1228 Book Reviews

atton of awan erythroid cells, ras transformatmn of 3T3 cells, cellular oncogenes conferring growth factor mdepen- dence on NIH 3T3 cells, functmn of mos protooncogene, plelotyp~c action of semmfferous growth factor, regulation of blood vessel growth and differentmtaon, role of vascular endothehum m albumin transport, growth factor homolo- gous gene controlhng pattern formation m Drosopinla, the role of master regulatory genes m controlhng development, homeobox protems in Drospinla, engrafted, a gene for all segments, EN-1 and EN-2 mouse genes sequence homology to engrmled and mvected Drosophila genes, munne borneo box genes, pattern formatton m vertebrate hmbs, &fferen- tmtion of mulUpotent human intestinal cell hnes, expressmn of wlhn The picture ts now emerging of the mechanisms used m the control of cell growth and &fferentiatmn

Autoimmune Endocrine Disease---A P Weetman 260 pp 1991 Cambridge University Press, Cambndge $59 95

Foreign antigens are preferentially taken up by macrophage receptors, internalized and processed into 12 amino acid peptlde fragments winch complex with la of MHC class II molecules and are expressed on the phagocyte surface winch then stimulates antigen-specific T cells The interactions of other molecules facflRatlng adhesmn of the T cell receptor wRh the Ia plus peptlde are discussed together w~th the formalaon of cytotoxlc and suppressor CD4 T cells whose clones produce discrete sets of cytokmes (IL2 IL3 IL4 IFN) Helper T cells are involved m the actwatmn of B cells, winch then prohferate and produce antlbo&es ILl, IL2, IL4, IL6, TFN and other factors sUmulate the B cells There is also a mechanism for developing penpheral tolerance and sup- pressrun of B cells In autolmmune disease there is usually the development of autoantlbo&es that set off the ~mmune reaction, cytotoxic T cells and natural killer (NK) cells become activated and selectwe t~ssue destructmn occurs Tins is discussed m relation to autotmmune thyroid disease, Type I dmbetes melhtus, autolmmumty of the adrenals, gonads, pRmtary and the polyendocnne system

Enzymtc regulatmn, by Alberto Sols, Jean Brachet's hfe, My love affair w~th membranes, by Aser Rothstem, Never a dull moment, by Henryk E~senberg, Total synthesis of insulin by Chen-Lu Tsou These very interesting accounts put the flesh onto the bmchemlcal skeleton and make ~t lwe (and dance)

Plant Lectir~--A Pusztal 263 pp 1991 Cambndge Umver- slty Press, Cambridge $40 $79 95

Lectms are proteins or glycoprotems of nonqmmunoglobu- hn nature capable of specific recognmon of and reversible binding to carbohydrate moleues of complex glycoconju- gates w~thout altering the covalent structure of any of the recogmzed glycosyl hgands They play a role m cell-cell recogmtmn (blood cell agglutmaUon, mitogemc stlmulatmn of lymphocytes, ~mmunosuppressmn, phagocytosis, mast cell reactmns), allow syminosls between plants and bactena, protect cells against bacteria, fungi and insects, contribute to lntesUnal growth factors, axonal transport of material A very interesting and ~mportant group of chemicals

1Vhcrohes and Man, 3rd Edn--J Postgate 297 pp 1992 Cambndge University Press, Cambridge Hardback $24 95, paperback $7 95

The role of viruses, bactena and fungi m modern hfe is often underestimated This readable book tells the constructwe role that m~crobes play m the soil, m health and &sease, their biology, their role m nutntmn, productmn, deterio- ration, decay, pollution, evolutmn and their possible roles m the future The new e&tlon includes matenal on geneUc engineering, salmonellosls, oil slicks, DNA fingerpnntmg, AIDS, mad cow diseases and blosensors The book can be read with pleasure by sc~entlsts and also by the general reader

The Polyketide Metabolites--D O'Hagan 176pp 1991 Ellis Horwood, New York £29 50

Molecular Databases for Protein Sequence and Structure Studies--J A A Sflhnce and M Sfllence 236 pp 1992 Spnnger Verlag, Berhn DM 98

Online molecular databases are becormng increasingly im- portant in searching for sequence analogles Tins book stags by revlsmg the structure of proteins and nucleic acids, since these have the major databases This leads to the nature of sequence data and structure data There follows a chapter on computer-based sequencing projects and analy- sls Detmls are gwen of computer representatmn and reg~s- tratmn, database searcinng, use of expert systems m database searclung (knowledge based systems KBS), the main sequence databanks (Genbank, EMBL, GENINFLO, NBRF-PIR, NEWAT, PRF-SEQDB, GENESEQ), the mare structure databanks (PDB, CCD, CCSD, CAN/SND, ISIS), sequence searching, case study speclficatmn of an expert system for protein structure pre&ctmn This book w111 be a useful mtroductmn to those wlsinng to analyze protein and DNA sequences and also for those wlsinng to use computer databanks for structure analysts

A History of Biochemistry; Personal Recollections l l l - - EdRed by G Semenza and R Jaemcke Comprehensive Biochemistry, Vol 37, 396 pp 1990 Elsevier, Amsterdam $114 25 DFI 20O

Tins is the third volume of personal recollectmns They include physics and the nddle of hfe, by Max Perutz, An octogenarian looks back, by Albert Neuberger, Wla&mir Englehardt, The man and the scienUst, Autobiograpincal notes from a noma&c blochenust, by Herman Kalckar,

The polyketlde metabohtes (P) are natural products derived from the condensatmn of acetate umts m a head to tail manner Fatty acids are P, but other important P are the prostaglandms, thromboxanes, prostacychn, the leukotrlenes, fungal and plant P (orselhmc acid, acetyl- phlorglucmol, cardanol, anacar&c acid, 6-methyl sallcyhc acid, emodm, xanthones, aflatoxms, brefeldmg-A, A 26771B, mevmohn, compactm, tetracychnes, macrohdes, avermectms, mtlbemycms, erythromycm), manne P (aplas- momycm, rubrenolc acids, okadmc acid, yessotoxan, breve- toxin) and molluscs products (denUculatms, pectmatone) Many of these natural products are anUblotics or ~mportant toxins whose bmsynthes~s is discussed

Aspects of Synaptic Transmission, LTP, Galanin, Oplulds, Autonomic and $-HT--EdRed by T W Stone 404 pp 1991 Taylor and Francis, London £49 50

These twenty rewews consider different aspects of synaptlc transmission both from the pharmacolobncal wew point and also m terms of receptors and memory Galanm ~s a 29 anuno acid pepUde It Is derived from a larger (123 AA) preproGal It ~s widely found m the brain (olfactory bulb, caudal spinal tngemlnal nucleus, sublculum) and spinal cord (dorsal horn, motoneurones) There are also chapters on opmid receptors, oplotd receptor regulatmn, beta casomor- pinns, oploids and memory, oplold reduced respiratory depression, neural regulation of vascular tone, alpha-2 adrenoreceptors, nitric oxide, central and penpheral action of 5-HT, presynaptlc effects of 5-HT, electrophysiology of 5-HT on motoneurones, vascular 5-HT receptors, 5-HT receptor subtypes