- Email: [email protected]
Thyrotropin-releasing hormone
BOOK REVIEWS
Where will insect neuroendocrinology go in the next few years? The detection of further endocrine controls, the isolation of active compounds, particularly peptides, and the localization of endocrine sources and sinks by means of poly- and monoclonal antibodies will doubtless advance the frontiers in the coming decades, and may further provide materials for a more fundamental approach to insect control. Dr. Raabe’s monograph will provide a concise reference for many engaged in that search. JOHN S. EDWARDS Department of Zoology University of Washington Seattle,
Washington
98105
Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone. Edited by E. C. GRIFFITHS and G. W. BENNETT. Raven Press, New York, 1982. xvii + 398 pp., Illustr., Subject index, $39.50.
Comparative and general endocrinologists will find this book well worth reading, or at least perusing for the many gems of information it contains. TRH would seem, at first, to comprise a small area of focus for an entire symposium. However, the thirteen years since TRH was characterized have seen it grow in significance from a hypophysiotropic tripeptide to a substance generally distributed in the CNS, and outside the CNS in the gut and in amphibian skin, in a variety of invertebrates, and even reportedly in alfalfa. Comparative endocrinologists will find a variety of questions presented specifically to them, inviting research for their solutions. For example, is the releasing action by TRH for prolactin and MSH more ancient phylogenetically than its release of TSH? This possibility is raised by the irregular or sometimes dubious TSH-releasing action in Amphibia or in fishes when prolactin release by TRH is demonstrable. Is there some as yet undefined adaptive basis for the large quantities of TRH in amphibian integument? Does TRH have a function in developing
499
vertebrates as its occurrence during ontogeny (especially in amphibians) suggests? These questions and others are raised by various authors of the thirty short articles in the book. An interesting point raised by I. M. D. Jackson is that although TRH may be derived from a larger peptide precursor, laboratory-produced anti-TRH antibodies do not seem to react with this short amino acid sequence when it is buried with a larger peptide. In fact, the entire question of how TRH is synthesized is surprisingly obscure at this time. While the apparently constricted range of attention of this book would seem to make it most appropriate for the specialist, it touches so many fields that it should have broad appeal. Where it deals with adaptive and developmental physiology and evolution it is particularly useful and significant for comparative endocrinologists. AUBREY GORBMAN Department of Zoology University of Washington Seattle,
Washington
98195
Vitamins and Hormones, Volume 39. Edited by PAUL L. DICZFALUSY,
MUNSON,
JOHN
GLOVER,
EGON
and ROBERT E. OLSON. Academic Press, New York/London, 1982. x + 431 pp., Illustr., Subject index, $56.00.
The 39th volume of this series, which now has run for 40 years, contains five reviews. The longest of these, 200 pages, comprises almost half of the volume and is an authoritative and complete survey of the chemistry and physiology of the gastrointestinal hormones by Viktor Mutt. Emphasis here is on the structures of the peptides involved. Less attempt than one could desire in a review of this length has been made toward digesting the overwhelming amount of information contained for more efficient presentation. No summary diagrams or tables are given. Instead, the style is to summarize data and interpretation in individual publications in successive paragraphs.
Where will insect neuroendocrinology go in the next few years? The detection of further endocrine controls, the isolation of active compounds, particularly peptides, and the localization of endocrine sources and sinks by means of poly- and monoclonal antibodies will doubtless advance the frontiers in the coming decades, and may further provide materials for a more fundamental approach to insect control. Dr. Raabe’s monograph will provide a concise reference for many engaged in that search. JOHN S. EDWARDS Department of Zoology University of Washington Seattle,
Washington
98105
Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone. Edited by E. C. GRIFFITHS and G. W. BENNETT. Raven Press, New York, 1982. xvii + 398 pp., Illustr., Subject index, $39.50.
Comparative and general endocrinologists will find this book well worth reading, or at least perusing for the many gems of information it contains. TRH would seem, at first, to comprise a small area of focus for an entire symposium. However, the thirteen years since TRH was characterized have seen it grow in significance from a hypophysiotropic tripeptide to a substance generally distributed in the CNS, and outside the CNS in the gut and in amphibian skin, in a variety of invertebrates, and even reportedly in alfalfa. Comparative endocrinologists will find a variety of questions presented specifically to them, inviting research for their solutions. For example, is the releasing action by TRH for prolactin and MSH more ancient phylogenetically than its release of TSH? This possibility is raised by the irregular or sometimes dubious TSH-releasing action in Amphibia or in fishes when prolactin release by TRH is demonstrable. Is there some as yet undefined adaptive basis for the large quantities of TRH in amphibian integument? Does TRH have a function in developing
499
vertebrates as its occurrence during ontogeny (especially in amphibians) suggests? These questions and others are raised by various authors of the thirty short articles in the book. An interesting point raised by I. M. D. Jackson is that although TRH may be derived from a larger peptide precursor, laboratory-produced anti-TRH antibodies do not seem to react with this short amino acid sequence when it is buried with a larger peptide. In fact, the entire question of how TRH is synthesized is surprisingly obscure at this time. While the apparently constricted range of attention of this book would seem to make it most appropriate for the specialist, it touches so many fields that it should have broad appeal. Where it deals with adaptive and developmental physiology and evolution it is particularly useful and significant for comparative endocrinologists. AUBREY GORBMAN Department of Zoology University of Washington Seattle,
Washington
98195
Vitamins and Hormones, Volume 39. Edited by PAUL L. DICZFALUSY,
MUNSON,
JOHN
GLOVER,
EGON
and ROBERT E. OLSON. Academic Press, New York/London, 1982. x + 431 pp., Illustr., Subject index, $56.00.
The 39th volume of this series, which now has run for 40 years, contains five reviews. The longest of these, 200 pages, comprises almost half of the volume and is an authoritative and complete survey of the chemistry and physiology of the gastrointestinal hormones by Viktor Mutt. Emphasis here is on the structures of the peptides involved. Less attempt than one could desire in a review of this length has been made toward digesting the overwhelming amount of information contained for more efficient presentation. No summary diagrams or tables are given. Instead, the style is to summarize data and interpretation in individual publications in successive paragraphs.