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Progress in liver diseases
342
Book reviews
would have made this extensive survey more complete. Inevitably, a contribution of this kind emanating from a clearly interested company runs the risk of being viewed to some extent as a promotional exercise. Neverthelessmuch of the information it presents would probably not be available to other authors and the potential value of this insecticide is underlined by WHO’s interest in it as a possible agent for malaria control. DDT, the mainstay of past achievements in the control of the malarial mosquito, is the chief subject of volume 61. Of particular relevance for a compound that has fallen from grace becauseof its extreme stability and resulting persistenceand accumulation in the environment are two chapters dealing in turn with its degradation by micro-organisms and with its stability in foods and feeds and its degradation or removal from them during cooking and processing.The metabolism of DDT by micro-organisms, initially under anaerobic conditions, is seen as a major factor in its environmental degradation, although there is no evidence that microbes utilize DDT for growth. The third DDT chapter is a lengthy discussion on routes of environmental accumulation and on the widespread controversy and repercussions that have stemmed from the concern engendered by this particular example of bioconcentration. The author admits to raising questions as much as providing answers, but he also provides an enormous amount of data on DDT residues in soils, air, rainwater and surfacewaters, in plants and in animal tissues,including those of man. The final chapters of this volume describe bioassay techniques for foliar herbicides (an&role, arsonates, dalapon, diquat and paraquat, 24-D and picloram) and report on the metabolism of gossypol, the yellow pigment of cottonseed, in a variety of animal species and on the physiological and nutritional effects of this possible feed contaminant. The latter chapter presents another extensive view of relevant literature in the manner for which this seriesis well known.
longed periods in culture has opened yet another avenue for the biochemist. Although separated from the rest of the organism, the cells are capable of independent existence and have been seen as an important link between tissue homogenates and the intact animal. The use of this type of cell culture is now being explored and the experiences and results of many prominent workers were reported at the FEBS Advanced Course No. 38 on the use of isolated liver cells and kidney tubules in metabolic studies, held in Luzarches, France, in July 1975, and at a symposium held in Paris at about the same time. The communications presented at these meeting have been combined to form the text of the book named above. Significantly, most of the papers dealt with interrelationships and control mechanisms, which cannot be studied adequately using homogenates. Inter-relationships between mitochondria and cytosol in cell metabolism, and the regulation of glucose and glycogen metabolism and of ureogenesiscomprised three major topics. These problems were formerly studied in uiuo, but the influence of hormones and other homoeostatic factors in the intact organism did not permit clear interpretation of results. While the reports on the use of isolated cells in metabolic studies centred on endogenous compounds, the techniques described could form the basis for the study of xenobiotic compounds as well. Although experience in maintaining liver and kidney cells in culture has been accumulating for several years, more background information is needed to enable biochemists to make good use of these cultures. Part of this need is met by a section concerned with the properties of hepatocytes when freshly isolated or maintained in culture. Both biochemists and cell biologists should find a mine of useful information in this volume. Progress in Liver Diseases Vol. V. Edited by H. Pop-
per and F. Schaffner. Grune & Stratton, New York, 1976. pp. xvi + 733. E27.85.
The liver is a popular organ, attracting the attention of large numbers of biochemists and experimental pathologists. In fact, some cynics have pointed out Soling and J. R. Williamson. North-Holland Publish- that there are very few scientists in these fields who ing Company, Amsterdam, 1976. pp. xix + 476. have not done some work with the rat or mouse liver $37.50. at some stage of their careers. Much of the work of toxicologists and clinicians also centres on this organ, Irr vitro studies have always played an important presumably because of the frequent occurrence of role in biochemical research but until a few years ago liver lesions in naturally occurring diseasesand in the cell homogenate, either as a whole or fractionated, poisoning by chemicals. Some 20 years ago, a survey was the principal means for studying the character- of toxicity tests carried out in rats revealed that liver istics and function of the various cell components. lesions were found in 25% of the studies reviewed. No one would deny the enormous advances in cell The importance of the liver to all these groups of biology that these methods have facilitated, but the workers is well reflected in the series entitled “Proresults have always been open to the objection that gress in Liver Diseases” edited by two doyens of they may not reflect adequately the situation irp ho. hepatology, Hans Popper and Fenton Schatier. The In the past some answer to this objection was first four volumes covered the field in an admirable attempted with the use of tissue slices,but these had way up to 1972. Volume V covers the three years the disadvantage of deteriorating rapidly, leaving from 1973 to 1975. again doubts about the relevance of the information Most of the articles in this volume review progress SO obtained. Recently, however, the development of made in the basic sciences.There are articles on the techniques for keeping mammalian cells alive for pro- use of stereology in the study of biopsy specimens
Use of Isolated Liver Cells and Kidney Tubules in Metabolic Studies. Edited by J. M. Tager, H. D.
Book reviews of human liver and on scanning electron microscopy of the liver. a new technique which has produced pretty three-dimensional pictures but does not seem, so far, to be fulfilling the expectations of its enthusiastic protagonists. On the other hand, the well-established field of transmission electron microscopy is yielding a valuable harvest. The endoplasmic reticulum has been studied in great detail by means of cytochemical techniques, and the morphological patterns observed have been compared with conceptual models built over the years as a result of intensive biochemical and physico-chemical investigations. On a more practical plane, an effort has been made to relate to malfunction the changes in organelle structure that can be demonstrated by electron microscopy. Most of the data are derived from human disease, but a lot of information is also presented from animal experiments, particularly those concerned with chemically-induced damage. In many ways, this complements the human data, and in some instances it provides an insight into the meaning of the changes observed in man. Two other chapters of particular interest to the toxicologist may be identified. One of these provides an excellent account of the methods available for isolating hepatocytes from liver tissue and culturing them. Emphasis is laid on methods for the identification of liver cells in culture, since they are often found to be mixed with fibroblasts. This is an extremely useful discussion,which deservesthe attention of all who are engaged in this field of research. The second of these chapters is concerned with the significance of covalent binding in the production of tissue damage. This concept is not new, but the authors attempt to distinguish between the type of covalent binding that is apparently protective or at most harmlessand the type that results in tissue damage. Their approach is that of biochemical pharmacologists but the conclusions they draw are clearly of importance to toxicologists. The rest of the volume is devoted to relevant advances in clinical medicine. With the exception of one topic, the hepatitis B virus, little advance seems to have been made in most of the areas considered and the chapters have a familiar ring, as if one has already met the same views in earlier volumes in this series.Much the same comment can be made about the final chapter, on hepatocarcinogenesis by chemicals. Despite this, however, the book is a very useful addition to the series and seemslikely to suffer the same fate as its predecessors.According to Dr. Franz J. Ingelfinger, who introduces the latest volume, the local medical library’s copies of the earlier volumes in the series had their bindings broken, their pages dog-eared “and-the ultimate testament of valuemany a page had been tom out”. and Pathology. Vol. 4. Edited by J. T. Dingle and R. T. Dean. North-Holland Pub lishing Company, Amsterdam, 1975. pp. xviii + 614, $74.95.
Lysosomes in Biology
This volume continues the serieswhich was started in 1969 with the simultaneous publication of volumes 1 and 2. Rather than up-dating the material that
343
appeared in earlier volumes, the latest aims at covering new ground, especially that broken during the years 1972-1975. The importance of the study of lysosomes in the fields of biology and pa{hology has been underlined by the 1975 award of a Nobel Prize to Christian de Duve, who pioneered the work and framed most of the concepts. This volume is dedicated to him. The book is split into five parts, each of which . has at least two contributors. Of the five chapters that make up part I, four describe lysosomesin animal tissues-skin, skeletal muscle, arterial wall .and blood platelet+while the other describesthe’properties of lysosomesin the ciliate protozoan Tebahyrnerra pyrformis. All the ‘tissues’pose difficulties, either in the isolation or in the in situ cytochemical staining of lysosomes. A short part II, “Lysosomes in Pathology”, comprises chapter 6 on lysosomes and radiation injury and chapter 7 on lysosomal enzymes in the heart. Both of these chapters are almost entirely biochemical. In complete contrast is chapter 8, which sets out to describe the historical, technological and methodological steps that led to the biochemical and cytochemica1 localization of tissue proteinases. Completing part III and stemming from the work of R. E. Smith described in chapter 8, are three short chapters, two dealing with the distribution of proteases and the catabolism of glycoproteins, and a third giving a brief account of the kinetics of intracellular protein tumover. For nearly 20 years there has been argument over the question of whether all lysosomes in all tissues contain a full complement of all the hydrolases that have been discovered, or whether some lysosomes contain proteases, for example, while others carry esterases.The argument is considered in part IV. Chapter 12 examines the evidence on both sides but comes to no definite decision, while chapter 13 approaches the question from a different angle, that of the ‘multiple forms’ of enzymes,defined as “all proteins possessingthe same enzyme activity and occurring naturally in the same species”. The fifth part of the volume deals with iontrol mechanisms. In chapter 14, Clara Szego seems to have aimed at a mugnum opus rather than a review. Running to 90 pages it is full of information, but also abounds with florid and pretentious phrases. Perhaps the author’s mother tongue is not English: in any event she would do well to examine the writing style of Christian de Duve in volume 1, chapter 1. Chapter 15, half the length, ploughs a narrower furrow, that of the control of enzyme release from neutrophil leucocytes. Much more esoteric, but none the less fascinating, is the final chapter, by Yolande Heslop-Harrison of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It deals with the carnivorous plants, of which there are over 360 species worldwide, and describes the many mechanisms they have evolved to allow release of hydrolytic enzymes onto their prey and to enable absorption of the digested material. It is refreshing to escapefrom animal limitations and consider the problems that sessile plants have managed to overcome in capturing fast-moving prey. As we have come to expect from North-Holland/
Book reviews
would have made this extensive survey more complete. Inevitably, a contribution of this kind emanating from a clearly interested company runs the risk of being viewed to some extent as a promotional exercise. Neverthelessmuch of the information it presents would probably not be available to other authors and the potential value of this insecticide is underlined by WHO’s interest in it as a possible agent for malaria control. DDT, the mainstay of past achievements in the control of the malarial mosquito, is the chief subject of volume 61. Of particular relevance for a compound that has fallen from grace becauseof its extreme stability and resulting persistenceand accumulation in the environment are two chapters dealing in turn with its degradation by micro-organisms and with its stability in foods and feeds and its degradation or removal from them during cooking and processing.The metabolism of DDT by micro-organisms, initially under anaerobic conditions, is seen as a major factor in its environmental degradation, although there is no evidence that microbes utilize DDT for growth. The third DDT chapter is a lengthy discussion on routes of environmental accumulation and on the widespread controversy and repercussions that have stemmed from the concern engendered by this particular example of bioconcentration. The author admits to raising questions as much as providing answers, but he also provides an enormous amount of data on DDT residues in soils, air, rainwater and surfacewaters, in plants and in animal tissues,including those of man. The final chapters of this volume describe bioassay techniques for foliar herbicides (an&role, arsonates, dalapon, diquat and paraquat, 24-D and picloram) and report on the metabolism of gossypol, the yellow pigment of cottonseed, in a variety of animal species and on the physiological and nutritional effects of this possible feed contaminant. The latter chapter presents another extensive view of relevant literature in the manner for which this seriesis well known.
longed periods in culture has opened yet another avenue for the biochemist. Although separated from the rest of the organism, the cells are capable of independent existence and have been seen as an important link between tissue homogenates and the intact animal. The use of this type of cell culture is now being explored and the experiences and results of many prominent workers were reported at the FEBS Advanced Course No. 38 on the use of isolated liver cells and kidney tubules in metabolic studies, held in Luzarches, France, in July 1975, and at a symposium held in Paris at about the same time. The communications presented at these meeting have been combined to form the text of the book named above. Significantly, most of the papers dealt with interrelationships and control mechanisms, which cannot be studied adequately using homogenates. Inter-relationships between mitochondria and cytosol in cell metabolism, and the regulation of glucose and glycogen metabolism and of ureogenesiscomprised three major topics. These problems were formerly studied in uiuo, but the influence of hormones and other homoeostatic factors in the intact organism did not permit clear interpretation of results. While the reports on the use of isolated cells in metabolic studies centred on endogenous compounds, the techniques described could form the basis for the study of xenobiotic compounds as well. Although experience in maintaining liver and kidney cells in culture has been accumulating for several years, more background information is needed to enable biochemists to make good use of these cultures. Part of this need is met by a section concerned with the properties of hepatocytes when freshly isolated or maintained in culture. Both biochemists and cell biologists should find a mine of useful information in this volume. Progress in Liver Diseases Vol. V. Edited by H. Pop-
per and F. Schaffner. Grune & Stratton, New York, 1976. pp. xvi + 733. E27.85.
The liver is a popular organ, attracting the attention of large numbers of biochemists and experimental pathologists. In fact, some cynics have pointed out Soling and J. R. Williamson. North-Holland Publish- that there are very few scientists in these fields who ing Company, Amsterdam, 1976. pp. xix + 476. have not done some work with the rat or mouse liver $37.50. at some stage of their careers. Much of the work of toxicologists and clinicians also centres on this organ, Irr vitro studies have always played an important presumably because of the frequent occurrence of role in biochemical research but until a few years ago liver lesions in naturally occurring diseasesand in the cell homogenate, either as a whole or fractionated, poisoning by chemicals. Some 20 years ago, a survey was the principal means for studying the character- of toxicity tests carried out in rats revealed that liver istics and function of the various cell components. lesions were found in 25% of the studies reviewed. No one would deny the enormous advances in cell The importance of the liver to all these groups of biology that these methods have facilitated, but the workers is well reflected in the series entitled “Proresults have always been open to the objection that gress in Liver Diseases” edited by two doyens of they may not reflect adequately the situation irp ho. hepatology, Hans Popper and Fenton Schatier. The In the past some answer to this objection was first four volumes covered the field in an admirable attempted with the use of tissue slices,but these had way up to 1972. Volume V covers the three years the disadvantage of deteriorating rapidly, leaving from 1973 to 1975. again doubts about the relevance of the information Most of the articles in this volume review progress SO obtained. Recently, however, the development of made in the basic sciences.There are articles on the techniques for keeping mammalian cells alive for pro- use of stereology in the study of biopsy specimens
Use of Isolated Liver Cells and Kidney Tubules in Metabolic Studies. Edited by J. M. Tager, H. D.
Book reviews of human liver and on scanning electron microscopy of the liver. a new technique which has produced pretty three-dimensional pictures but does not seem, so far, to be fulfilling the expectations of its enthusiastic protagonists. On the other hand, the well-established field of transmission electron microscopy is yielding a valuable harvest. The endoplasmic reticulum has been studied in great detail by means of cytochemical techniques, and the morphological patterns observed have been compared with conceptual models built over the years as a result of intensive biochemical and physico-chemical investigations. On a more practical plane, an effort has been made to relate to malfunction the changes in organelle structure that can be demonstrated by electron microscopy. Most of the data are derived from human disease, but a lot of information is also presented from animal experiments, particularly those concerned with chemically-induced damage. In many ways, this complements the human data, and in some instances it provides an insight into the meaning of the changes observed in man. Two other chapters of particular interest to the toxicologist may be identified. One of these provides an excellent account of the methods available for isolating hepatocytes from liver tissue and culturing them. Emphasis is laid on methods for the identification of liver cells in culture, since they are often found to be mixed with fibroblasts. This is an extremely useful discussion,which deservesthe attention of all who are engaged in this field of research. The second of these chapters is concerned with the significance of covalent binding in the production of tissue damage. This concept is not new, but the authors attempt to distinguish between the type of covalent binding that is apparently protective or at most harmlessand the type that results in tissue damage. Their approach is that of biochemical pharmacologists but the conclusions they draw are clearly of importance to toxicologists. The rest of the volume is devoted to relevant advances in clinical medicine. With the exception of one topic, the hepatitis B virus, little advance seems to have been made in most of the areas considered and the chapters have a familiar ring, as if one has already met the same views in earlier volumes in this series.Much the same comment can be made about the final chapter, on hepatocarcinogenesis by chemicals. Despite this, however, the book is a very useful addition to the series and seemslikely to suffer the same fate as its predecessors.According to Dr. Franz J. Ingelfinger, who introduces the latest volume, the local medical library’s copies of the earlier volumes in the series had their bindings broken, their pages dog-eared “and-the ultimate testament of valuemany a page had been tom out”. and Pathology. Vol. 4. Edited by J. T. Dingle and R. T. Dean. North-Holland Pub lishing Company, Amsterdam, 1975. pp. xviii + 614, $74.95.
Lysosomes in Biology
This volume continues the serieswhich was started in 1969 with the simultaneous publication of volumes 1 and 2. Rather than up-dating the material that
343
appeared in earlier volumes, the latest aims at covering new ground, especially that broken during the years 1972-1975. The importance of the study of lysosomes in the fields of biology and pa{hology has been underlined by the 1975 award of a Nobel Prize to Christian de Duve, who pioneered the work and framed most of the concepts. This volume is dedicated to him. The book is split into five parts, each of which . has at least two contributors. Of the five chapters that make up part I, four describe lysosomesin animal tissues-skin, skeletal muscle, arterial wall .and blood platelet+while the other describesthe’properties of lysosomesin the ciliate protozoan Tebahyrnerra pyrformis. All the ‘tissues’pose difficulties, either in the isolation or in the in situ cytochemical staining of lysosomes. A short part II, “Lysosomes in Pathology”, comprises chapter 6 on lysosomes and radiation injury and chapter 7 on lysosomal enzymes in the heart. Both of these chapters are almost entirely biochemical. In complete contrast is chapter 8, which sets out to describe the historical, technological and methodological steps that led to the biochemical and cytochemica1 localization of tissue proteinases. Completing part III and stemming from the work of R. E. Smith described in chapter 8, are three short chapters, two dealing with the distribution of proteases and the catabolism of glycoproteins, and a third giving a brief account of the kinetics of intracellular protein tumover. For nearly 20 years there has been argument over the question of whether all lysosomes in all tissues contain a full complement of all the hydrolases that have been discovered, or whether some lysosomes contain proteases, for example, while others carry esterases.The argument is considered in part IV. Chapter 12 examines the evidence on both sides but comes to no definite decision, while chapter 13 approaches the question from a different angle, that of the ‘multiple forms’ of enzymes,defined as “all proteins possessingthe same enzyme activity and occurring naturally in the same species”. The fifth part of the volume deals with iontrol mechanisms. In chapter 14, Clara Szego seems to have aimed at a mugnum opus rather than a review. Running to 90 pages it is full of information, but also abounds with florid and pretentious phrases. Perhaps the author’s mother tongue is not English: in any event she would do well to examine the writing style of Christian de Duve in volume 1, chapter 1. Chapter 15, half the length, ploughs a narrower furrow, that of the control of enzyme release from neutrophil leucocytes. Much more esoteric, but none the less fascinating, is the final chapter, by Yolande Heslop-Harrison of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It deals with the carnivorous plants, of which there are over 360 species worldwide, and describes the many mechanisms they have evolved to allow release of hydrolytic enzymes onto their prey and to enable absorption of the digested material. It is refreshing to escapefrom animal limitations and consider the problems that sessile plants have managed to overcome in capturing fast-moving prey. As we have come to expect from North-Holland/