Download Book Review - Journal of Cell Science

Book Reviews
Cell signals not quite all
clear: proceed with
caution
The Biochemistry of Cell
Signalling
by Ernst J. M. Helmreich
Oxford University Press (2001) 328 pages. ISBN 019-850820-4
£29.95
Ernst Helmreich of the University of
Würzburg begins The Biochemistry of
Cell Signalling with Goethe’s words
‘Everything worthwhile has already
been thought. One can only try to think
it over again.’ Wise words indeed, but in
view of the subject he might more aptly,
albeit less patriotically, have quoted
Poincaré’s dictum ‘Science is built of
facts, as a house is built of stones; but an
accumulation of facts is no more a
science than a heap of stones is a house.’
Anyone whose research or teaching
touches on intracellular signalling will
be well aware of the vast number of
bits now identified as pieces of that
jigsaw and of the difficulty of even
contemplating how a cell makes sense of
it all. As a student once querulously
remarked to me, ‘There’s just too many
proteins’.
With this in mind, it is perhaps not a bad
idea to start an overview by saying what
you’re going to leave out, and this
453
Helmreich
does
by
presenting
‘fundamental aspects of cellular
regulation’
and
omitting
some
‘important
aspects
of
cellular
regulation’. That’s fine in view, as the
author points out, of the excellent
textbooks on cellular and molecular
biology available, and in the main it
would be churlish to argue with the
general content of this book: ligands,
receptor tyrosine kinases, G-proteincoupled receptors, control of signalling
pathways leading to modulation of
transcription and, finally, the cell cycle
and how loss of regulatory control may
lead to cancer. Nevertheless, it seems
somewhat perverse to omit any
discussion of voltage- and ligand-gated
ion channels whilst including a
substantial chapter on regulation of the
immune response. The latter is a useful
immunology primer but, as the author
comments, the essential features of the
immune response ‘resemble receptormediated signalling by cytokines’ and
occur ‘through familiar structural
motifs’, and so a more abbreviated
summary leaving space for discussion
of ion channels might have been
more appropriate. Furthermore, the
immunology chapter rather impedes the
flow from the cell cycle and apoptosis to
transformation.
When it comes to the text there is
certainly no arguing that it squeezes in
an awful lot of facts, although the syntax
might have the aforementioned Johann
Wolfgang contemplating a bit of
celestial rotational motion. The style
throughout is a mixture of the brutal
staccato (“TGFα is a growth factor. Its
processing is of interest.”) and extended
sentences
with
sprinklings
of
punctuation so eccentric their sole
function is to ensure that you have to
read the passage twice to get the
message. Even after re-punctuating,
there are places where the story remains
either unclear or plain confusing, most
notably in the cell cycle section, and
there are a number of factual errors. For
example, the members of the epidermal
growth factor receptor family are not
truncated versions of the EGFR although loss of the extracellular domain
of the latter has been observed in a
number of tumours. The later sections on
oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes
are the weakest of the book. Examples
receive rather fragmentary treatment and
are somewhat arbitrarily selected. The
error frequency creeps up - for example,
the misleading title to Table 15.2,
‘Human cancers originating from
retroviral infection’, amplification of cmyc [sic], rather than NMYC, described
as associated with neuroblastomas, all
tumour suppressor genes said to encode
transcriptional regulators, etc. The errors
include an incorrect spelling of Boveri,
which inevitably suggests that the author
is on less than familiar ground in this
field.
Despite these defects this book has
considerable merit. There is no arguing
that most key points are included, nor
should the blemishes divert attention
from its principal virtue - the schematic
figures. These are only grayscale line
drawings, many adapted from other
sources, but almost without exception
they are excellent. Even on well-worked
ground - for example, transcriptional
control - the ‘cartoons’ are among the
best and most informative I have seen.
There are one or two exceptions, notably
a figure representing DNA replication
occurring in metaphase, but in the main
they are outstandingly clear teaching
aids. The schematics are supplemented
by a set of colour plates of structures,
used to illustrate aspects of protein
interactions, and these are generally
informative and not overemphasised.
Therefore, as with most newly
completed structures, the builders have
left a few piles of unincorporated stones
lying around, there are one or two
features you can’t believe were in the
original plans and there’s the odd booby
trap for the unwary. Even so, The
Biochemistry of Cell Signalling takes up
a previously vacant place in the range of
biomedical textbooks with some
distinction. The book is well worth
having for the figures alone and,
notwithstanding the above reservations,
the text is jam packed with (mainly
accurate) facts - though it may have you
reaching for the phone occasionally to
demand that the rough bits are tidied up.
Robin Hesketh
Department of Biochemistry, University
of Cambridge, UK
Journal of Cell Science 115, 453-454 (2002)
© The Company of Biologists Ltd
454
Journal of Cell Science 115 (3)
Becoming a molecular
biologist: the DIY
approach
Cloning, Gene Expression
and Protein Purification.
Experimental Procedures
and Process Rationale
by Charles Hardin, Jennifer
Pinczes, Andrew Riell, David
Presutti, William Miller and
Dominique Robertson
Oxford University Press (2001) 435 pages. ISBN 019-513294-7
£39.50
This book is dedicated to general
techniques in molecular biology. Its
introduction describes general principles
and basic biochemical techniques. The
content is then divided into two parts.
Part 1 deals with nucleic acids and
cloning, including a description of
commercially available kits and
materials. Part 2 describes theoretical
and practical aspects of protein
purification - again, with an emphasis on
what is commercially available,
including information directly from the
vendor’s literature. The appendices
include a helpful list of laboratory
reagents, commonly used abbreviations
and literature sources.
Could you by reading and performing
every protocol in this manual become a
molecular biologist? Probably not, but
the manual contains enough useful
protocols and information to be a good
accompaniment to an undergraduate
course in molecular biology.
The manual is directed at advanced
undergraduate and new graduate
students. To follow the protocols an
understanding
of
organic
and
quantitative chemistry is essential. The
content is ambitious, maybe over
ambitious. It contains a broad range of
molecular biology protocols, from
plasmid preps to protein purification.
Given the broad range of techniques,
careful supervision would be needed for
a student to take advantage of a course
based on this manual. The theoretical
content is limited to basic principles and
the necessary background to follow the
techniques. It is not the most exciting
book to read but, being a practical
manual, that could prove an extremely
difficult task.
Claudia Alen
Sir William Dunn School of Pathology,
University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Journal of Cell Science 115, 453-454 (2002)
© The Company of Biologists Ltd
Erratum
Syndecan-4 mediates antithrombin-induced chemotaxis of human peripheral blood lymphocytes
Kaneider, N. C., Reinisch, C. M., Dunzendorfer, S., Römisch, J. and Wiederman, C. J. (2002). J. Cell Sci. 115, 227-236.
In the print version, the spelling of the last author’s name was incorrect.
The correct spelling is Christian J. Wiedermann.