (paperback) ISBN 0 - 7 0 1 ( ~ 7 7 5 9 - 2 This is a short text which attempts to be as up to date as possible. In order to try to achieve this each chapter contains a 'Topic of Current Interest' each occupying about a page, eg 'NAI) and NA1)P - - hnportant enzymes in the body and the laboratory', 'The double helix o f l ) N A ' , and 'The structure of the insulin molecule established by Sanger'. 1 can hardly deny that these arc of 'current interest', but they arc hardly 'hot off the press'! Later itcms include 'Genetic enginecring' and 'Drugs in thc treatment of cancer'. Thc order of thc topics is: cell structurc, proteins, nucleic acids, enzymcs, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins and co-enzymes, biochemical energy, introduction to metabolism, carbohydratc, lipid, protein metabolism, the biochcmistry of genetics, body fluids, the biochcmistry of drugs. Throughout the writing is concise and clcar, and the diagrams are simple.
Captopril and Hypertension Edited b y D B Case, E H S o n n e n b l i c k and J H Laragh. pp 236. P l e n u m Medical B o o k C o m p a n y , N e w York and London. 1980. $23.50 ISBN 0-306-40532-6 Captopril is an inhibitor for peptidyldipeptidase, an enzyme that removes dipeptides from the C-terminus of suitable substrates. In particular, it inhibits angiotensin-converting enzyme which is capable of activating angiotensin I by this mode of attack. The scientists at the Squibb Institute for Medical Research designed the inhibitor on logical principles, based on the assumption that the active site of the enzyme was analogous to that of carboxypeptidase A, but with the Zn 2+ ion slightly further removed from the carboxyl-group binding site. Captopril, or SQ 14225 (O-3-mercapto-2-methylpropanoyl-t-proline) proved to be a potent inhibitor with an ICs, value of 2riM. Interest in the compound extends beyond the field of enzymology, because the renin-angiotensin system has been implicated in the aetiology of hypertension. This monograph is based on the proceedings of a symposium sponsored by Squibb on the pathogenesis of hypertension. It brings together a set of fifteen papers that review first: the role of humoral factors in the mechanisms of hypertension; secondly, the role of angiotensin-converting enzyme and the development of the inhibitors; and thirdly, the clinical experience with inhibitors, Captopril and the peptide inhibitor, teprotide (SQ 20881) in hypertension. The book is well-produced and provides a valuable summary and an up-to-date bibliography of both the scientific background and the clinical status of the inhibitor in hypertension. A J Kenuy
Organic Reaction Mechanisms 1979 Edited by A C Knipe and W E Watts. pp 759. J o h n Wiley and Sons, Chichester, U K . 1981. £58 I S B N 0-471-27818-1 This book opens with a welcome quotation from Samuel Johnson's neglected but very rewarding set of Rambler essays. It is hard to speculate on the way in which Johnson would have reacted to the densely written text that follows. I suspect, however, that the great lexicographer would have been unhappy about the sub-title to the volume ('An annual survey of the literature dated December 1978 through November 1979') that seems to have come from Northern America rather than Northern Ireland (the editors are from the New University of Ulster).
BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION 10 (1) 1982
The first chapter deals with aldehydes and ketones, the second with acids. This includes some work familiar to biochemists m an intcrcstmg review of proteolysis with references to the work of Bender and others. 1 note that chemists have less of personality cult that biologists: Bendcr's name does not appear in the text. Chemists reading the tcxt ncvcrthclcss have an implied knowledge of biology: such as S. Griseus appcar without any explanation of what the S. might stand for. (For the benefit of any puzzled chemists reading this, it is Streptomyces; the G however should be in lower case.) The following chapters cover free radicals, oxidation-reduction, carbenes, nitrenes, aromatic substitutions, and carbonium iotas. Many of these topics are of considerable interest to biochemists: the imprcssion lcft by the book is that the chemists seem to choose thc most exotic cxamplcs. Also, in places, the lack of detail is quite devastating. The oxidations of toluene and anisole by iron (11) complexes of N-alkyl-2hydroxybenzylamines have been investigated (or so wc arc assured on p 18(/). With what results? Perhaps 1 should go to the library and find out some time. Nucleophilic and electrophilic substitutions, eliminatio,l, addition and rearrangement complete the text. The book contains very comprehensive author and subject indices. The editors are to be congratulated on another carefully prepared and comprehensive survey of their field. J H Parish
Structure and Bonding (Volume 40) Edited by J D Dunitz, et al. pp 146. Springcr-Vcrlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, N e w York. 198(/. I ) M 88 ISBN 3--540-0981(~-X Many chemists and biochemists will be familiar with the Struct,re a,d Bo,di,~ series, In their preface, the editors briefly, but justifiably, remark on the achievements of the series and look forward to a bright fimlrc, especially in the bioinorganic area. Certainly, this is a field which has flourished in recent years with a growing realization of the importance, not only of the transition metals, but also the simple inorganic ions such as Na +, K + and Ca -"+. Structure and Bondin¢ is an established series, welT-placed to report on these developments and the present volume contains four useful, if rather specialized, articles. The first chapter is concerned with metal-metal interactions in metalloporphyrins and metalloproteins. The importance of oxo-bridged haem-haem interactions is discussed along with various metal-oxygenmetal or metal-nitrogen-metal interactions in haemcrythrin, haemocyanin, laccase and cytochrome oxidase. The second article, by Lawrence Que is concerned with recent progress m the understanding of the structure and mechanism of non-haem iron dioxygcnascs. Examples of three different classes of these enzymes are discussed with particular emphasis on the role of spectroscopic methods in the elucidation of the enzyme mechanism. The Bleomycins (anti-tumour coppcr-binding antibiotics) arc discussed in the third article by Hamao Umezawa and Tomahisa Takita. Thcsc arc a group of glycopeptide antibiotics used clinically for thc treatment of tumours. The final chapter by Wol~art Pudigor is a timcly discussion on phytochrome, a major light receptor in plant photomorphogcncsis. The article deals with recent results on chemical, biochemical and biophysical characterization of isolated phytochrome. S B Brown
Introduction to Biochemistry
(Second Edition) b y J I Routh. pp 221. W B Saundcrs Co, Philadelphia. 1978. ~5.50 (paperback) ISBN 0 - 7 0 1 ( ~ 7 7 5 9 - 2 This is a short text which attempts to be as up to date as possible. In order to try to achieve this each chapter contains a 'Topic of Current Interest' each occupying about a page, eg 'NAI) and NA1)P - - hnportant enzymes in the body and the laboratory', 'The double helix o f l ) N A ' , and 'The structure of the insulin molecule established by Sanger'. 1 can hardly deny that these arc of 'current interest', but they arc hardly 'hot off the press'! Later itcms include 'Genetic enginecring' and 'Drugs in thc treatment of cancer'. Thc order of thc topics is: cell structurc, proteins, nucleic acids, enzymcs, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins and co-enzymes, biochemical energy, introduction to metabolism, carbohydratc, lipid, protein metabolism, the biochcmistry of genetics, body fluids, the biochcmistry of drugs. Throughout the writing is concise and clcar, and the diagrams are simple.